What is it to truly be longsuffering? I don’t know; that’s why I ask. I have a few ideas about it, but I’m not absolutely convinced about any of them. Are the sins of my enemies against me more heinous than my own sins against God? Just how longsuffering was God with me? I joke about now being the time to invest in precious metals, like brass and lead, referring to ammunition. With the coming revolution—whoops! – I mean with the almost certain coming civil unrest, what should I do to prepare? Do I stock up on food, firewater, and firearms? If the civil unrest becomes uncivil and turns into a shooting match, do I take part?
Politics has come between the so-called evangelical church and the glory of the Gospel. Oh, there’s plenty of outward hustle and activity among all the political action groups claiming to be fighting for God’s Kingdom and soliciting your “gifts and offerings.” Their pragmatism will attack my skepticism and ask, “So what should we do? Just sit around and do nothing?”
What about prayer? I know James tells us that faith without works is dead, but my skepticism concerns the works and the justification of those works. What are we building, the Kingdom of God, or the kingdom of men? Are we building the true Church?
The perceived low level of spirituality, the lack of fruit in the churches, ought to alert us to a possibly misguided vision. Some of the changes in the church are labeled progress, and the voice of the people becomes the voice of God. But do not the Scriptures tell us the whole world lies in wickedness? That would seem to indicate that if we rely too heavily on a majority of public opinion to shape our goals and objectives, we might just be adopting the ways of the world, which is also known as walking in the flesh. This is also why I often say, “Democracy sucks.”
Progress, if it is only in the flesh, will ultimately degenerate. Remember the so-called “good old days” of the fifties and the early sixties with Leave It to Beaver and The Andy Griffith Show. Where has that Hollywood morality taken us? Did it progress to an even greater virtue? No, the boomers of the fifties and early sixties went crazy with drugs, sex, and rock and roll. Their offspring produced the eighties, and now their children, grandchildren to the hippies, are giving us the new millennium and its new morality. Jesus told Nicodemus, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh.” And if it’s flesh, it’s only going to get worse.
So, back to my question about our response to the world as we know it ending before our very eyes: Do we jump on the “influence the culture” bandwagon, or do we hide in caves until the fallout settles and attempt to survive in a Mad Max apocalypse? Or instead of TEOTWAWKI, how about TEOAAWKI (the end of America as we know it)? Our Pilgrim forefathers left Rotterdam, Holland, and arrived on our shores in the Mayflower. The place where our “American adventure” began is now under Sharia law. Do we sit idly by and watch Islamo-facists change American culture as they have done in Holland? Again, the Scriptures tell us we don’t wrestle or fight against flesh and blood; rather, we fight against spiritual principalities and powers. Our difficulty comes because those spiritual principalities and powers meet us directly in the flesh and blood they possess. Also, are we to be about building an earthly kingdom or should we not be about building the Kingdom of God? I love my country, but are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness my life’s calling? What about twenty-year-old Sandul, a Pakistani, Christian woman jailed for “blasphemy” against the Quran (the unholy Muslim book). She lost her liberty. How about another Pakistani Christian, Shafia, who was kidnapped into sexual slavery? Shafia definitely lost her liberty and her pursuit of happiness. And what about the 10,000 Christians who have died in a supposedly democratic Nigeria since 1999? Now when this begins to happen in the USA, am I to take up arms and fight against the flesh and blood committing the persecution?
Anyone who wants to know can find statistics about the persecution of Christians around the globe. So why do we in America suddenly think we should be exempt? Do we really think God needs America? I am not asking for persecution—I fear it. But how can I expect to be exempt and still claim to be a member of the suffering body of Christ? If suffering is a gift from God (see Phil 1:29), should I prepare to fight against it with guns and bombs? I believe God wills the persecution of His people; if that causes you a problem, I suggest you read the book of Esther and then try to refute it.
I would suggest that possibly President Obama is a lot like Haman (in the book of Esther); that is, he is ignorant of God’s purpose. The President might be radically opposed to Christians and will attempt to gratify his own evil dispositions; all the while, he is fulfilling the plan of God. Allow me to close this rambling essay with the comments of Alexander Carson from 1853 in his study of God’s providence in the book of Esther called “Confidence in God in Times of Danger”:
“It is a curious fact, but not a singular one, that God raised up Haman to bring His people into danger, as well as Esther to deliver them. In this, as in other things, the Divine wisdom is distinguished from the human in a striking manner. No man would nurture the wretch whom he should know to be the future enemy of himself and his offspring. But God exalted Haman in the court of the great king, above all the princes of the empire, for the very purpose of giving him an opportunity of manifesting [Haman’s] enmity against His people, and of attempting the destruction of the whole nation. He puts His enemies in the most favorable situation to oppose Him, that He may show with what ease He can discomfit the utmost efforts of their malevolence; nay, He makes the very wrath of man to praise Him, and the plans of His enemies to destroy His cause are made to effect its establishment.”
