From a Christian perspective, America finds itself in an interesting period of time. Having been adopted through Christ, man is theologically not a bit player on the history stage, but a captain of the whole of God’s earthly creation. The world was given to Adam, and he commissioned to transform it from glory to glory.
Defined in Scripture as a failure to do things that should be done, sloth or slothfulness is nearly 40 times denounced in the Bible. Yet, contemporary American Christendom has been caught up in sloth, preferring to focus on expected future retirement benefits in Heaven.
Take into account Dr. Bruce K. Waltke’s theological insight of God’s unending order from Genesis 3:14-15: “The serpent’s final defeat under Messiah’s heel [3:15] is delayed to effect God’s program of redemption through the promised offspring. In the interim, God leaves Satan to test the fidelity of each succeeding generation of the covenant people [Judges 2:22] and teach them to fight against untruth [Judges 3:2].”
Operating over the last century in non-compliance with this doctrine, today’s culture’s vice parades proudly about in virtue’s raiment, wholly untroubled by the tens of millions of preborn babies killed in their mother’s womb, while injudiciously jubilant of the Supreme Court’s recent fictitious finding, in a 5-4 split, of the “right” to same-sex intercourse and marriage in the Constitution.
As for the antivenin to secularism’s virulence and toxicity, how can one come up with a cure when one doesn’t even acknowledge the depravation and malignancy? Due to Christian withdrawal from the public square in disobedience to Jesus’ ekklesia Kingdom assignment from Matthew 16:18, America’s culture is in free fall.
In his excellent work Primeval Saints: Studies in the Patriarchs of Genesis [2001], James B. Jordan observes that “When God gives Christians the right to rule they must not shrink from the hard task of passing judgments. We must never shrink from our duty. Respect for established order and authority [of God] is one of the cardinal keys to dominion.
“Rebellion and revolution against established order and authority [of God] is the quickest road to slavery. Rebellion leads to slavery, and as the generations go by slavery worsens.”
This brings us to Dennis Peacocke and his Doing Business God’s Way [1995]: “Those of you familiar with Greek history know about the role of ekklesia in ancient Greek politics within the city-states. They were the rulers and the business managers of their culture. The Church is supposed to be an army of rulers, hence the Holy Spirit chose the word ‘ekklesia’ to describe her. This is no small truth.
“The major problem is the workforce - the believers. They don’t understand the work project because they have focused on their retirement benefits in the future and in Heaven. Clearly, they should focus on the work project God has given them to do on Earth.
“Alas, God’s employees have been told by many of their leaders that what really counts is the retirement village in Heaven and not the passion and challenge of contributing to His enterprise here on Earth. Let me ask those of you who manage or hire people what you would think about the character and motivation of a prospective employee whose primary focus was on the benefits and retirement plans of your organization. Would you really want to have such a self-oriented person? Can you now see why so much of Christendom is in such an apathetic mess?”
If the most important thing is winning people for Christ, it makes sense that the second most important thing, as William Federer puts it aptly, would be preserving the freedom to do the most important thing. In that context, let God be praised that Gideons and Rahabs are entering the public arena.
David Lane
American Renewal
