If We Don't - Who Will?

Have you ever noticed that there seems to be a war for every generation? My great-grandfather fought in the Civil War. His son, my grandfather, fought in the First World War. My own father, fought in the Second World War.

When I was about four years old, I can remember my oldest brother joining the Army to go fight in the Korean War. When I grew up, I served during the Viet Nam War. My son fought in the first Iraqi war.

MATTHEW 24:6 says,

‘And wars will break out near and far, but don’t panic. Yes, these things must come, but the end won’t follow immediately.’

That is very unsettling to us when we see the daily toll of wounded and dead in Iraq on the nightly news, isn’t it? We begin to worry and fret, don’t we? And, we wonder if there is any good news in all of this. Let me answer that: Yes, there is some very good news!

In that same verse, Jesus also tells us to not panic! That tells us that God will be watching over us and things will go His way, and since His way is the perfect way, we are not to become alarmed when it seems that everything around us is falling apart.

In Arizona, we don’t generally get a lot of rain, but when it did rain; it was more than the earth could soak up, so there were many flash floods. Have you ever seen a big flash flood? They come very quickly; too quickly to prepare for. And, when they come, they actually wipe out everything in their path. Similar to the tsunami earlier this year. There was no real defense. And we all saw the devastation it reeked on those coastal towns and cities. There is no safety to be found in a flood.

In DANIEL 9:26 it says,

‘The end will come with a flood, and war and its miseries are decreed from that time to the very end.’

In other words, we are living in a world that is filled with absolute chaos, and that will last until the very end. As Christians, we are cautioned by Jesus not to be alarmed, because He is in charge of everything.

Now, let me ask a question. If Christians are to live in this chaotic society and not become alarmed, just what are we supposed to do? The answer is simple. We are to make the biggest impact we can for the glory of Jesus Christ.

Remember that words by themselves are nothing but hollow sounds. We are to model Christ-like behavior in our daily lives and encourage that type of behavior in all around us. As hard as that will be, we must truly strive to do this at every given opportunity, no matter the sacrifice we must make to accomplish it. After all, it is for Christ’s glory, not our glory.

I believe that you are never too old to get into shape, either physically or spiritually. My grandmother wanted to stay in shape so at the age of 75 she started walking one mile a day. She’s turns 97 this year and we still don’t know where she is!

I also believe that to be a real Christian means to be really involved. There is the story of a sign posted in a small country store that read, “BEWARE OF DOG.” A stranger came by and saw the sign, then saw the old hound dog under it, lying there totally asleep.

The stranger asked the store owner if the dog was dangerous, and was told that it was indeed dangerous. The stranger, amused by now, asked the store owner what was so dangerous about him.

The store owner said that before he put the sign up, several people had broken their leg by tripping over the dog.

My point is that there are entirely too many Christians in American churches today that act just like that dog. They have no clue what is going on around them and they do nothing to get involved in the work of Christ. They are actually so comfortable that nothing is going to disturb their spiritual slumber.

1. CHRISTIANS DESPERATELY NEED TO GET INVOLVED

The first major reason why Christians need to get involved is because our rights to freedom of religion are being viciously attacked and are slowly being taken away from us.

It is a false misconception that the first amendment separates church and state. Let me quote the first amendment.

‘Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.’