I don't ask the question because I am eager to vote, rather I am eager to get it over with. Like when your mother wisely told you that if you pull the band-aid off quickly, you could get the pain behind you. Instead, I am suffering every political hair being ripped from my flesh one after another; And its only February!
"Tax cuts," “family values," "politics of life," "change," and "universal" socialism, oh, I mean "healthcare," are just some of the phrases being drummed into your brain every day on the news. The political process is seemingly more muddy than usual. Like a partier making his way home on New Year's Eve, our country is wildly veering off course and banging into the walls. Fortunately, we still have some walls left.
This is easily attributed to the all of the broken and “dysfunctional” homes that are ever increasingly plaguing our country and world. As a result, there is a directly proportional rise in sin. Neglected and abused children brought up in an amoral environment go on to cheat, steal, kill, and abuse their bodies without a second thought. While an unbelievable amount of this activity has become to be accepted behavior, some attempts have been made to correct it. Attempts to thwart the degradation of our society have come in the form of a “crack down” in sentencing laws such as the “three strikes your out.” We have waged the un-winnable War on Drugs and sought to head off AIDS and teenage pregnancy with medical paraphernalia, but even though the statics vary and fluctuate, the condition of our society undeniably continues to worsen. Most of these attempts have been as effective and fear provoking as a sword swung in darkness. The plans for the next President, whomever he or she might be, will likely have the same dismal impact upon our collective mores. So what is the Christian to do?
When I was a fireman, one of the first things you are shown about firefighting involves a fire extinguisher. They lit a pan of diesel fuel and instructed on how to properly squelched the flames. And by that demonstration it was clear that you could empty a dozen fire extinguishers trying to put that fire out as long as you were aiming at the hot raging flames. Yet in contrast, with but a brief blast aimed at the source or base of the fire it quickly went out.
Friends, there is hardly a clearer illustration available than this one as it relates to combating worldly sin. We can fight the War on Drugs forever, pass out condoms until the end of time, and continue slapping people on their wrists of their crimes harder and harder, but the fires of Hell will only burn all the brighter.
“What shall we do,” you ask? Well the foundational problem is godlessness. This has resulted in what I see as the greatest reason our moral fabric is rotting: A lack of family values. In fact, there is a lack of families period. One of the greatest wonders and holy gifts God ever gave mankind is the family. In an nation that tries to solve its problems with unending legislation and a motto that “it takes a village to raise a child,” we are headed for real trouble. Because it does not take a village or a nation, but a mommy and a daddy with a submission to God to raise a child.
“Why,” I ask myself. Why do so many ignore the divine design of God and create single parent homes, latchkey children, “same-sex marriages,” and leave children emotionally and physically abused. This is the same dumbfounding interrogative tactic used by proponents of homosexuality. “If this is a choice of life-style, why would anyone choose it in the face of so much persecution?” A seemingly hard question, but the fact is, people choose socially unacceptable behavior all the time. Is it popularly acceptable to murder, steal, or cheat? If we assume that behavior that is unfathomable to us is equally so for everyone, we are sadly mistaken. I actually heard a radio talk show host the other day that said we must have sympathy for pedophiles because they must have been born that way. With such tolerance, we are in real trouble.
The problem is our pleasure oriented society. Boredom is a chronic symptom of a pleasure-obsessed age. When pleasure becomes our number one priority, the result, ironically, is boredom. That is why a child sits in a room filled with every conceivable toy and electronic game, yet still claims to be bored. From the countess people I have talked to, it is also why most marriages break up. She says, “I need my freedom;” He says, “I want someone new.”
Being obsessed with pleasure only leaves you wanting for more, like an insatiable drug craving. Solomon said, “Have you found honey? Eat only as much as you need, lest you be filled with it and vomit.”(Prov. 25:16) I do not suggest that we must live as Gnostic hermits, but as joyful Christians. The people in this world know they are missing something, but they don’t know what it is. It is the joy that can only be attained in Christ. This void cannot be filled with any worldly pleasure, no matter how much of it you take. They are taking a pleasure trip to Hell. It is not until they heed this fact and begin restoring our families that this country will ever improve. A turn toward God will be the only turn for the better.
So, if the problem really is godlessness, the solution must be God. More money isn't going to help. Mere change in policy won't help. It is time, past due in fact, that New Testament Christians take a stand. By that, I don't mean stand up and shout louder than everyone else, I mean stand up for Jesus. Lead your family on the path of righteousness. Live your Christianity at your job and neighborhood and where ever you go. Not wielding your Bible as a club, but with joy as your attitude, your speech seasoned with grace, and your actions guided by love. Then when you draw people with your Christ-likeness, they will find the Words of Life palatable.
Lest anyone try and convince you that our founding fathers hand any other plan of success, listen to one of their greatest orators, Patrick Henry:
"It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religion, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ! For this very reason peoples of faiths have been afforded asylum, and freedom of worship here."
The country is not saved from the wildfires of self destruction that claimed all of its predecessors by aiming at the hot flaming issues of the day; we save her by shooting right at the base of the problem and restoring God to her foundation.
Our country is restored one person at a time. Jesus didn't talk much about politics because he knew that Christians could have little affect upon a nation by insisting others adopt their views. However, He did realize that Christian leaders can make a great difference, and that in a republic such as ours, a majority of faithful Christians can make a difference. We cannot expect the world to agree with our heart and mind unless they have the same heart and mind. Patrick Henry was right! The Gospel of Jesus Christ must be lifted up if we are ever to have hope.
The only way God's children can hope to reopen God's floodgates upon our nation is to follow His advice.
"If I shut up the heavens, and there is no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send a plague among My people; if My people, who are called by My name, shall humble themselves and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from Heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now My eyes shall be open, and My ears shall be open to the prayer of this place." 2 Chronicles 7:13-15
1 comment:
Outstanding!!
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