When is Enough, Enough?

I published the following article in the Church Bulletin of the Church I pastored some twelve years ago. In view of the rapid deterioration of our cultures since then it would seem the fears and concerns expressed in the article were more than justified and could be viewed as somewhat "prophetic."   The article still speaks volumes to the need for Christians to take a stand today.

"I could not believe my ears! A spokesperson for a Queensland Teacher's Union was actually saying on the current affairs programme called, " Summer Diary," that they were pushing the Queensland Education Department to forcibly require all students in Queensland Schools to participate in sex education classes that would include details about homosexual lifestyles and present this aberrant behaviour as normal and acceptable conduct!

They would insist parents who object to such deviant brain washing not even be allowed to withdraw their child from such classes! She said they were making it an issue of human rights for the children. That parents would not have the right to deprive their children of such so-called education! She was followed by your obligatory, stereotypical, know -it-all, University Professor, who, with the usual pseudo-tolerant smile for the unwashed masses, was trying to allay the fear of any ignorant parent that this might be harmful to young children.

I said to myself, "That's it! - That's enough." It's time we who call ourselves Christians quit talking and start walking! I agree wholeheartedly with the following excerpts from an article by Dr. James Dobson: ‘There are Christians leaders who do not feel it is the role of the church to confront evil in government. They feel they must concern themselves only with spiritual matters, as though the killing of unborn babies and the support for public morality are beyond their scope. ... these leaders are saying, 'It's not our calling.' Others say, When we use our influence in society, we expose ourselves and our faith to ridicule and rejection.' ....

To those Christians who want to say nothing against evil Dr. Dobson asks some important questions: ‘At what point will you rise to defend what you believe? Is there anything worth putting your reputation or your life in jeopardy for? Will you object if your children are routinely indoctrinated in homosexual ideology in public schools? Will you object if imperfect babies are killed in our hospitals? . Will you object if involuntary euthanasia becomes widespread in our nursing homes? Will you object if the government tells your pastor or priest what he can say from the pulpit? (In Sweden an evangelical pastor who preached a sermon on Sodom and Gomorrah was convicted of "verbal violence" and was sentenced to a four week prison term) ...

Will you object if the government assumes ownership of children and tells parents how they must raise them - under penalty of losing custody? Will you object if boys and girls are given a wide range of rights that override the wishes of their parents? Will you object if each family is permitted only one baby, as is the official policy in China today? Will you object to a homosexual and lesbian quota hiring system being imposed upon business and churches? Will you object if obscenity laws are repealed and child pornography is ignored by the government?

Are these changes coming to Western nations? I don't know. Some are already well entrenched. Others appear to be right around the corner. Anything can happen in a civil war." To those who say we can't win this battle Dr. Dobson says, ‘That's irrelevant. It is not our duty to win. It's our duty to be fight and be faithful!’

The Perfect Place

Have you ever considered the best place to be in time of trouble? For the small animal, scurrying for safety in order to escape the sharp talons of a circling shadow, it may be crack in a rock. For the fox, relentlessly pursued by the pack, it may be his den. For the child, it maybe his mother's arm. For the soldier, it may be a simple foxhole. For the weary traveller, it may be the light up ahead. For all these, who seek shelter in time of trial, trouble or tribulation, there is a perfect place.

Late one afternoon, many years ago when we lived in an area known as tornado alley, the flash of continuous lightening lighting the darkening sky and constant echo of the terrible roll of thunder warned of impending disaster. As night approached, I became quite concerned that I might find a place of protection for my young family. I sought a place and found it.

But there were others who were not as fortunate. The next day, as a pastor, I visited my cousin, one of the survivors of the terrible storm that came that night, in a local hospital. He was suffering from multiple serious bone factures and severe cuts and contusions. He told me the sad story of his failure to quite make it to their elaborate storm shelter. His wife and her mother didn't survive.  He told of glancing out his door at the approaching tornado,  grabbing his wife in his arms and then waking in the hospital.

Sometimes a Christian needs a perfect place of shelter during the inevitable storms of life. The Christian life at best is a stormy and sometimes troubling and terrifying experience. Jesus said it would be so when He told us that in this world we would have tribulation. But the exact location of that perfect place for a Christian may vary with time and circumstance.

The perfect place for Noah was an Ark. Even though it had never rained in all of history, he was called to warn his friends and neighbors of the inconceivable judgment of God and to invite them into that perfect place of shelter. He preached and warned for one hundred and twenty years, but they would not heed. Ultimately, only eight souls found refuge in God's perfect place.

The perfect place for Joseph was a pit, a prison and then a throne. The perfect place for Daniel was a lion's den. The perfect place for the three Hebrew children was a fiery furnace. The perfect place for Job was sitting in an ash heap, covered with boils from head to doe, being tongue scourged by his fair weather friends and nagged by an unrelenting wife. The perfect place for Jonah was the belly of a whale. The perfect place for David was hiding from the wrath of Saul in a Judean cave. The perfect place for Elijah was having a pity party beside a brook.

What do all these places have in common and what is the perfect place for a Christian? Obviously, it is sheltering in the very centre of God's will. Even in the greatest tribulation, those who turn to God and trust in Him will find a perfect place of rest and peace!

Responding To Adversity

Even more important than understanding why God allows adversity into our lives, is our personal response to it. The life of Paul and his contemporaries in the faith serve as positive examples of proper Christian response to the pressures of life. Paul may have been often knocked down, but he was never knocked out of the Lord’s service. Remember he said, “But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened to me have fallen out rather to the futherance of the gospel.” The problems associated with Christian living in our day are just as real as the pressures faced by Christians in the first century. Our response to pressure is important in advancing the cause of Christ as well.

We sometimes seem to abdicate our responsibility and adopt the role of mere spiritual survivors. When asked about how we are coping we tend to use the old cliché and say, “As well as could be expected under the circumstances.” When all along we know we should, by God’s strength and power, be victorious in all circumstances.

Our proper and Godly response to pressure can turn problems into patience, vexation into victory and tragedy into triumph. The same pressure that can cause a destructive explosion can be harnessed to drive the wheels of progress. Pressure usually produces and the production can be good or bad. Both the Old and New Testaments give many examples of the right and wrong ways God’s people have responded to pressure as they were tested in the crucible of crisis. The mere mention of names such as Job, Jonah, Joseph, Elijah, David and Peter immediately conjures up images of proper and improper responses to the pressures of Christian living.

Someone has said, “A Christian is like a tea bag, he’s not worth much until he’s been through some hot water.” Spiritual hot water is inevitable in the Christian life. Problems, real and imagined, afflict us on every hand. It is tremendously important that as we pass through the trials of life we come out on the other side as a source of blessing to those who may be looking to us for help and encouragement. Our response to adversity may make a real difference in the life of someone else.

One of my most vivid and pleasant memories from my childhood involves working the bellows for my father and uncle, who were both trained by their father as blacksmiths. I would watch as they would heat farm tools in a fiery bed of charcoal, quickly withdraw them, beat them upon an anvil and then quench them in a barrel of water. The tools were then ready for the task of tilling the roughest and rockiest of fields. It sometime takes the pressure of God’s fiery furnace and blows upon the anvil of life to produce sharp and enduring tools for His use in the planting and cultivating of His spiritual harvest.