How Is This Possible?

A horrible scene played out in what should be one of our country’s safest places—a school. A young boy just emerging into adolescence smuggled weapons into his high school cafeteria. In a few terrifying moments, he sprayed his helpless classmates with bullets. Two young people died and dozens more were injured. Yet those students who escaped the bullets were not unscathed. They are now condemned to finish their high school years under an oppressive cloud of fear.

When the police searched the troubled young man’s home, they found the bodies of his mother and father. Before the bodies could be removed, bomb squads had to defuse numerous explosive devices that the teenager had built using instructions he downloaded from the Internet.

This tragic story is just one example of what is going on in communities across our country. Can anyone argue that we do not live in a culture of death? The threat of untimely demise reigns in every part of our society

Consider the example of New Haven, Connecticut, the home of Yale University. In 1960, the city had 6 murders, 4 rapes, and 16 robberies. By 1990, the population had dropped by 14 percent, but there were 31 murders, 168 rapes, and 1,784 robberies.10 So what changed? Obviously, something in the moral fabric of the nation had come unraveled.

When we took prayer and Bible reading out of the schools, we sent America’s young people a clear signal that biblical morality and traditional values were irrelevant and out of date. Children no longer heard that there is a God who sees what they do and to whom they will be accountable for all their actions. For this reason among others, crime has taken over our streets. In 1960, there were 160 violent crimes per 100,000 Americans. By 1996, violent crime had skyrocketed to 634 per 100,000—a 396 percent increase. Violent crime by juveniles has soared by more than 240 percent since 1970. Today, people under the age of 21 commit almost half of all violent crimes.

Step by step, we have cheapened the value of human life. We have created the very horrors that now threaten our survival as a nation. Radio broadcaster Paul Harvey recently observed:

“No generation in American history has ever been terrified by its own offspring—that is, until now.”

 How far we have strayed from the Bible’s promise that sons are a heritage from the Lord and children a reward from Him (Psalm 127:3). How far we have wandered from the great purpose and design for which God prepared this land!

The Antidote for Cultural Disease

Any number of government programs have tried to change our nation’s problems, but they are like putting a Band-Aid on cancer. On the surface, they may seem helpful, but they do not cure what is eating away underneath. The gospel of Jesus Christ offers the only antidote to the ills that plague our society:

For fear, He offers peace.

For worry, He offers confidence and assurance.

For hurt and rejection, He offers forgiveness and affirmation.

For emptiness, He offers meaning in life.

For worthlessness, He offers dignity and value.

For greed and selfishness, He offers a giving spirit with contentment.

For hatred and prejudice, He offers love and acceptance.

For bondage to habits, He offers deliverance and freedom.

For sickness, He offers healing.

For rebellion and stubbornness, He offers submission and servitude.

For self-sufficiency, He offers His power and wisdom to do all things.

For death, He offers eternal life.

How is this possible? Because Jesus Christ has all power over all things—including the bondage of sin. We can use the lessons of history to take the right steps toward healing and growth, or we can ignore the warning signs and incur God’s judgment. How much better off we will be if we heed the red-sky warnings!

Yet renewal is difficult. Despite the pain, we should rejoice when the Holy Spirit begins to convict us, exposing our sin. He wants to cleanse, restore, and make us into new persons with a hopeful future. He is the God of the second chance. This can happen when we confess, repent, and forsake our sin, and ask Him to come into our lives and help us. And the good part is that He provides the faith and power for us to do just that.

Imagine what would happen if we could change our country’s direction through the power of the Holy Spirit. Television would be used to build character as well as provide entertainment. A director could use today’s amazing special effects to improve on scenes like the crossing of the Red Sea, captured in the classic The Ten Commandments, starring Charlton Heston. The Internet could be used to reach people all over the world for Christ and disciple them in their faith.

Our art would declare the glory of God and His unconditional love for us. We could proudly display it all over the world. We would not duplicate horrors like the Waco massacre. Our laws would once again uphold the sanctity of life. Our unborn babies would safely grow in the womb. Our disabled and elderly could rest in the security of knowing that their lives were protected as infinitely valuable to society.

Does that sound like an unreachable dream? It must not be. Our future is right over the horizon. Unless we act, the storms ahead cannot be avoided. Without doubt, we face that decision right now—to turn back to God or face judgment.

By Bill Bright & John Damoose

©1998 Copyright Bright Media Foundation