God
said no and the church said go.
Numbers
14
God
unleashes a curse upon the Israelite’s because they allowed the
fear of the 10 spies to influence them into turning back to Egypt.
They gave up the land of promise for the hope of slavery. They
selected a captain of the host to lead them back across the
wilderness, around the sea, and into the welcoming arms of the ruler
of Egypt. God doesn’t want them to get the chance. But Moses
intercedes and God’s curse is moderated to prohibition. Only the
spies who sparked fear will pay with their lives. The rest of those
who were filled with fear and rejection will never see the land of
promise.
The
people respond with weeping and suffering, right? No. They grab their
swords and spears and make way for the border. They will take the
land by force. Wasn’t that what God intended? A holy war was to be
proclaimed against these heathen and pagan inhabitants. God would
make war, through the Israelite people. Victory was their promise.
And God’s promise is certain. They had God on their side and would
be triumphant in their war to purge the land.
The
American Church has responded to the curse of God in this age in a
very similar way. They have joined in battle against the inhabitants
of the land to claim what they believe is the God-given promise. This
land is our land. One nation under God. And that god is our God. All
will have to recognize that one sovereign authority. In God we trust
and believe that we are the righteous victors in whatever battle is
placed before us. The Culture War. The Morality War. The Political
War. The Christmas War. The War with Gays.
The
American Church has turned its eye to the borders and seeks to unseat
the inhabitants from what they believe is their ordained place of
promise. The American Church is the seat of authority. It is the
heart of morality. Culture and Politics have been co-opted and
corrupted by liberal pagan influences. They don’t understand
morality. They are heathens. They don’t have authority because only
God and the Bible are the authority. As long as you read the Bible
the same way the American Church does and worship God in the same
spirit.
The
American Church has picked up the swords of biblical inerrancy to
claim that nothing in the Bible is wrong and that it is just as true
today as it has always been. But ignore those things that don’t
apply to us. They have picked up the spears of righteous indignant
judmentalism to proclaim what is godly living and behavior. But don’t
try to push the blunt end of the spear back at our own failings and
unrighteousness. There is only one true judge, and the American
Church gets to be the only proxy voice of what is good and what is
evil.
The
great mistake of the Israelite’s is that they forgot to take God
with them into battle. Moses (the word of God), Aaron (the priest of
God), Joshua (the war leader of God), and the Ark (the presence of
God) all remained in camp. The mob moved against the inhabitants of
the land of Canaan. And were repelled because of the power and
authority of God was not theirs to draw upon.
As
we survey the battlefronts that the American Church is fighting
along, we see them losing ground. The power to influence their
communities has weakened. Their power to sustain a moral example and
witness is diminished. The authority to speak on behalf of God has
resulted in an increasing number of Americans claiming to be atheist.
Their authority to act on behalf of Jesus Christ has produced a
general feeling that he is just another mythological creature; like a
unicorn in a toga. But still they fight their battles
They
don’t see the wounded piling up in their own congregations. They
don’t see the broken people right outside their doors longing for
someone to bandage them up, or even heal them as the mythological
Jesus did. They don’t notice homes that are wrecked, schools that
are shot up, neighbors being evicted, the hungry cry for food or the
homeless longing for a shelter. They just see it as the fault of
culture. Too much sex and violence in media. Not enough personal
responsibility to get and keep a job to provide for themselves and
their family. They just don’t come to church because if they had
enough God in their life, God would fix their problems.
Well,
God did do something to fix their problems. God said go and the
church said no.
Now,
the American Church wants to fight the evil that is growing in their
world. They want to put gays back in the closets or cast those demons
out of them because the God of the American Church needs them to be
straightened out before they can worship. They want to put Mexicans
and Middle Easterners and Asians back in their homelands because this
is a land given to the American Church and those kinds (Catholics,
Muslims, and Buddhists) don’t know how to live good lives and love
their neighbors like we do. They want to arm teachers to kill those
bad students to protect the good students, without killing anyone
else in the process. They want to see Hollywood made pure and D.C.
made godly. They want the power and authority they once heard was
promised to them so they can make this nation a Great Christian
Nation once again.
Only
God said no but the American Church said. “Go.”
Comments