Volume 16 Issue 5
Americans, I fear, have been reduced to emotional, spiritual zombies. We can’t respond authoritatively to anything. We can’t project our ideals with certitude. We refuse to believe that the darkness that is unfolding is real. We see no danger. We refuse all warnings. Welcome to the world of the “living dead.”
Forgive me for the likely inaccurate absolutisms, but I am truly concerned that we are far too blasé about the world’s “clear and present dangers.” America is attacked and 3,000 are killed; but now, three years later, the liberal crowd seems determined to dismiss the assault as deserved punishment against our own arrogance. But beyond 9/11, the growing list of dangers should be evident: the collapse of morals; illegal aliens by the millions; the alarming increase in identity theft; loss of privacy; the glamorization of perversion; the influence of pagan religions; false science; and the pervasive intrusion of pornography, soon to be downloadable on every I-Pod and phone in America. There many more concerns, such as pluralism, Globalism, ecumenism, etc. There is a crisis in America – and the scope of the response does not match the magnitude of the crisis. The problem is not so much the power of the enemy as it is our response to enemy.
When the levees broke in New Orleans, the danger from the flood that followed out-stripped the influence of the hurricane itself. This left the question of whether the hurricane caused the collapse of the levees; or was the real cause of the disaster the inherent weakness caused by the poor construction and planning of the levees? Such is the argument I making here. America is losing its Christian foundation and its reputation as a righteous nation, not because it has been out-powered by a force too great for its might or its resources, but because it is fails to act decisively.
James 4:7* “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” This scripture reveals a powerful principle: Resist the wrong, sandbag against the flood, never give in, and the enemy will be defeated. It is a spiritual decision, a notion about conviction. History clearly demonstrates that if good men and women had resisted evil soon enough and with enough conviction, much of the world’s horror and mayhem could have been avoided. For an example, Nazi Germany would have never succeeded if the world had not initially ignored the threatening evil for the sake of money and expediency.
Apathy is the problem. Lack of resolve is the dilemma. Failure to assume responsibility is the condition. False doctrine and worldliness attacks the church daily. But this is not a new thing; it has always been true. Similarly, our country has always had enemies; but arguably, in the past we were less tenacious, less fearful, less greedy and more patriotic. Today the enemy attacks both church and country; but sadly we are like the walking dead, afflicted with weak hearts and uncertain convictions, blindly approaching the abyss.
There is, however, good news. Let the Church stand and God will stand with it. Speak out against false things and the divine anointing will fall on lips of clay. Trust in God’s Word, preach God’s Word… and He will honor any man, any church, and any people that will dare to do so.
Is it the enemy that is so overpowering? Or is it that we are weak in courage and commitment?