The problem with this line of thinking is that it reflects
the same failures Israel chose to go through with the blessings and knowledge
they had received. When Abraham’s
personal search for meaning led him to feet of our God, he established a
relationship with God that was to last for centuries. Through Abraham the entire world would be
blest. Abraham’s descendents were
blessed in part because they continued to choose to serve Abrahams God, but
also for the sake of their patriarch Abraham himself. And what did the children of Abraham, and
Isaac, and Jacob do with all this knowledge of God? What did they do with all the blessings he
showered on them? They turned their
focus inward. Instead of being a light
for the rest of the world to see, instead of sharing what they were given, they
built walls to separate themselves from those who hungered for meaning around
them.
Yes, one could argue that all through Biblical times there
were a faithful few who did do as God commanded, and thus we have the
incredible witness of our Bible heroes.
But imagine the length, breadth, and depth of the potential witness on
history if the ENTIRE Jewish nation had been faithful to God, and acted
outwardly to save those they feared, rather than run from them. Perhaps the world would have been full of
results like Jonah had. Jonah (after
spending a little quality time in the fish’s belly) went as he was commanded to
Nineveh and warned the people there.
Instead of the reaction he expected (them calling him crazy, maybe even
hurting him) – the people repented, and the city was spared. Jonah was one man. What if an entire nation were faithful to
this calling?
Our somewhat paranoid brethren forget one of the first
mandates of the gospel – to share it.
But back to the opening statement of this blog – you can’t share what
you don’t know. If the good news of the
salvation of man has not been made personal for you, unique to you, meaningful
to you, REAL to you – then you have nothing to share. If you have not felt forgiveness; if you have
not experienced unconditional love; if you have not witnessed changes happening
within your character from the mercy of a power beyond your own understanding –
what do you really know about the gospel?
There is no compelling reason to share something that is really only a
theory. Those who hunger for meaning and
surround you everyday are not looking for mere education – they are looking for
a real impact on their day-to-day lives.
They are searching for what only Christ can offer them, yet I find all
too often we are silent in the face of their need.
Those who would choose to run, rather than to witness, take
ignorance to entirely new level. Exactly
what is to be preserved from the action of running from opposition to God? Your life, your wealth, your peace of
mind? Seems to me running means you’re
giving up your wealth – so that will be forfeited. Your peace of mind seems quite in jeopardy if
you are required to flee due to your fear.
So is it merely your earthly survival you are so intent on
maintaining? My question, is why? What is so good about life here that you
would abandon the reason for living it (to share the truth of God with those
you love), and seek solitude and isolation in a cave just to exist a few more
days?
Even if the interpretation of prophesy that leads to a
belief in widespread and horrific persecution of Christians in the last days is
true and something you fear, your sort of missing the point. The warning message was not given to inspire
fear but joy. It means the end of all
evil is near. It means it will not be
long before we can live close to our God unencumbered with our inclinations to
choose and do evil. This is wonderful
news. It is meant for us to understand
the URGENCY of the message and faith we share; not to turn from our trust in
God and start taking measures into our own hands to merely preserve our earthly
existence. Think of the absolute stupidity
of trusting in your own strength to preserve your life. You think burying cans of food in the ground
is going to keep you from going hungry – when you cannot even control where you
will be at the end of time. Do you
really think ANY effort you can take to prepare cannot be quickly and
completely obliterated by an all-seeing enemy bent on your destruction if not
for the intervention of God on your behalf?
This kind of looking inward for comfort is truly dumb. If God be for you, who can be against you. If persecution is to come, then God alone can
be your shield and your protection, or you will die.
As time is running out on this world, eager anticipation of
the next one begins. But this eagerness
can be quickly supplanted by fear in those who do not understand what is
coming, or the benevolent nature of our God, and the catastrophic effect evil
has had on the world. In short, if you
are not waiting to meet a personal friend and a personal God, you are probably
not so eager for this world to come to an end.
If you have not discovered yet that each evil choice you make ultimately
hurts you, hurts those you love, and hurts God – then you may not be quite
ready to give up evil yet. The clock
ticking does not really change anything about the true nature of good or of
evil, but it does place a limit on the time to gain the knowledge of these
things.
Don’t get me wrong, when God directs you to flee, you
flee. But when God is searching for
someone to STAND for Him, will you already be in the car, half way to the
Smokies? The gospel is something that
screams within us to get out. It is a
light too bright to hide in our darkness.
It not only illuminates our own pathways but sheds light on those around
us, even if we are reluctant to let it.
There is no hiding the effect of the gospel within us. Unless we have only ever embraced the gospel
as mere theory, a collection ‘moral’ philosophies and good ‘ideas’, the power
of the gospel will be undeniable. The
results mandate our action.
We do NOT witness in order to be saved by God. Just like we do not do ANY good act in order
to be saved. But because we are saved,
and have experienced God within us, we are powerless to contain ourselves in
this regard. The Spirit that lives
within us drives us to serve. When we
let God have control of us, His goodness overwhelms us, and pours out through
us even when we least expect it. It
becomes too important to us. Once having
sampled the goodness of God, we are compelled to share it with others. There may come a time when those around us
refuse to hear our words any longer.
They may scream at us to shut up, and say no more. There may come a time when evil has full
domination of those who have chosen it.
But that time is not yet, and not now.
And when that time comes, I hope there are those who still have the
courage to meet it, and have not chosen to flee all too early…
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