  I’m not surprised
that some people have
quit watching or reading
news reports altogether.
We may not know exactly
what shocking new
images will be shoved in
our face on any given day,
but we can be confident
that whatever they turn
out to be, they will have
been carefully selected
and edited to make us feel
anxious, enraged, horrified,
brokenhearted,
depressed, despondent, or
hopelessly overwhelmed.
It seems like with every
new day, another paragon
of economic and scientific
idiocy declares that the
human race cannot possibly
survive unless we quit
driving cars, turn off our
air conditioners, stop eating
meat, expand the
killing of inconvenient
babies, ban plastic straws,
give up using toilet paper,
and force every awful,
atmosphere polluting cow
in the country to eat Gas-
X. The emotional drain
can get to be just too much
to handle.
When we hear
purportedly "intelligent”
elected officials proposing
policies that lie somewhere
between total foolishness
and hopeless
insanity, we instinctively
utter a heartfelt cry for
"someone” to do something
about it. But it’s
hard to know where to
turn or what to do when
those hundreds of people
sent to Washington, DC to
represent us can’t even
seem to agree on exactly
what the problems are,
much less what to do to
correct them. Maybe
we’re looking for the
answer to this confusing and frustrating mess in
the wrong place. Maybe
we ought to take our
questions to the One who
knows everything--and
just to be clear here, I’m
referring to God, not
Alexandria Ocasio-
Cortez, or any of
America’s liberal college
sophomores or their self-deified
professors.
God isn’t confused
at all regarding
what lies at the root of all
our problems. America’s
arch enemy isn’t an ideology
or a political party.
He said it quite simply,
Righteousness exalts a
nation, But sin is a reproach
to any people. Proverbs
14:34 (NKJV)
Our situation
isn’t new. God’s people
found themselves in circumstances
like ours
more than once and when
they begged for a hero to
rescue them, God delivered
this sobering
response:
Behold, the LORD'S hand is
not shortened, That it cannot
save; Nor His ear heavy,
That it cannot hear. But
your iniquities have separated
you from your God; And
your sins have hidden His
face from you, So that He
will not hear. For your
hands are defiled with blood,
And your fingers with iniquity;
Your lips have spoken
lies, Your tongue has muttered
perversity. No one
calls for justice, Nor does
any plead for truth. They
trust in empty words and
speak lies; They conceive evil
and bring forth iniquity.Isaiah 59:1-4 (NKJV)
When home renovators
notice a crack in
the drywall, they know
it’s relatively easy to
patch, but the cracks often
reveal a problem much
deeper. Sometimes those
cracks develop because
the foundation has begun
to crumble and patching
the crack will only produce
a temporary cosmetic
improvement. If the
real problem is not
addressed, the entire
house is in jeopardy.
Quite simply, that’s
where we are right now.
The cracks we’re seeing in
political, economic, and
social issues are symptomatic
of a much deeper
problem, and the answer
doesn’t lie in a political
strategy. God had a much
more effective plan to
deal with it.
God sent His Son,
Jesus Christ to establish
victory over evil forever
and to begin a global campaign
against sin in every
form that it takes. Jesus
faced a world embroiled
in conflicts that were
overwhelming, and He
initiated a counteractive
program that wasn’t dependent
upon governmental
approval or
political expertise. It was
focused on individual redemption,
individual
transformation, and individual
victory over sin.
That one-on-one relational
way of dealing with
sin’s horrific implications
contained the transformational
power that would
change the world and
alter the course of human
history. Before returning
to the Father, Jesus revealed
how He would
deal with the problem of
evil in the world. He
would send ordinary people
who would choose to
follow Him.
So Jesus said to them again,
"Peace to you! As the Father
has sent Me, I also send
you." John 20:21 (NKJV)
And Jesus came and spoke to
them, saying, "All authority
has been given to Me in
heaven and on earth. Go
therefore and make disciples
of all the nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit, teaching them to
observe all things that I have
commanded you…Matthew 28:18-20 (NKJV)
It’s time for each
one of us to admit that
taking on the evil in the
world has never been
something we can blithely
allocate to some nameless
"somebody.” The power
in the commission we
were given by the Lord
Jesus Christ has always
resided in the application
of the personal pronoun.
Its transforming work is
unleashed and impossible
things become possible
when each of us declares
that the mission is really
my mission.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
In addition to being
an active writer, speaker,
teacher, and blogger, Ron
Gallagher serves in a variety
of roles as a ministry consultant
for local churches.
His Biblical insights are
coupled with down-to-earth
humor, satire, and relevant
stories aimed at promoting "Right Side Up Thinking ~
in an Upside Down World.” Ron strives to apply God’s
truth in a way that stimulates
the mind, encourages
the heart, and challenges the
cultural norm. Check out his
blog, "Gallagher’s Pen” at
www.gallagherspen.com
NEW BOOK . . .Ron’s new book, Right
Side Up Thinking in an
Upside Down World ~ Looking at the
World through the Lens
of Biblical Truth, is now
available on Amazon and
through Lighthouse Bible
Studies. Learn more at http://bit.ly/2IDsNpB |
