2020 May Review – What is Going On?

Another month immersed in the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns … are they necessary, are the economic impacts worse? Is social isolation having a negative impact on the mental health of humanity? Does anyone know? 

This month ends with the senseless murder of an unarmed black man, George Floyd, by a white police officer in Minneapolis – the country cries out for justice with peaceful protests that escalate into violent protests that result in another senseless murder of a black law enforcement officer, Patrick Underwood, in Oakland, CA.  A black firefighter, Korboi Balla, spent his life savings building a new sports bar in Minneapolis; it was set to open in March, but Covid-19 delayed the opening until June, but a few days ago, rioters destroyed it.  News headlines announce that George Floyd protests also erupt in Berlin, London, and Toronto.

Nike, whose motto has long been, ‘Just Do It’, has been trying a new slogan for the last few days, after some of their stores have been targeted: ‘For Once, Don’t Do It.’ 

This month has been, for me, a reflection on what it means to be a Christian.

All the key phrases are falling into place for me because I quit trying to make them fit!  Instead, since surrendering my ideas of what is right and what is good, I ask Him to help me understand His ways, that are so much higher than mine.  I read The Word of God, by the Spirit of God, into this Child of God, allowing it to transform me into the image of the Son of God.  We were created in His image – read Genesis 1:26-27.  Male and Female, to join together and become one, to help rule this world with God. (Genesis 2) Sin set us apart from God (Genesis 3) and led us astray. (Genesis 4 – two children: one good and one evil. The portrayal of evil’s effect on the human race is immediate and heartbreaking. God’s good order becomes disorder and it doesn’t get any better.)

That’s how our story begins and if it weren’t for God’s direct intervention and continued promises for salvation, for those who love Him and place their trust in Him, our story would never change.  (See the rest of the Old Testament stories of human behavior when people turn away from God and trust in their own opinions, their own feelings, their own definitions of what is right and good.  Or, read the headlines for current news around the world! Disorder rules.)

But our story also has an end. There is a day when each of us will either hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” Or, “Depart from me, I never knew you.” On that day, at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess (Philippians 2:10, Romans 14:11, Isaiah 45:23) whether we agree or not.  I get it.  It doesn’t sound ‘fair’.  What about those nice non-Christians who just want to coexist and find peaceful solutions to the world’s problems?  Shouldn’t they be judged more fairly by how good they are?

Let me ask you this.  If you respond in protest to the killing of an unarmed man, is that good?  If peaceful protests don’t affect change, is a little violence ok?  Since a police officer committed this crime, is it ok to throw Molotov cocktails at other police officers in another state? What about property damage, is that ok since it’s not really hurting a person? And does the Covid-19 threat disappear when you’re part of an angry mob of protestors?   Disorder tends to spiral out of control.

When God chose Abraham to begin the Hebrew nation, their history is fascinating and sad.  There are continued cycles of disobedience leading to disaster and distress among the people.  God delivers them in miraculous ways, then in their complacency they forget God and the cycle begins anew. That is not a ‘Hebrew’ trait, that is a human trait.  We only have the Hebrew history because God wanted us, throughout all time, to have this history so we could see ourselves. 

In our own Western culture, we have been repeating the Hebrew history – we are complaining about God’s restrictions, we think we know better, we don’t want to see our sin as the Bible reflects it back to us. Instead we say that the Bible no longer applies to us.  It is outdated.  We know better.  We are free and we have rights! We want to define our own identities, our own genders, our own definitions of acceptable sexual practices, our own definition of marriage, our own definitions of life – when it should begin and when it should end, and our own definitions of right and wrong. 

Today, we don’t honor or respect God because we might offend someone else.  But I think that, by not honoring God, we ARE offending others who are made in His image.  And by not honoring God, we allow disorder to reign. By not honoring God, we are hurting each other. The Old Testament prophets repeatedly deliver warnings of God’s judgment on Israel, Judah, and the surrounding nations for their disobedience, rebellion, and social injustice. 

These same prophets also delivered messages of hope.  There is God’s promise to raise up a messiah from the line of David, to save His people from their sins and restore them to an eternal kingdom that looks an awful lot like the ‘good order’ that was defined in Genesis 2 – in the Garden of Eden.  The message doesn’t promise salvation for everyone, though.  There is a faithful remnant of Israel that leads to Jesus and then the explosive growth of the Christian church that begins on that first Pentecost when the Holy Spirit fills the disciples of Jesus. (See Acts 2)

There is no Biblical basis for the salvation of anyone apart from their faith in Jesus as the begotten Son of God, who was sinless, yet bore all our sins, to be crucified and delivered unto death – receiving the punishment that was ours. On that 3^rd day, His resurrection was the proof of God’s satisfaction that sin and death were defeated. 

It is by the Grace of God that He calls us to Him and by our faith we are saved.  Our ‘faith’ is not just a verbal statement we make, it is the response we have after recognizing our sinful nature and our need for a savior. We start to see sin as God sees it and we despise it – there is a change of our hearts and a turning away from sin.  And the humbling realization, that we can only see any progress with the power of God helping us – but we must let Him. We must lay down ‘our’ lives… pick up our crosses… follow Him… and only then, are we capable of loving God and loving others. John 6:29 – Jesus answered, “The Work of God is this: to believe in the one He has sent.”  (And it is ‘work’ – God’s work is to change us… our work is to let Him.)

In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr., speaking at a Southern Christian Leadership Conference, said he dreamt of the day when his children would not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.  I dream of this, too.  I am in no position to measure the progress in our country or in our world, but I know how our story ends, because God reveals it to us.  (Revelation 7:9 – After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb…)

Every nation, every tribe, every language, but not, everybody. (Revelation 21)