So tempting to make like an ostrich and tune it all out. The big problem is the feeling of helplessness. No matter how bad it gets, it just goes on getting worse, there are so few in politics who even speak against it let alone have a plan to do something about it. They seem intimidated. They've copped out.
A Christian knows, or should know, the only real answer is a supernatural return to God, but we're about as far from that as we are from a political solution. We need revival, or reformation first and then revival, but where is the will for that? In isolated doctrinally sound churches led by a few bold pastors the right motives are there, the true gospel is preached, but clearly that's not enough to turn back the tide of evil we are seeing. Well, really it doesn't have to take great numbers, as the story of Gideon is there to inform us, but surely it does take the right mindset and the right motives and a deep commitment to the purposes of God.
If preaching the gospel is our weapon but we aren't having an impact what then? If you tell people the gospel and nothing happens, they roll their eyes and change the subject, what then? Since our citizenship is not of this world why spend any time concerned about the world anyway? Is that our job? Why don't we just sit still and let it roll over us, be content with a few converts here and there, and growing under good preaching? We're called to persecution aren't we? The ostrich reaction gets more appealing the more hopeless the situation looks. But the consequences of doing nothing are pretty dire, for us, for family and friends, for the nation, even for the world.
We need to know from God what we aren't doing and what we need to do, if there is anything at all we can do. What do we need to repent of? If the church appears to be doctrinally sound and the gospel is preached, still isn't something missing, and what is it? If we don't know then God needs to show us. We can preach against worldly attempts to deal with what is a supernatural and spiritual problem, but if preaching the gospel isn't accomplishing much, and the culture is continuing to grow as this gigantic dunghill, we need God to tell us how to get the supernatural power which alone affects the human spirit and changes the world. Maybe the doctrinally sound churches are too content with the status quo to look for more from God.
So again I come back to the need for reformation and revival, a supernatural work of God by which God Himself comes to us in unusual power, sends us falling on our faces in trembling fear as His holiness becomes palpable, with a heavy sense of our own sins and failures, and an acute awareness of His sovereign right to rule in the affairs of humanity. When He comes and breaks us like that then He also comes and draws unbelievers into His Kingdom as the gospel is preached with power. And that is the only hope for the culture.
Seems to me the first thing we need is a deep yearning for such a visitation from God and a deep faith that it is possible. If we're complacent and satisfied with our level of spirituality and doctrinal correctness we just won't be seeking more from God. But it's more we need. A great outpouring of Himself by which we would know how inadequate we are, that's where we need Him to start to revive us. We can preach the gospel quite correctly but with such little Holy Spirit power it can't change people. We need that Holy Spirit power and that's why we need revival. In other words even if we preach the truth and preach it well we can be missing the spiritual power that drives it home to other souls.
There must be sins that impede us that we need to repent of, and there is certainly too little seeking of God. How do we get that power we need? By humbling ourselves and praying and seeking His face and turning from our wicked ways, as the most famous biblical formula for revival tells us. Then He will answer from Heaven and heal our land. Revivals have come from churches, or even just a group of individuals, getting together for frequent and protracted periods of prayer. With a yearning for revival and faith that it is possible and a sense of our own inadequacy for the things of God, and the humility to know we may not be fully meeting his requirements of us, God may give it.
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