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5 comments:
"What about prayer?"This post would make a good prayer, I think. You're asking, essentially, how to be at peace with the notion that "God works in mysterious ways." That's a time-honored theme for prayer if ever there was! :-)
And I think only God can answer it. I don't think hoots of approval from the Fox News Chorus will be as useful to you as His answer, whatever it is.
Another excellent question your post presents is how best to prepare, given God's mysterious plan. Praise Him and pass the ammo?
Maybe. But I would say we stay in the safest waters by trusting more and planing less. (You know the old joke about how to make God laugh, don't you?)
Man can plan, and the wise man does. But I think the scope of his plans should be of a scale that fits his ability to execute it. And no plan should take time or attention away from his more immediate responsibilities: what good is a stockpile of weapons if your garden fails? Your marriage falls apart or your children reject you?
Why plan in fear for destruction when you can plan, with hope, for creation?
Whatever God intends, we cannot force Him to reveal it. I think our job in the mean time is to pray and make the best of what we are given. To assume the worst of everything seems to me ungrateful...
PS: I just thought of one good use for a weapons stockpile if your garden fails: You can kill deer.
But still...
"If the Lord doesn't build the house" (or city, or nation) . . . "the laborers" (or citizens, or politicias, or soldiers) "labor" (or legislate, or fight) "in vain." (Psa. 127:). Welcome to Ecclesiates 1:2. But the opposite is also true. There is no "house" from the Lord apart from laborers (or citizens, soldiers, etc.). The key is in knowing what house to build and who should do the building -- hmmm.
Mark LaCour
Let the billowing waves roll. Let the thundering clouds resound. The Beloved's eyes are fixed on her Bridegroom and His glory! He has bid her come to walk on water. What shall man do? She is seeking the Kingdom of Heaven. Will He not give the way in which she is to get there?
I share the frustrations and concerns that are the foundation for your questions. Thirty minutes of talk radio (secular or Christian) and my blood pressure starts rising to critical levels. The fruits of this “age of entitlement” are evident everywhere you look.
But then I regroup and realize that this is nothing new, nothing that God didn’t see coming and nothing that He hasn’t already made provisions for.
We are promised trials, challenges and persecution. The prophets of the Old Testament were forced to deal with some pretty serious stiff necked opposition, and God worked miracles in their lives. And yet, they still suffered the same doubt and frustration (think of Elijah, Isaiah and Jeremiah).
The people of Israel were no different then many of the Christians today. In times of prosperity, they grew apathetic and irreverent in their worship. Malachi paints a very clear picture here, and his book is a strong word for us today.
Looking at the New Testament you can start with Jesus and his sacrifice on the cross, and quickly move on to Stephen and the rest of the apostles.
Persecution is a given.
But God is very clear regarding our response during these times of persecution and the ‘flee to the mountains” is rarely an option. I believe that it’s only given twice in scripture (Lot was given that option in Genesis 19, and Jesus said it in relation to the end times in Matthew 24 and Mark 13).
Our role model here is Jesus.
The church today is not a denomination, building or the followers of the hot topic prime time preacher. It is as it has always been; it’s the gathering of believers that are walking out their relationship with God on a very personal level. They seek Him daily on their knees, in His word, and they are about His business on their jobs and in their homes and communities. They are the people in your office that you might not necessarily want to hang out with, but they are the first ones you go to when you have a need. They are at peace; they are full of joy even in the face of adversity. Their personalities and attitudes draw you to the Lord, even before you know they are believers.
They weep for the holocaust that is taking place in the name of “choice” and they are serving in the prison ministries and nursing homes, ministering to the American version of the untouchables.
I like what John Wesley said here. “"Let us be employed, not in the highest but in the meanest, not in the easiest but the hottest service. Ease and plenty we leave to those that want them. Let us go on in toil, in weariness, in painfulness, in cold or hunger so we may but testify to the gospel of the grace of God”
Sorry for the ramble, I really enjoyed your post and it made me take a closer look at myself. Not an easy thing sometimes :)
The challenges we face today need to be met head on, they are opportunities to spread His word and salvation. It’s not easy, but I really feel that they are necessary in order to fulfill the promise of the abundant life he has given us.
As for the answers to the day to day questions, I will trust Him to provide those.
But hey, the cards are already stacked in our favor. We’ve read the last chapter and, we win :-)
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