"Chariots of Fire"
It was so cute to hear my then two year old granddaughter
say, "What in the world?” It always
brought a smile to my face. The question
itself is one of astonishment mixed with confusion. I now find myself looking at the church and
asking, "What in the world are you doing?"
I guess now is the time to take this opportunity to
interject a disclaimer: the vast majority of the Church will not like what I'm
about to say and it could induce vomiting, increased heart rate, reddening of
the face and slurring of the speech, causing incoherent verbal abuse and bad
thoughts toward me. If symptoms continue
for more than a few hours, you should seek immediate help from the Great
Physician!
With that out of the way, let me continue. I feel that church's preoccupation with
politics is a great deception of Satan to neutralize its efforts of spreading
the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Let's face
it: most denominations will admit that they have been in decline over the past
20 years. I know I'll catch some heat by
saying this, but I believe that the greatest perpetrator of this decline has
been the church's political involvement.
In the history of man, there has never been a successful
government, not even with God's chosen people, Israel. Let's Read Samuel 8: 9-20 (BE) to see what
God's opinion of government is:
9) Give ear now to their voice: but make a SERIOUS protest
to them, and give them a picture of the sort of king who will be their ruler.
10) And Samuel said all these words of the Lord to the
people who were desiring a king.
11) And he said, This is the SORT of king who will be your
ruler: he will TAKE your sons and MAKE them his SERVANTS, his horsemen, and
drivers of his war-carriages, and they will go running before his
war-carriages;
12) And he will MAKE them captains of thousands and of
fifties; some he will put to work ploughing and cutting his grain and making
his instruments of war and building his war-carriages.
13) Your DAUGHTERS HE WILL TAKE to be makers of perfumes and
cooks and bread-makers.
14) He will TAKE your fields and your vine-gardens and your
olive-gardens, all the BEST OF THEM, and GIVE them to his servants.
15) He will TAKE a tenth of your seed and of the fruit of
your vines and GIVE it to his servants.
16) He will TAKE your men-servants and your servant-girls,
and the BEST of your oxen and your asses and PUT THEM TO WORK.
17) He will TAKE a tenth of your sheep: and you will be his
SERVANTS.
18) Then you will be CRYING out because of your king whom
you have taken for yourselves; but the Lord will not give you an answer in that
day.
19) But the people gave no attention to the voice of Samuel;
and they said, No, but we will have a king over us,
20) So that we may be like the other nations, and so that
our king may be our judge and go out before us to war.
Does that sound a little familiar? All of that could have been said in a speech
to the American people last night! So,
why should the focus of our hope be on a government? Many people are so surprised by the failure
of our government. All one has to do is
apply just a little understanding of
human nature to know that government plus people equals failure. We will always have to deal with flawed
government until Jesus comes to rule and reign.
The United States has been called the great experiment, and we gave it
our best shot, but anytime you put people in the equation, it just won't work. Saul, Israel's first king, was humble. He even seemed to have low self-esteem, but
in the end he was consumed with power and became jealous of any
opposition. Power breeds corruption and
corruption will bring down the greatest of governments.
Now I'm not saying that we shouldn't vote. I believe that all Christians should take the
time to study the candidates and vote.
We should take seriously the responsibility of being a good steward of
this great country God has given us. So,
you are probably asking, "Where is your problem?" Well, the problem is, it was always when
Israel disobeyed or turned away from God or, might I say, when God was no
longer a priority in their lives, that judgment ALWAYS came. What makes the church think they can fight
this battle politically or any other way?
There is only one way to fight.
We find it in 2 Chronicles 7:14 (KJV):
14) If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble
themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then
will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
Many Christians have the tendency to say that if we can get this man elected or that man elected, or get this
law passed or that law passed,
then all will be well. But I just have
to ask this question: how has that worked for the church over the past 30
years? There is only one remedy and the
church is failing to do it. I have also heard
many people say that if their candidate
doesn't get elected, it's all over. It
very well might be over with, but not because your candidate didn't get elected. It will be over because the
church has failed to recognize God as their only source of power. II Chronicles 7:14 still applies today. Some say this Scripture was intended for the
children of Israel and I would have to agree with them, but the reason that it
applies to us today is because we serve a God that the Bible says does not
change. Man changes, man's theology
changes, but God can’t change. If the
solution will work for Israel, it will work for the Christian church today. Verse 14 starts off with "If". In this context, “if” is a positive statement. If we
do this, God will do that. The answers to our problems today don't get
any simpler than that.
The first thing God gives us to do in Chronicles 7:14, is to
humble ourselves. In other words, stop
running around in circles in a panic saying we have to do this or that to fix
this thing. We have to stop and say, “God,
we can't fix this. It's out of our
control. We’re not big enough or smart
enough or powerful enough. God, you're
the only one who can fix this.” That my friend is
humility at its best. That is where we
must begin.
Next, God simply says to pray and seek His face. To pray
that’s the words man speaks to God, but to seek His face is to demand His
attention. The context of what He said
is to pray to God with passion and fervency as if we really can't do anything
about it and He is our only hope. Next, Chronicles
7:14 says to turn from our wicked ways. Do right, and God will take it from there. Simply do right,
In the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, Christians traded the
altar for the voting booth. The late 1980’s
gave birth to the Christian Coalition and the Christian Coalition did what
Christians do best. They bickered and
fought so much that now they're irrelevant.
When those same Christians decide to go back to the altar, they will
find that the altars have been taken out of the church. As was the case throughout the Bible, we are
going to have to rebuild the altars that have been broken down before God can
do a work.
