The following post is written by our editorial team member Pat Joyce.  Pat is having computer problems and has asked me to upload this article for her.  May it challenge and inspire you!

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These past few weeks have been filled with the horrors of terrorism and violence around the globe. It is hard to believe that human beings can deliberately do such things to each other until we face the truth of our utter depravity without God.

When I was growing up I absorbed a humanistic world view.[1] This means I believed in “a system of values and beliefs that is based on the idea that people are basically good and that problems can be solved using reason instead of religion.”[2] I can’t pinpoint where I got this view but it was certainly there.

I believed that people were basically good and, if they didn’t act like it, the fault lay with environment, life experiences, poor upbringing, lack of advantages, or some discoverable reason that could probably be fixed. I was right, they could be fixed, but oh was I wrong about how.

In 1974 my lifelong search for the reality of God was answered. He touched me; it was awesome and nothing has ever been the same. I was starved to know Him more and devoured books and teachings and then the Word itself. I discovered that He and I thought differently about a lot of things.

Humanism is a lie. People cannot solve the world’s problems. Human beings are not good, only God is good.[3]

I discovered the truth that God’s Spirit departed human beings when they first disobeyed in Genesis 3. I faced what Paul says in Romans 3, “none is righteous, no, not one”. That which is born of the flesh is flesh,[4] fallen, separated flesh. I accepted the fact that no matter how hard we try, we can’t be righteous enough for God—but JESUS. God loved us enough to send the answer. I found that I could have the righteousness of God, in Christ.[5] Born from above, I see the Kingdom; baptized into Him the Spirit lives again in me. I am a Christian.

As Christians we are called to be the light of the world, a city set on a hill, ambassadors of reconciliation, preachers of the good news of the Kingdom,[6] and on and on.

These past months as I have seen the violence increase, I have heard world leaders of formerly Christian nations proclaim what they would do about a variety of problems. What I have not heard is anything about God. Oh, they mention Him, or say pray, but nowhere have I heard them acknowledge His rule or that they are subject to Him. Nowhere have I heard that our cultures are opposed to His principles. It seems to me that leaders in “Christian”[7] nations fall into the admonition in Romans 1:21, “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” Nowhere is the word repentance even mentioned. God has been declared either dead or irrelevant if not by words, by actions. And Christians around the world are either persecuted or ridiculed for their faith.

How have Christians across the globe responded? On the whole, with silence. Are we projecting light into the darkness of our cultures? God calls us to be doers of the Word and not hearers only.[8] Do we deceive ourselves by thinking there is nothing God would have us do? Do we stand politically correct rather than speaking truth or acting boldly if God directs?

Personally, I find that I have avoided action when friends on social media made comments that were absolutely devoid of God’s truth because I didn’t want to offend anyone. I nearly always kept silent when conversations agreed with the world and ignored the Word. I have wept as I heard leaders speak against the Word as they proclaimed what they were going to do, but I have done nothing. Did they speak in ignorance? Might prayer have changed their hearts? Did I ask God about where they were with Him? The answer on the whole is no! I repent of inaction, wrong priorities and pure laziness and choose to open the doors that God places before me whether they seem too big or too small to matter.

There is a time to speak and a time to keep silent, but God says He will direct our steps if we trust. [9] What a time for us to learn to listen to the Holy Spirit. If He calls us to take action on an issue, He is there to get us through repercussions from what He has led us to do.

Our greatest weapon is prayer. I love Psalm 2 where it says “the nations rage and God sits in the heaven and laughs” and Proverbs 19:21, “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.“ We need to get tuned in to our particular part in His plan. Pray as He leads, remembering that He is the Lord, the God of all mankind and nothing is too hard or impossible for Him.[10]

As I wrote this article, the words to the old hymn Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus continued to run through my mind. What better words to call us to action?

Stand up, stand up for Jesus! ye soldiers of the cross; Lift high His royal banner, it must not suffer loss: From vict’ry unto vict’ry, His army shall He lead, Till every foe is vanquished, and Christ is Lord indeed.

Stand up, stand up for Jesus! The trumpet call obey: Forth to the mighty conflict, in this His glorious day; Ye that are men now serve Him against unnumbered foes; Let courage rise with danger, and strength to strength oppose.

Stand up, stand up for Jesus! Stand in His strength alone, The arm of flesh will fail you, ye dare not trust your own; Put on the gospel armor, and watching unto prayer, Where calls the voice of duty, be never wanting there.

Stand up, stand up for Jesus! the strife will not be long; This day the noise of battle, the next the victor’s song; To him that overcometh a crown of life shall be; He with the King of glory shall reign eternally.[11]

by George Duffield, Jr.

Footnotes

[1] A worldview is a set of beliefs and assumptions that a person uses when interpreting the world

[2] www.mirriam-webster.com/dictionary/humanism

[3] Mark 10:81 and Luke 18:19 quoting Jesus.

[4] Flesh is the natural man without God. The flesh denotes mere human nature, the earthly nature of people apart from divine influence, and therefore prone to sin and opposed to God.

[5] Righteousness 2 Corinthians 5:21, Born from above John 3:3, Kingdom John 3:5, Spirit John 3:6

[6] light & city Matt 5:14, ambassadors and reconciliation 2 Corinthians 2:5, preachers & gospel Mark 16:15

[7] Christian is in quotes because although the influence of Christianity is there, most have turned away from faith.

[8] James 1:22

[9] Proverbs 3:5-6

[10] Jeremiah 32:27 & Matthew 19:26

[11] This hymn uses the inclusive form of men and the pronoun him. We ladies are welcome aboard.