Eternal Perspectives

I read the following at Adrian’s blog in a post entitled, “Who really is the worlds [sic] super power – America or China?”:

Trevor, a commentator here said:

‘Interesting that for Typhon [sic] Tamlin, which has gone through China this weekend — not that we have heard anything about it — and which was also a category 4, the Chinese managed to evacuate some 100,000 from their homes and a further 1,000,000 were moved to higher ground. They are reporting less than 60 fatalities at the moment.’”

There are a number of things I could object to in this brief post:

(a) the smug, condescending tone of the comment;

(b)the bizarre standard for what constitutes “super power” status implied in this post;

(c) the self-contradictory statement “not that we have heard anything about it,” and

(d) a smattering of “yellow journalism” (Trevor boy fails to mention that the article reports 1,000 Chinese who have died in recent flooding).

John rightly points out, although the news article was silent, that the evacuation in China was likely mandatory and not voluntary as it was here. Since when does China give its people choices about anything?

What bothers me is this: Trevor – and apparently Adrian – seize upon the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina to take a cheap shot at the United States. Perhaps as many as 10,000 people – created in God’s image – have been killed in this disaster and they come up with this?!?

(I am no flag-waving patriot: I appreciate being able to live in the U.S., but it’s not my home. I’m just passing through and am grateful for having been allowed to live in this country as a “resident alien” until I arrive at my heavenly home. If a similar comment had been made about another country – Canada, Sudan, India – it would have bothered me, although admittedly not as much.)

Never mind that the standards for what constitutes a “super power” seem to be reduced to a single issue – shall we just forget all about Tiananmen Square, where China the great super power slaughtered 1,000-7,000 protesting students? – I fail to see the point of suggesting that the United States is inferior to China because a disaster befell us. Did we take cheap shots at Britain when terrorists struck? I don’t recall anything but compassion and support.

This is irresponsible and sinful, little different than those who have said that the hurricane was God’s judgment on New Orleans. Is this what the Blogdom of God has become? Are the things of this world – who’s the big super power and who isn’t – all that matter? Is this reflective of the practice of Christianity in Britain?

I don’t believe that it is. But posts like that make me wonder.

Culture Watch has rapidly become one of my favorite blogs. Written by Douglas Groothuis, professor of philosophy at Denver Seminary, it is a source of clear thinking and perceptive insights from someone who “has been in a bad mood since 1998″ by his own admission.

His recent post The Greatest Danger Facing the Church Today is a reprint of his last column for Moody Monthly. He says,

I believe that, more than anything else, the church is imperiled by its own failure to teach, to believe, and to live out the great truths of the Christian faith in a way that pleases God. This is true not only of theologically liberal congregations—which essentially abandoned the Bible long ago—but also of too many evangelical churches and institutions.”

Now, neither Dr Groothuis nor I have canvassed all the churches in the United States and Canada, but I take this to be a fairly safe generalization. Too many churches neglect the teaching of the word of God and, sadly, those that do teach it often fail to teach it effectively. What is even worse, however, is that the majority of professing Christians do not demonstrate much interest in learning even the basic, fundamental truths of our incredibly rich and deep faith.

Why some churches fail to teach biblical truth makes no sense to me. A great number, of course, do not believe the Bible to be God’s revelation to mankind and thus diminish its value. But even those that do profess to hold the Bible in high regard ignore biblical instruciton. Perhaps they are more interested in teaching “practical truth” that pew-dwellers can translate into better marriages, increased happiness, or more disciplined children. Some churches are pursuing purposes or philosophies or something else that tickles their ears for awhile. What they are not doing is pursuing the knowledge of God.

Other churches are very committed to teaching God’s truth but do so in an ineffective fashion. Adhering to the secular model of education – a knowing person gives information to an unknowing person – such congregations have numerous programs, Sunday School classes, Bible studies, and conferences. What is too often ignored – if not always ignored – is the model Jesus provided, a manner of discipling that demonstrates what we are only beginning to understand about how the brain learns.

Teaching churches often fail to develop an overall goal and corresponding plan to move believers from Point A in their knowledge to Point B. Lacking adequate and clear categories to assimilate additional information, a lot of very good teaching is forgotten because it is not taught in a brain-based manner or connected to other truths taught previously. Failing to plan, they fail. Other churches that emphasize teaching fail to train teachers sufficiently, with the result that students become bored and assume that the Bible itself is boring. As Haddon Robinson says, “it is a sin to bore people with the word of God.”

The most troubling problem for me, though, is the apparent lack of interest on the part of most professing Christians, and especially the men. Classes or conferences on doctrinal truths, Bible surveys, or methodical Bible study generate few students. For a host of reasons, becoming a serious student of the Bible strikes people as unimportant and tedious.

I am frustrated that so many men can name all the nicknames for MLB teams but are completely baffled when asked to name the Minor Prophets. Or even the Major Prophets. They know the ins and outs of the stock market but complain that teaching about the Melchizedekian priesthood is beyond their intellect. They spend hours figuring out who to draft and who to play in their fantasy football league but cannot find time for their own Bible reading or – God forbid! – men’s Bible study.

The Bible has a term for such people: fools.

Paul says that he was a fool for Christ’s sake (1 Co 4.10) but Paul was not a fool. A fool, especially in the Old Testament, was a person who lived as though there was no God. Such individuals might say they believe in God and might show up at the temple for the required feasts and sacrifices, but their lives betrayed their foolishness. They were not fools for God, they were just fools. Today they are Christian fools: their beliefs are correct, but their lives declare that there is no God.

