Peace-Makers In The Danger Zone

We live in dangerous times. This fact is becoming increasingly hard to ignore. In my blogging, I have made room for two separate trains of thought: first, the physical, ecological, geopolitical and economic aspects of our present danger, and secondly, the process of recovery of a Biblical faith in the aftermath of an abusive church experience. These two trains of thought can be traced in my two blogs, The Well Run Dry and From SoC To Points North.

But lately, thoughts and reflections from the one train of thought have been spilling over into the other, to the extent that the one train of thought has come to dominate my thinking. Peak Oil, climate change, economic collapse, societal breakdown – these are things that get a man's attention. As Dr. Samuel Johnson once said, “When a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.” All around me I see the signs of a gathering storm. The storm-winds have reached even to my own place of employment, where last week, layoffs and furloughs of non-billable people began. I still have a job. For now.

The trouble is not merely economic. Everywhere I look, I see abundant evidence of the depravity of man, the soul-sickness of our original sin. Gangs have begun to make their presence known in the Pacific Northwest. People of every stripe are doing irrational, hostile things. Hungry, cold and desperate people in Europe are poised to explode into rioting. The greedy at every level of society are grabbing as much as they can for themselves, without any fear of God.

For too long, those in America who call themselves evangelical have willfully hidden their eyes from these things, content instead to be distracted by the sort of entertainment found in Christian bookstores and trendy megachurches, or eager to hear from less-than-honest preachers who talk about how God wants to make everyone rich. When genuine, 100 percent USDA sinners have infiltrated their ivory enclaves, they have fled to ever-more-exurban McMansionized hideaway “gated communities.” Or they have rallied round right-wing political candidates endorsed by the Religious Right who promise to do away with all not-so-nice people, “for the children's sake!”

Now there's no place to hide. Gangs have come even to suburbia. Increasingly the citizens of the gated enclaves are finding that they can no longer pay their mortgages. Our nation and world are facing severe challenges which require cool heads and clear thinking, yet we are a society of people who have fallen into the habits of dysfunctional, destructive thought and behavior.

Against this backdrop, God has a mission for His true people. It doesn't consist of agitating for political action or more “white flight” (or any other flight of privileged people for that matter). Over the next few posts, I intend to explore some of the dangers facing the earthly societies in which we live, and what I believe the Bible says about a Christian response in the face of these dangers. I just finished reading the Gospel of Matthew and am now in Mark, so I think I'll have plenty of material to draw on for inspiration. And if anyone has comments, ideas or thoughts to share on this subject, feel free to chime in.

Stay tuned...