In the 34 years since I've been voting, we have amassed a
$16 trillion debt and the church has lost many rights that it once held
dear. There have been somewhere in the
neighborhood of 50 million babies aborted. As our government changes hands from Democrat
to Republican, then Republican to Democrat, like a well orchestrated ponzi scheme the church continues to lose
ground. We have found ourselves taking a
knife to a gunfight and coming out on the short end of the stick. It's time to break out the heavy artillery
and pray; you must never lose sight of the fact that our God is sovereign.
Let’s look at 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 (KJV):
3) For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the
flesh:
4) For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty
through God to the pulling down of strong holds;
5) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that
exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every
thought to the obedience of Christ;
Notice verse 4. Our weapons are not of this world. We are mighty only because of God. Hebrews 11:32-34 (KJV) says:
32) And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to
tell of Gideon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also,
and Samuel, and of the prophets:
33) Who THROUGH FAITH
subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths
of lions,
34) Quenched the
violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made
strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.
We can also find hope in Jeremiah 32:26-28 (KJV):
26) Then came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah, saying,
27) Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there
any thing too hard for me?
The Church doesn't need a perfect political climate to
flourish. We only need to turn back to
God.
The persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire began
during the ministry of Jesus and continued intermittently over a period of
about three centuries. This persecution
can be traced both historically and in the current era. Early Christians were persecuted for their
faith, at the hands of both Jews and the Roman Empire, who controlled much of
the land early Christianity was distributed across. Yet the Bible said they turned the world
upside down and during that time no government could stop the growth of the
church.
God and Samuel were both disappointed when Israel chose to
be ruled by a man rather than God; but have we not done the same thing by
putting all of our efforts into political actions instead of seeking the face
of God? I can remember many in the
church as a kid who didn't believe in voting.
There was an element in the church that condemned them for their beliefs. It is necessary to find balance. In the 1960’s, there was a political upheaval that
spilled over into the church. It was the
final nail in the coffin of any revival in the early part of the century. Topeka, Kansas and Azusa Street are just foot
notes in a history book now. As the
church’s political clout grew, revival and the power of God faded away.
When the Apostle Paul wrote his Epistle to the Romans, Nero
was emperor of Rome. Ultimately, Paul
was beheaded on Nero’s orders. It is
especially important to keep Nero in mind when reading Paul’s admonition to the
Romans as recorded in Romans 13:1-2 (KJV):
1) Let everyone put himself under the authority of the
higher powers, because there is no power which is not of God, and all powers
are ordered by God.
2) For which reason everyone who puts himself against the
authority puts himself against the order of God: and those who are against it
will get punishment for themselves.
No tyrant, no matter how terrible, achieved his rank through
his own effort. While Satan is certainly
capable of corrupting tyrants, he is powerless to appoint them. This is one of the harder passages of
Scripture, but it is nonetheless true.
Every tyrant in history was either appointed by God or the Bible is not
true.
We must be careful that we don't find ourselves working fervently
against God and His purpose. God should
be our main focus, with politics in our peripheral vision. Again, I know many will disagree with me, but
you can't read the Bible and not see it has always been people's attitude
toward God that determined the direction of a country, not the politics of a
country. The Church can make a huge
difference in this world by returning to God with a renewed enthusiasm for the
power of prayer. Don't you think it's
time for the church to try a different approach? If we want real “hope and change”, let’s try the
tactics that have actually worked in the past, such as found in Joshua, chapter
6. We could march around a city seven
times, blow our horns, wait for the walls of the city to fall, then just walk
right in. Or maybe Judges, chapter 7,
and take an army of 32,000, reduce it to 300 men, surround an enemy who
outnumbers you by about a thousand to one, at night no less, break a pitcher
and blow a trumpet, shouting "the sword of the Lord and of Gideon"! Then wait for the enemy to become confused
enough to kill each other and just chase away the remaining few.
I have a bunch more ideas and all of them have already been
used and were very successful if you're willing to listen! I must warn you, though, that all my ideas
involve praying a lot, doing little, and letting God do the work. I think our greatest battle is within
ourselves, trying to go it alone without God’s help.
Read what God told Gideon in Judges 7:2 (KJV):
2) And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people that are with
thee are TOO MANY for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel
vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me.
We have a great division in the church today, much like the
children of Israel had when Moses led them.
Look at Numbers 13:27 – 33:
27) And they said, We came to the land where you sent us,
and truly it is flowing with milk and honey: and here is some of the produce of
it.
28) BUT the people living in the land are strong, and the
towns are walled and very great; further, we saw the children of Anak there.
29) And the Amalekites are in the South; and the Hittites
and the Jebusites and the Amorites are living in the hill-country; and the
Canaanites by the sea and by the side of Jordan.
30) Then Caleb made signs to the people to keep quiet, and
said to Moses, Let us go up straight away and take this land; for we are well
able to overcome it.
31) But the men who had gone up with him said, We are not
able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.
32) And they gave the children of Israel a bad account of
the land they had been to see, saying, This land through which we went is a
land causing destruction to those living in it; and all the people we saw there
are men of more than common size.
33) There we saw those great men, the sons of Anak,
offspring of the Nephilim: and we seemed to ourselves no more than insects, and
so we seemed to them.
The vast majority of the church only looks within themselves
and their abilities, whereas there are only a few who will say, “With God's
power and strength, we can win!” A
person might be able to change a vote, but that vote will never change a heart. If you change a heart, that changed heart will
change a vote.
For those who have taken the time to read this in it’s
entirety, I would like to pray for you the same prayer that Elisha prayed for
his servant in II Kings 6:17 (KJV):
17) And Elisha
prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man;
and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire
round about Elisha.
