Stand in the Gap

Twenty-two years ago, Promise Keepers went to D.C. It was an impressive sight. Promise Keepers had been holding rallies all over the country, mostly in football stadiums. They would sing and pray and listen to speakers all day. I stayed away. 

First of all, sitting in a stadium seat all day did not appeal to me. I believed then and pretty much do now that one sermon a week is plenty for me. Don’t get me wrong I appreciate the sermon I hear on Sunday morning, but sitting still is not one of my strengths. In fact, the only spanking I remember ever getting was for moving around in church. The Union Avenue church was renovating, and they had stored lumber under the balcony seats. My legs were just the right length to rest on the lumber, but every time I wiggled it rattled the planks. I didn’t do it on purpose, I promise.

And even though I’ve written four books aimed at improving the church, I don’t read spiritual development books. I shiver a little every time someone mentions the name of one of the prolific writers in that genre. Several guys have tried to get me to sign up for Bible Study Fellowship (BSF), but my stock answer is “no thanks.” Charlene is a group leader for BSF and it is great. She has my utmost support. It’s just not for me.

But there was something different about “Stand in the Gap”, the rally in D.C. I started hearing about it months ahead of time and it caught my attention. Maybe it was as simple as the fact that we weren’t going to be sitting in football stands, we would be standing on the mall, in front of the Lincoln Memorial, where Martin Luther King made his “I Have a Dream” speech.

There was something also about the nature of the event. It wasn’t a protest. We weren’t demanding anything of anyone. We were making a promise. The promise we made was inspired by a passage in Ezekiel 22:

“The people of the land have practiced oppression and committed robbery, and they have wronged the poor and needy and have oppressed the sojourner without justice. I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one.”

We made a promise that day to stand in the gap. I wonder where those guys are now. That day we stretched from the Capitol to the Washington Monument – more than a mile. I hope they have not joined the oppressors in the land. I hope they are still standing in the gap.

I was also attracted to the t-shirt. On the front it said simply “Stand in the Gap.” On the back was a longer passage from 2 Chronicles 7:14,

“If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and will heal their land.” [The emphasis is mine.]

We weren’t demanding anything of anyone. We were promising to honor God so that He would heal our land.

I still have the t-shirt. It has long since worn out, but Charlene recently had it and eleven others turned into a quilt that I have over my lap right now as I write. I still try to honor both those promises.