CYPRESSWOOD CHURCH OF CHRIST
August 22, 2010
25424 Aldine-Westfield, Spring, TX, 77373
www.blakehart.com/cypresswoodbulletin.htm
KEEP PRAYING FOR THE FOLLOWING:
God’s will for our congregation Various relatives, friends, and co-workers
Love, joy and peace Our nation, military, and co-workers
CONFRONTING EVIL - 6
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3).
We have looked at how evil was confronted in the past. That doesn’t mean that evil is done with. Today in our multicultural, politically correct society, understanding let alone confronting evil is questionable. We have a news media and politicians who are either ignorant, confused, or fearful of facing evil. Dennis Prager states often that the left sees as the greatest evil ideas that do not fight back, such as global warming which is now called climate change. In contrast, during the last year and half, four attacks happened in which the above people could not bring themselves to call it evil, let alone identify who did it. There was the murder of an army recruiter in Little Rock, Arkansas, the murder of thirteen soldiers at Ft. Hood, Texas, the attempted destruction of a plane landing in Detroit, Michigan, and the attempting car bombing in New York City. All were done by Muslims or Muslim converts, yet the word terrorism was barely used.
If we cannot recognize evil, then we have a problem. Listening to the left speak however, they have found something that is evil: those of the tea party movement. Here are respectful and peaceful people demonstrating against the policy of the current administration, and they are called evil. One can disagree with them but to call fellow citizens evil brings to mind the words of Isaiah 5:20, calling evil good and good evil. This is not something new. When President Reagan called the Soviet Union, “the evil empire” and George W. Bush mentioned “the axis of evil,” there was an uproar from the left.
Can we not recognize evil today? Terrorism is evil. It seeks to terrorize civilians through bombings, snipers, and whatever means so that they, the terrorists, can control the population. You notice that the four events mentioned above were all aimed at unarmed civilians or soldiers. September 11, 2001 was such an event as well. At the time, everyone recognized that this was evil, and that something had to be done. Almost ten years later, however, we have come to a point that evil is murky.
After fighting two fronts in the War on Terror, we see several things happening. One, the word “terror” has been eliminated from the discussion and definition of the war. We do not want to offend anyone unnecessarily. Some see a strong identification of terrorism as judgmental and we certainly cannot do that. There are those who seek to destroy our way of life because of a religious zeal. According to Islam, it is to rule the world. We have seen how the radical views within this religion rule, subjugating women to various abuses, initiating horrible punishments for various offenses, and mass murder of civilians such as seen in the Ottoman Empire’s destruction of the Armenians.
Today, the nation of Israel, a democratic nation surrounded by Islamic countries, is viewed as evil. Like us, it is not a perfect nation but much of the history of the 1948 establishment of the current nation has been confused and rewritten (1). In 1948, when the Jews began to take over the territory that is now Israel, the surrounding nations told the Palestinians to flee because they were going to destroy the Jews. That didn’t happen and a refugee problem began. This has been used as a weapon against Israel and after years of blaming Israel for this problem, many have bought into the lie. As such, pressure has been put on Israel to give the Palestinians territory for a homeland. Israel has been willing to do so but ultimately, the terrorists want nothing less than the destruction of the Jews (2). When terrorists rein rockets down on Israeli cities, Israel is blamed for it, especially when they respond with force. With a willing media not checking facts, the public relations battle is often won by the terrorists.
Another problem that comes out of the War on Terror is the problem of civilian causalities. We mentioned in a previous article the fire bombings during World War II as well as the atomic bombs and the death of hundreds of thousands of civilians. Since then, the American military has made a great effort to reduce civilian causalities in war. We have seen the development of bombs that can hit targets using video and other electronic instruments so as to reduce civilian causalities. Our military risks the lives of our soldiers to prevent those causalities. In Afghanistan, a Navy Seal team of four men came across a shepherd. After debating what to do, they let him go. A day or so later they were ambushed and only one survived. Our Judeo-Christian ethic sees life as important whereas the Muslim view is that they love death more than life (3).
