No church, denomination, religious organization or super-spiritual movement can lay claim to being the exclusive domain of God’s last day Remnant. The vast congregations of churchianity can’t claim it whether they are evangelical, Charismatic or some contemporary hybrid. The America church can’t claim sole ownership. Furthermore, no country, race or society on earth can claim it.
So where in the world are they? Well, they are not hiding out in some cave in Tibet. They are not gathering on some Christian commune in California. They are not in some doomsday cult in Idaho. They are not in some church basement practicing rapture calisthenics. They are not flocking to some mega-church in Houston. They are not with the gullible sensation junkies always looking for the next spiritual fix.
They never were in the Toronto, Brownsville or Kansas City hype. They aren’t treking to spiritual meccas like Bethel Church, Redding or joining the “NAR” movement. They are not the “Purpose Driven” crowd. They’re not rushing to Walmart to buy the latest “It’s all about you” book from Joel Osteen. Rest assured, the hip hop preachers, self-appointed prophets and apostles and social media wannabes don’t have a clue of their whereabouts.
The distinguishing marks of the God’s last day remnant is their anonymity. They are so ordinary and inconspicuous that they are hiding in plain sight. They are much like the remnant of Elijah’s day. When He was sitting in his cave feeling sorry for himself God told him that there were still 7,000 faithful Israelites who had not bowed their knees to the religious corruption of their day. This was news to Elijah. He didn’t even know they existed much less where they were. What stands out most about the remnant of Elijah’s day is just how insignificant they must have seemed. There was absolutely nothing flamboyant, sensational or newsworthy about them beyond being an anonymous company of faithful Israelites that only God had taken note of.
They were so normal, nondescript and unassuming that even the prophet Elijah didn’t know they existed. Unlike so many self-promoting individuals today there was nothing remarkable, sensational or news-worthy to make them stand out. For most their next-door neighbor was as clueless of their true identity as Elijah was. They certainly weren’t clamoring for attention, acclaim or the praises of men. The only thing that was so extraordinary about them was just how ordinary they must have been. Maybe those who lived around them saw them as individuals of little consequence but God saw each of them as faithful servants who had taken a private stand in the integrity of their own hearts to sanctify themselves from the errors of their day. That is no doubt how most of those around us see each of us today.
Like the unassuming farmers, mothers, vine dressers, shepherds and shop keepers of Elijah’s day today’s remnant has chosen to walk by faith, to trust in God and to quietly go about their daily rhythms with their ears tuned to what God was saying in the midst of the darkness that surrounded them. They were not participating in the spiritual compromises of their day because they had quietly come out from all of it. They were not listening to the prophetic hype of the prophets of Baal or looking to an adulterous priesthood for direction. Their focus was fixed on God and His word.
Today’s remnant could be a hairdresser in Chicago, a dentist in Denver, a car mechanic in Phoenix, a schoolteacher in South Africa, a taxi driver in Mumbai, a sheep herder in the Australian outback or a house church pastor in China. He could even be an American expat living in Denmark. God's last days remnant is scattered throughout the world but rest assured, God knows who they are and where they are.