My Thoughts About Society

I must confess, I am not much of a pulpit pounder anymore. I accept people where they are, even if where they are is far from where God wants them to be. I cannot hold a non-Christian accountable to God’s standard if they do not know God. I agree with Romans 1:16, “For I am not the least bit embarrassed about the gospel. I won’t shy away from it, because it is God’s power to save every person who believes: first the Jew, and then the non-Jew”(The Voice). But I also understand the words of Romans 2:12, “For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law;” and I would not try to excuse anyone’s sin.

Societies have always run in cycles. People would find a new land and establish a government, which started out with the desire to follow scriptural and moral principles. For a couple hundred years, the system works. But, during that period an undercurrent of ungodliness always brews. Sooner or later, those cultures give in to unbiblical thinking and ungodliness. The only exceptions seem to be those countries that mandate a value system through intimidation and the threat of violence. To understand how a society fails one only has to read Romans 1:17-30. It is the slippery slope that every “free” society has proven true.

America was established through scriptural principles. That did not make us God’s nation as many seem to believe. God has had only one nation to date, and that nation also failed to live up to its side of the covenant.  Let’s be honest, America is no longer a “Christian” nation. At best, we are a nation that has a lot of Christians. We have followed history and gone down the slope with other nations, who remain huddled at the bottom of the slide. Revisionists are attempting to erase all signs of faith from our heritage so they can try to make people believe that the bottom of the slide is the “real” normal. They would have us believe that the bottom of the slide is actually the top, and Christians have had it backwards all along.

There are no continents left to inhabit. We cannot go away and start over. We must stay right here and help our society to reestablish the desire to find the grace of God. So, where do we go from here? Well, we accept the conclusion the writer of Romans came to in Romans 3:23; “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard” (NLT). Then, we have to dig our way out of the muck, one soul at a time. We can not approve of where people are, but we must accept that they are there if we have any chance of enacting Biblical change.

We must continue to preach Romans 3:25, “For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood” (NLT).

The good news of the Romans 1:17-30 passage is that God did not allow the progression of sin because he was giving up on us. Neither did allowing it signify approval of any behavior. He let it happen with one goal: That people would realize their unhappiness and turn back to their love for God. It is never too late.

I will let others do the fighting, and the pulpit pounding. I am committed to being a safety net, so that when people fall flat, and they will, I will be one of those who stand in the wings to help catch them. Many gift mixes are needed, I am certain of that. I know my own gifts, and I know what the Lord has called me to do. How about you? Do you know how you have been called to serve the Lord in this sin-drenched world? It takes every believer, not just a hand full, to impact a world that is headed in the wrong direction.

The easiest thing for believers to do is to find fault in me, and the words I have shared. I am sure that some might, and somehow feel spiritually superior in doing just that. But whether you agree with the way I explained it or not, we must all agree with the conclusion: The world is in trouble, and we need to do everything that is Biblically authorized in bringing it back to a relationship with Jesus Christ.