Paul Harvey often made a comment about war. He said that when invading armies were coming, people feared and fled, knowing that there would be sacking and rape and death. But when people heard that the American army was coming, people came out and cheered because there would be liberation and freedom. We do not go to occupy but to bring freedom and peace.
Since most of this series has been on confronting evil, there are evils that we face in our own nation. When mentioned however, pacifists and the left often ridicule it as Bible believers being concerned with sex. We are somehow then told to ignore these issues. The first is that of homosexuality. Needless to say, this idea has become more aggressive in recent years. It has become protected by the politically correct and multicultural ideas of society. So much so that people who have in some way refused to participate in some homosexual affair have been taken to court in an attempt to force them to change (4). When a proposition passed in California supporting traditional marriage, groups demanded the financial records of the groups that supported that view so as to harass, and in some cases, cause the loss of jobs of those who went against the homosexual agenda. Many schools are now forced to teach this as just another acceptable lifestyle. A preacher in England was arrested recently for opposing homosexuality. Will this happen in our nation? Then what will we do?
The second is that of abortion. I know some do not want to hear about this. I find it interesting that those who are pacifists, and some on the religious left, while paying lip service to the opposition to abortion, nevertheless ridicule those who oppose abortion. We are told that we spend too much time on this and not enough on other social issues (5). They tell us to move on. But wait a minute! If life is important to Jesus - for God so loved the world - and murder is wrong (see Matthew 5:21-26); then should this not concern us as well?
Since 1973, fifty (50) million babies have been aborted. The Roe v. Wade decision was based in part on a lie and in part on poor science. I have often asked, how many statesmen, scientists, doctors, philosophers, theologians, etc. have been aborted because of the selfishness of people who refused to take responsibility for their actions? If America is going to be judged, - and it will be one day - we can list such sins as greed, idolatry, and selfishness among our sins like Ezekiel mentions in chapter 16 and making reference to Sodom. But in Genesis, Sodom was condemn for its lust such as homosexuality, and that cannot be ignored. Added to that is the shedding of innocent blood (see the context of the flood in Genesis 6-9 and the prophets as well).
Abortion isn’t just a national problem. Europe is growing older because of abortion. Its replacement population is declining and by the then end of this century, there will be few Europeans left. That vacuum will be filled by someone. In China where a one child policy is in place, there are now some twenty million boys who will reach adulthood without women to match. Baby girls are often killed because boys are held in higher esteem (6). What happens when these boys become men? Some have suggested that they could become aggressive, which means war with the surrounding countries if not beyond. One good thing about this is the growing influence of Christianity in China. The question is, will the Christian influence beat the aggressiveness to the punch, and bring about common sense and peace?
There is evil in this world, and in this country. We must not be afraid to define it as such. Greed and idolatry needs to be explored as well as evil, and those who mention this as such are correct (7). It is not popular but that should not stop us from telling the truth.
I appreciate you staying with me in this study. Next we will look at some Biblical texts and then we will offer some suggestions.
George B. Mearns
(1) It hasn’t helped that the theology of premilliannialism has seen this and events following as God’s plan for the end of the world, confusing various Biblical issues such as the land, the return of the remnant, and the second coming of Jesus. We might take another look at this at a later date.
(2) The Muslims view any territory that it has held to be eternally theirs and that they will reconquer it in the name of Allah. See any book by Bernard Lewis on some of Islam’s problems.
(3) The role of religion in history and politics has been ignored by many today. We need to explore this because much as some do not want to acknowledge, religion plays an important role in culture. There have been those who have tried to eliminate religion, such as the communist in Russia, only to find out when the Berlin Wall fell, that churches opened their doors again and people came to worship God.
(4) You might have heard of “human rights commissions” in towns and states. Why in the world do we need such a thing in our country, yet we have them.
(5) See a previous bulletin article on this.
(6) We see this in Egypt with Moses and the Jews, and in the Roman Empire where girls were often thrown out to die. As Christianity spread, many Christians took in these babies and raised them.
(7) Read any of Timothy Keller’s books, as this his theme in his ministry.