Eternal Approach

“Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets: she crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the opening of the gates.;” (Proverbs 1:20-21a)

I often wonder why simple, good, right thinking is not followed in our world.

And then I realize that this is not a new problem.

Wisdom has been crying out all through history. It has been screaming from the rooftops.

But men and nations have rejected the words of scripture from the most ancient of times.

So, this is not a case where the words of wisdom are not being heard. Men clearly hear what God is saying.

It’s just a simple case of men rejecting God’s words.

The leadership of our own country is ignoring God’s wisdom today. They are rejecting God’s Truth while trying to establish some other way to follow.

To establish some new Way. And to follow some new Path.

Like someone trying to find a black cat, in a vast dark cave, at midnight. 

A Clear Choice

It is so frustrating to realize this.

To see that our world simply does not want the good things God has given us. Or, more accurately, it wants the good things; it just doesn’t want God Himself.

What it really wants is evil. The culture and governments are clearly choosing an evil path. 

This is all the more reason why we should double down on the bold proclamation of truth to our culture. And to stop the constant attempt to placate and coddle it. To quit treating everyone like they are innocent, little, sensitive babies. 

And to stop trying to present ourselves as nice, sensitive Christians. Or as those who don’t know truth or as those who are uncertain about the truth. In order to convey a false sense of humility. By pretending there is some kind of nobility in not knowing things for certain.   

We are not doing good for anyone by trying to be relevant, hip, and acceptable to the world. This is clearly a time to be bold and proclaim that sin is real. That sin has consequences. 

And that sin is killing our country.

A Passive, Weak Jesus?

I was listening to a panel of Christian leaders on YouTube yesterday. As some famous Christian scholars/pastors discussed the issue of being critical toward other ministers and ministries. 

The comments I heard from these men were aggravating. Even infuriating. Keep in mind that these are highly respected Evangelical leaders. 

One guy was discussing the temperament of Jesus. And how he is often incorrectly portrayed as this very passive, gentle, quiet, nice guy. As opposed to the one who cleared the temple of the moneychangers. 

And how this misunderstanding about  the Lord is confusing men today. They don’t understand that the Jesus who walked the earth 2000 years ago is the same Jesus who inspired the words of the prophets of the Old Testament. And who inspired the words of the Apostles in all the books and letters of the New Testament. 

And not just those red words you find in the New Testament highlighting the spoken words of Christ. 

Which boils down to a mischaracterization of Jesus.

I think this guy was correct in his statements. 

But then, another of the leaders began a smack-down of this leader. This other guy is known for his highly-intellectual and deeply sensitive Christian books. And his quiet, soft-spoken demeanor.

He claimed that the first leader is often too clever for his own good. And that he is not aware of his own sinful nature. And that he cannot compare what Jesus did to what we should do. Because we are not as good as Jesus. 

His point was that we should not criticize others. We should not “call out” others. We should “consider ourselves, lest we be tempted.” Because we are not perfect like Jesus. 

And so, thanks to the thinking of this soft-spoken, keep-your-mouth-shut pastor (and a host of others like him) we end up emulating a passive, weak, nice-guy type of Jesus.

Weenie Leaders

It is no mystery that our leaders have become weak. They avoid controversy. They lack certainty and confidence about most everything. And they think there is something noble and Christ-like in pretending that they don’t know stuff.

Like doctrine. As if doctrinal certainty is beyond their pay grade. 

They take a posture like some medieval monk walking around smiling, speaking quietly, doing nice stuff for everyone and calling everyone “brother”. It really seems like that is the character they want to be. Like a monk.

And so, our Christians leaders are becoming weenies.

When we desperately need them to be men whose primary focus is the word of God, the teaching of the word, the preaching of the word, and the bold defense of the word, we get something else. 

They lack the strength of their own convictions about most everything. Especially those leaders who inhabit the higher world of the university and seminary fellowships. The fellowships with the academics who write the books that influence all of our local church leaders. The books carried by all the various Evangelical booksellers. 

It’s time to stop listening to these men.

It’s time to stop reading their books and listening to their soft, mushy answers to the critical issues of our day.

It’s time to stop implementing their ways in our churches. Ways that are leading us to be more accepting of the wickedness of the culture.

Again, it is baffling to me how our leaders fail to see this is going on. And even joining in with it. 

Wisdom is crying out to the world. And it is crying out to our churches. 

It’s time for Christian men to truly stand upon the word of God and to do so without apology.  

Image by Paul Brennan from Pixabay