Do You Know Time It Is?
Since we have moved, we are in a new church. One recent Sunday, a man who goes to that church approached us in the parking lot, and he brought up an interesting observation about Christians who “know what time it is”.
What he meant by that was people who are observing the signs of the times and seeing unmistakeable signs of God's judgment on our nation. Do we see that it is not just coming, but we are already there?
Think with me for a moment, what civilization kills its unborn, and even celebrates it? The blood of 60,000,000 children cries to God for vengeance from polluted land. How can this end well for us?
In the past, ask yourself what government would be so lacking in the fear of God that it would celebrate homosexual marriage with ghastly rainbow lights on the White House? What government doesn't know what a woman is, pays for the castration of confused children, subsidizes homeless drug addicts to live on the streets in their own filth ? What kind of future are they envisioning, and what result should such a civilization expect?
This is where we already are: unrighteous laws, unrighteous leaders, lawless and corrupt judges. The very people who should be rewarding good and punishing evil seem bent on doing the very opposite.
But whose fault is this? We can complain bitterly about the government and the culture, but what does Jesus say?
It is arguable that the blame lies at the feet of the Church Christ died for.
“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. Matthew 5:13
What came before the politics went south was that the salt of the earth lost its savor. The solution within our churches is a widespread recognition of our corporate sin, and wholesale repentance. And then prayer. Then we can truly cry out to God to help us do what He calls us to do in this time in our history. It won't look the same for everyone. But God is there to help us.
This is not something a nation can do as an entity, but the believers of that nation can and must do so as individuals and church members, urged on by church leadership by their words and their examples. We must turn from our own hidden and besetting sins. We must see the dire situation this world is in, and not be ok with muntitudes going to hell every hour. We must love the world like God loved the world and sent His Son to save it.
We who know and understand the gospel must pray for courage, wisdom, and perseverance. Sad to say, it is a rare church who is encouraging their membership this way. Our churches are largely complacent or cowed; in either case, reluctant to speak the truth. To the objection that the church must not be political, this is the answer:
The truth that needs to be spoken is not a political truth, it is Biblical truth. A large part of the problem is fear on the part of Christians and their churches: fear of the government, or fear of offending sinners.
Truly, most of us in church do not know what time it is.
Many of us are in denial, or worse; we choose having “good” relationships with those we love who are living in gross sin above a good relationship with a holy God.
In the interest of preserving our relationships we have compromised our opinions regarding those sins. We choose tolerance over truth and call it love. But we who love Jesus must not love our children or families more than we love Him. If we truly love them we must speak the truth of God's word to them, not hold open the door to hell for them.
So what do we do if we cannot find a church whose leadership is courageous? What if you're like me, a natural coward?
In our spheres of influence: family, classmates, co-workers and to both church members and leadership, we must pray to be brave and loyal to our Savior. We must think about it now so that when the time comes to choose, we choose Him over everything else. Including life itself.
If you're like me and lacking in such courage, pray to the Lord that He will give you strength to stand for Him. If you are a Christian, remember that He suffered and died for you. No matter what we have to sacrifice, it is nothing compared to His sacrifice on the cross for us.
This month's song is called Phantoms On Our Lawns. It is a call to wake up and see where we are and the necessity to repent. As I said, let it be so with me most of all so that these words are not empty ones.