Decades from now, if the world becomes saner through the Kingdom of God getting larger, we will have a conversation with our grandchildren or great grandchildren. And they may ask us something like this, “Tell us about the troubling times. How did it happen? What was wrong with people? Didn’t they see it coming? Why didn’t they stand against it?”
If asked such questions, here are a few responses I would offer. “Children, it is because we didn’t know our Bibles, we didn’t know civics, we didn’t know economics, we didn’t know history, we didn’t know biology, and we didn’t know our own heart.”
This is how we got here. This is some of the why of the mess. The diagnosis isn’t that complicated. Here would be my future response to my grandkids and great grandkids if asked about the past few years:
“We didn’t know our Bibles. We are told the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom but many listened to man’s foolishness instead. We are told Jesus saves yet we tried to save ourselves.
“We didn’t know civics. Unalienable rights and limited government make sense given man is fallen. But many thought man was good so more power was granted to POTUS and SCOTUS and they regulated our lives away.
“We didn’t know economics. Supply, demand, and capitalism works best; but many thought running off more money, top-down dictates, and creating more debt for future generations was the way to go.
“We didn’t know history. The policies of socialism, its tentacles of restraint, its bloated bureaucracies, and the tyranny that eventually accompanies it has been tried and tried. Nations and cultures that embrace it die. But many were still enticed by its appeal.
“We didn’t know biology—basic biology, even. There is one race but we were told skin color separates us into many. God made male and female. Who can deny? But many did. And they took us down ridiculous gender and sexual paths.
“And we didn’t know our own heart. It goes back to the Bible. We really thought we knew best. Most ignored God’s law and rejected His gospel. How grievous and silly. And we reaped all that was sown.”
Augustine had it right centuries ago in his City of God. There are two “cities” in the world, the City of Man and the City of God. Man’s city is built upon self-love and self-indulgence. God’s city is built upon love of God and love of neighbor.
What we have today is the City of Man with all its pomp and bravado pontificating through its acolytes in government, education, medicine, media, and entertainment. We are watching self-love and self-indulgence run-a-muck. Proverbs 9:13 describes our day, “The woman Folly is loud; she is seductive and knows nothing.”
The City of God, however, speaks quieter, doing so from its faithful pulpits and believing families. It is from there that Lady Wisdom cries, “‘Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!’ To him who lacks sense she says, ‘Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed. Leave your simple ways, and live, and walk in the way of insight’” (Proverbs 9:4-6).
The City of Man is enjoying its few moments of fame. It will be only a few moments when compared to eternity, something the residents of the City of God will enjoy forever.
These are troubling times. Knowing how we got here is the first step to getting back to where we belong.
Pastor Rich Hamlin
March 3, 2022