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In my last Faith article, I had mentioned the scripture Proverbs 29:18 which states, where there are no divine vision people cast off restraint, but blessed is the one who keeps Torah (God's instructions). We need God and His word within every vision cast upon this earth both personally and in all areas of our society if we are to keep the flesh restrained from evil. Why? So, your days may be long and it may go well with you (Deut 5:16, 30, Jer 42:6, Eph 6:3). The Lord does not provide His instructions to be tyrannical; He provides them in love so life may go well with us. Do you believe life is well in our nation? Do we even have a moral compass within the governance of our state or nation? Almost 500 bills put into law last session in Colorado and most of them are provoking the people to cast off the very restraint God desires proving we are truly lacking a divine vision.
The question remains “How can we fulfill our call if we as the body of Messiah are not involved in the political challenges of the day?” I believe we have already witnessed the outcome from the “church” refusing to be involved in the political challenges. As we look through the last several years, we have seen a slow progression away from Godly principles throughout our society, however, it seems in the past few years, the slow progression has suddenly increased to levels where the sins of the day are no longer hidden but boasted about. While the Lord has provided clear instructions on how to prevent this growth of unrighteousness, I believe as a church body, we have failed to do our part and we are now living through the fallout of disobedience.
As with any time of disobedience, we need to begin with a heart of repentance both individually and for our state and nation. However, in Acts 26:20, it states “that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds consistent with that repentance” stating repentance is not just a moment in time event. We also have a mandate to continue to make decisions aligned with the God’s truth since we repent due to sinful acts going against His instructions. John 1:1 states the Word is GOD, therefore if we desire to have the foundation of Jesus, the central cornerstone; we begin by dismantling the old foundation and replacing it with Him which is the Word. We must humble ourselves by acknowledging our sins of the past through repentance while having a heart to change and return to His Instructions (Proverbs 29:18).
Today, we are witnessing “church leaders” utilizing their position for dishonest gain (I Peter 5:12), while preaching another “Good News” which is not even aligned with scripture (Gal 1:6-10). My heart grieves as I see pastors unwilling to even mention the unborn children being murdered or the children being sexually trafficked or trafficked by the schools by pressuring the children into gender mutilation stating “it’s political” or “they don’t want to create conflict”’ within their congregation. How is standing and protecting what God loves and hating what He hates political? According to Romans 9:9 while our love is to remain genuine, are we called to abhor what is evil and hold fast to what is good? When we stand against the government so parents do not lose their God given rights to “raise up a child in the way he should go” or when we make a stand against the murder of unborn children is not this part of hating the evil? We can love the individuals, but we are NOT commanded to tolerate the evil.
In Romans 1:18-32 while challenging to read, if we are to read through the verses, it is not difficult to see where we have tolerated and even partnered at times with the evil. The Lord begins by stating it is in our unrighteousness, we suppress the truth because while we know God, we exchanged the glory of the immortal God for an image in the form of mortal man. Later Paul expands by saying they traded the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served the creation rather than the Creator. So, what is the consequence? God gives them over to a depraved mind, qualifying with though they KNOW God’s righteous decrees, they do not only do them but also approve of others who practice the same.
Before the church can qualify to fulfill a call of influence within any arena, we need to begin by evaluating our heath as such. Is the church healthy today? Do they have a divine vision or a worldly one? Are most of the churches abiding and teaching the word of God or are they focused on being culturally relevant? If the church is not healthy, then is it considered qualified to bring a righteous influence into any sphere of society. Can we do anything to change the health of the churches?
While the shepherds (pastors) of the churches may not be addressing these issues, it does not negate our role as individual members of the body of Messiah. If God’s word and truth is not being proclaimed within our congregation and we address the issue to no avail, we are not required to remain under the false teaching (Col 2:8). I encourage every believer to be reading the Bible yourself every day. How are we to discern truth from deceit if the only “knowing” of the word comes through the voice of someone else whether in book form or from a pulpit?
Finally, we need to individually self-reflect and decide what our worldview is, then we can begin to see if our worldview is one which is in anchored in the word of God or is it anchored in culture or other teachings. When we sit before the Lord and ask Him to search our heart, reveal if there is any grievous way with me and ask him to lead us in the way of everlasting (Psalm 139:23-24), He will convict our hearts so we may repent and have clean hands and a pure heart to ascend the mountain of the Lord and receive the blessings from Him (Ps 24:3-5).
I know the times we are living are difficult and it can be challenging to know what and how to even move or what to believe so Lord, I pray for the body and the leaders of the body of Christ to repent, rely on only Your instructions and not the instructions or ways of man to navigate us through the evil of this world so we may unify under one spirit of YOU and bring the fullness of Your Glory to this Earth.
