Who do I Fear?

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? Romans 8:31
The Biblical story of the Israelites in Egypt ought to be a great encouragement for all believers. As you may recall, from the last few chapters of Genesis, the Israelites moved to Egypt to avoid perishing in a famine. God had sent Jacob's son, Joseph, to Egypt years earlier to prepare the way. He became a powerful ruler...second only to Pharaoh. When the famine came, Joseph...through a bit of family intrigue...invited his entire family to Egypt and Pharaoh approved. As the first book of the Bible closes the Israelites are flourishing, and at peace, in the fertile land of Goshen.

Of course, nothing lasts forever...

As the second book opens we find a new Pharaoh arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. He said to his people, “Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are more and mightier than we. Come, let us deal wisely with them, or else they will multiply and in the event of war, they will also join themselves to those who hate us, and fight against us and depart from the land.”  So the Israelites were enslaved and forced into hard labor. The Egyptians were in such fear of the sons of Israel that the Pharaoh ultimately determined to have every male child killed in order to reduce the threat. 

But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied...

We find an encouraging lesson here. If we are God's children (and, as believers, we are) we are to understand that "God will fight for us". (Deuteronomy 3:22) And, God is always victorious. Even so, fear often compels us to get in God's way and complicate the conflict. This is true of believers and unbelievers: Fear causes us do foolish things. Look at Pharaoh. From all accounts he had a good situation. The Israelites were peaceful and productive. Yet...He feared the "what if..." and embarked on a destructive course...at his own peril.

Fear is dangerous. I understand the tendency to fear the things we believe threaten what we hold dear. And, what would those things be? Health? Wealth? Family? They should not have enough value to entice us to take matters into our own hands. Jesus reminds us of this in His Sermon on the Mount; "Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matthew 10:28). There is no threat others can mount against us that should create fear. If we react to those threats we only make matters worse. We fail to trust God and we give Satan space in our hearts where he will attempt to destroy our soul.

Fear led Pharaoh down a dangerous path...

2. Fear is destructive. Fear causes us to focus on external threats rather than internal responsibilities. The Apostle Paul reminds us "If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men" (Romans 12:18). Yet...If we believe somebody has violent intentions we lose sight of our responsibility to be peaceful. I read about a man who heard somebody enter his home late at night. He grabbed his rifle and shot his own son...who had come home from the army to surprise his dad. We want to eliminate the things we fear and this inevitably creates chaos. We see this in the political scene today. Every partisan wants to eliminate the perceived threats to their own preferences. Can you think of anything not targeted for elimination? Depending on our preference, its immigrants, or white men, or feminists, or public schools, or Christians, or...whatever. There is no desire to live peacefully together. Even though Paul opens his great 'Love Chapter" with the words..."I show you a better way".

Fear led Pharaoh's to his own destruction... 
 
We are reminded in the Book of Romans that "God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose". This should surround us with a sense of peace. We know the Israelites were in Egypt only because God prepared the  circumstances to make it happen. As Joseph reminded his brothers, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result" (Gen 50:20).  Whether, or not, we understand this is secondary. As God's children we need to acknowledge this truth; Everything that happens in our lives in not necessarily God's design but...God will necessarily help us benefit from it.
 So, I wonder...what do we fear today? Are we worked up enough to take matters into our own hands? Or are we willing to let God work for our benefit in the midst of those fears? I'm not suggesting we do nothing. I'm saying "the midwives feared God" and that determined their actions. Pharaoh would be one example. The Israelites in Goshen would be another.

Which do you choose?

Live boldly out there today...

Tools or Trajectory

Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God. For it is written, “He is THE ONE WHO CATCHES THE WISE IN THEIR CRAFTINESS”; and again, “THE LORD KNOWS THE REASONINGS of the wise, THAT THEY ARE USELESS.” So then let no one boast in men. (1 Corinthians 3:18-21)

Nearly 500 children have been killed in school shooting since the beginning of American History. This is a statistic that should take our breath away. Children are innocents who have a right to our protection. I hope every American adult can agree. What can be done? While several prophylactic measures are worth consideration, the answer “du jour” always seems to be the removal of guns. At the very least, severe limitation regarding who can own a gun and what type can be purchased.
I am not sanguine about the effect gun legislation will have on school shootings…

Because, we live in a culture that has legalized the killing of our children…nearly 58 million since 1973. That, in itself, should be alarming. And…please don’t bore we with the argument that a pre-born child is not the same as a post-birth child. It is a distinction without a difference. Yet, there is no outcry to make forceps illegal, or require a registration and background check to own one.