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction.” – Pr 1.7

“The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” – Ps 14.1, 53.1

Why men in particular choose to invest their time, energy, and life in things that will either desert them (Pr 23.4-5), be given to an idiot (Ecc 2.18-19), or eventually perish (Jas 5.1-3) escapes me. Have they simply failed to think through the choices they make? Do they really not believe what the Bible teaches about priorities? (Certainly I have been as guilty as anyone in gathering and hoarding the world’s goods, but I have not failed to seek the truth or thought for a minute that such things were really important. That doesn’t make me better than others, only more hypocritical.)

I do not know what it will take to convince men to pursue Christ and the knowledge of God. Perhaps it will take something similar to the disaster that struck New Orleans, Mississippi, and Alabama over the last week. For me, however, it is painful to watch people ignore the greatest source of wealth and riches that God has made available to us.

Looking at the breakdown of civility in New Orleans, Michael Spencer (the Internet Monk) provides his analysis in “What are we seeing in New Orleans?” For those of you who don’t like to read too much, I’ll summarize some of his points here. But it would be better for you to read his post in its totality.

1. “I think we are seeing a turning point in the perception of America in the world.” Spencer believes that the world will now perceive the United States to be a country that is easily panicked and easily driven to a chaotic lawlessness as is now enveloping New Orleans. Terrorists, he fears, will be encouraged by what they are seeing.

2. “I believe we are witnessing a turning point in the perception of the urban poor in America.” Specifically, Spencer identifies the African-American community in New Orleans and points to the lawless actions of African-American looters and policemen. “What America is seeing,” he writes, “is not the African-American community’s finest hour.” He fears that prejudices will be confirmed and “re-energized” by the events unfolding there.

3. “I believe we are witnessing a revelation of the impotence of government.” Spencer writes,

I saw the governor almost crying during a press conference. And, of course, I’d seen the mayor of New Orleans looking like a whipped dog the day before, asking for FEMA help.

“They all sounded like little, squeaking, micro-people on a planet of giants running amuck. Their words carried no weight or authority.”

He predicts ( in a post written earlier today) “there will soon be shots in the streets of New Orleans, as the government will have no choice but to shoot its own citizens in order to restore order.”

4. “I fear we are watching the first of many future episodes of social chaos in America.” He sees frightening parallels between what is transpiring in New Orleans to what took place in ancient Rome prior to its fall to the barbarians. He points to the government, education, families, and the media as at least partially responsible for the deterioration unfolding in the city.

In the comments section, Spencer clarifies that “It is a culture problem. Not a race problem.” In another comment, he adds:

Please….as we look with compassion we can’t excuse the evil. The social breakdown that has brought this has little to do with a Hurricane and a lot to do with the culture we are creating among the poor in our cities.”

It is unclear – to me, at least – exactly where Spencer places the blame for what is happening in New Orleans. I don’t know that I agree with his assessment or his predictions; I do know that I do not share his harsh criticism of the governor and mayor: they are overwhelmed, too, and undoubtedly feel helpless and hopeless in the face of the disaster. They carry the weight and responsibility of leadership in a situation beyond the control of any human leader. Further, they are hardly to blame for all the evil taking place in the city: each person is responsible for their own sins.

Spencer certainly paints with a broad brush and seems to locate the problem in the socio-economic and cultural sensibilities of many citizens of New Orleans. At the risk of also painting with too broad a brush, I’ll offer the following observations.

What is transpiring in New Orleans is not a racial, cultural, or economic problem. I cannot bring myself to fault anyone for “looting” in order to find food and water to survive. Martial law has been declared and, if I were king, I would give orders to assist those “stealing” food and necessary supplies – including medications – and to shoot those stealing guns, luxury items, or threatening the well-being of any other person. Perhaps thousands of innocent people have died in New Orleans; it seems fitting to have people guilty of heinous and unconscionable crimes join them.

What is happening in New Orleans is the natural consequence of a deterioration of moral standards in the city. Many of the inner-city residents – and especially those who prospered from the immorality of Bourbon Street and its appeal to base desires – are both victimizing and being victimized by the absence of morality among some of those who remained during the hurricane. They are unrestrained, lacking an internal basis for morality. They are not living like animals, as some have suggested, but are living like humans lacking God-established controls.

They have sown the wind, as Hosea said, and they are reaping the whirlwind. Not the whirlwind of Katrina, but a whirlwind far worse and far more dangerous: the whirlwind of wickedness residing in the human heart. A minority – an immoral minority – is exploiting the absence of law and creating disorder. They are preying upon the weak and demonstrating that what God has said about the unaided, unrestrained human heart is tragically true. There are none righteous. We are desperately wicked.

To be sure, there are many good people in New Orleans who have sought to reform and redeem the city for years. It has been my experience that where sin is strong, so are the churches and Christians that live nearby. I am confident such is the case in New Orleans, too.

But it is an uphill battle for them and one they will not likely win. The United States is a democracy, not a theocracy, and individuals are free to reject the morality of truth and live outside the law – not outside the law of the land, but outside the law of God. Some people will live as close to the edge of lawlessness as those in power will allow. And when the threat of consequences and punishment is removed, the evil in their hearts runs wild in the streets.

Addendum: There are more than a few reports of people trapped in the flooded city of New Orleans who are criticizing the government for failing to provide help and rescue quickly enough. It is tempting to be angry with such people and to respond with our own criticism of them. But should we really expect any different response? We have taught generations of people to look to the government for salvation, hope, and deliverance. The government, we have been told, can solve all problems and meet all needs. That lie is now being exposed, but we can hardly fault those people who have been sold these empty promises for demanding that the government deliver.