In the same way forceps are not guilty of killing children…neither are guns.

Yet, the double standard. So…there has to be an explanation why one tool gets blamed and the other doesn’t. Might it be that the same people who support abortion also support removal of guns? Well, that’s convenient!

My point is neither abortion, nor guns. Rather, that we have strayed so far from the fields of reason and into the wilderness of nonsense that we can no longer form a simple “cause and effect” argument. We'll whistle past the graveyard in order to pursue our own selfish goals.

As I see it, the real problem is not tools. The real problem is trajectory.  Our country is declining from a moral relativism that makes sound judgement virtually impossible. An unborn child is not worth as much as a born child. This, of course, is a relative valuation that cannot be attached to any normative ethic other than “it’s how I feel”. Where did this come from? In my opinion, it comes from a narcissistic mindset that refuses to accept any authority outside of our own opinions. It has polluted our culture and invaded the mindset of nearly everybody under the age of 60.

Do you doubt me? Read this adaption of the Apostle’s Creed and ask yourself…which is closer to the sentiment of the day…this or the original?

The Americans Creed

I believe in Myself, my Supreme Authority,
arbiter of my truth and knowledge.
I believe in my own values, generated by my Mind,
that were conceived by my emotions,
born of my experience,
suffered under bigotry,
victimized by patriarchy and were suppressed;
They were forgotten and became dormant.
At university they rose again;
They ascended and took dominion,
they are now secured in my reason,
and will judge the world.
I believe in how I feel,
the righteousness of ANTIFA,
hanging with my friends,
the condemnation of bigotry,                                         
the triumph of the socialism,     
and peace everlasting, Amen.

 Of course, science has now discovered that human life begins at conception. Embryologist Keith Moore says "The scientific answer is that the embryo is a human being from the time of fertilization because of its human chromosomal constitution. The zygote is the beginning of a developing human." (Before We Are Born: Essentials of Embryology, Philadelphia, PA). Only fringe elements deny this fact. Instead, most argue for reproductive choice on the grounds of “Moral Worth”; a fetus is not worth as much as a live child.

This conviction is fortified by the reason of a bygone age. Deist, and rationalist, Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1776, “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among which are the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Absorb the message of what may be the single most influential sentence ever written: self-evident truths; all humans created equal; inalienable rights.

But…the age of reason has passed and we live in a post-Christian nation. In this New York Times bestselling book, Slouching Towards Gomorrah, Robert H. Bork, one of our country's most distinguished conservative scholar, offers a prophetic and unprecedented view of a culture in decline, a nation in such serious moral trouble that its very foundation is crumbling: “a nation that slouches not towards the Bethlehem envisioned by the poet Yeats in 1919, but towards Gomorrah”. (https://www.harpercollins.com/9780060573119/slouching-towards-gomorrah)

An overview of the book states Slouching Towards Gomorrah is a penetrating, devastatingly insightful exposé of a country in crisis at the end of the millennium, where the rise of modern liberalism, which stresses the dual forces of radical egalitarianism (the equality of outcomes rather than opportunities) and radical individualism (the drastic reduction of limits to personal gratification), has undermined our culture, our intellect, and our morality. In a new Afterword, the author highlights recent disturbing trends in our laws and society, with special attention to matters of sex and censorship, race relations, and the relentless erosion of American moral values. The alarm he sounds is more sobering than ever: we can accept our fate and try to insulate ourselves from the effects of a degenerating culture, or we can choose to halt the beast, to oppose modern liberalism in every arena. The will to resist, he warns, remains our only hope. (https://www.harpercollins.com/9780060573119/slouching-towards-gomorrah)

Our Christian faith reminds us that mankind, apart from God, is simply not as wise as we assume…and our foolishness has a cost attached. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools. (Romans 1:18-22)

So…it’s not tools…it’s trajectory. Will we continue “slouching toward Gomorrah” or will we “mount up with wings like eagles” (Isaiah 40:31). Those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength…and new wisdom. We face a truly existential threat. The choice is clear but it isn’t easy.

Live boldly out there today…