“The alien who is among you shall rise higher and higher, and you shall come down lower and lower. He shall lend to you, but you shall not lend to him; he shall be the head and you shall be the tail. Moreover all these curses shall come upon you and pursue and overtake you, until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you.” Deuteronomy 28:43-45 (NKJV)

 

I’m sure that most of us think that this is about our Southern border today. It is a terrible tragedy; tragic though it may be, this is only a symptom of a much more sinister event.

We, the Christian world, have allowed by our indifference and complacency, aliens (not geographical, but theological, and ideological) to gain positions of authority and power over us is every segment of our society. From our school systems, local government, federal government, and worst of all, our churches; we have surrendered power and authority to unbelievers and those who blaspheme our God to make choices and decisions for us.

Why and how did this happen? As a whole, the Church has been disobedient to God’s word, and unwilling to correct itself. We have voted with our checkbooks, instead of prayerfully considering what God’s will is; we have elected those who will grant us favors (or so we think), receiving instead an immoral society where bribery and lying are the norm. Our children are subjected to the will of those elected or worse, appointed officials who make the rules without God as their guide.

What are we to do? We have only one recourse; one effort that will save us from our own foolish mistakes; we must return to a life of obedience to God’s word, and to lives of prayer. God has given us the remedy if we are so bold as to lay hold of it. 2 Chronicles 7:14 gives the answer, “If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sins and heal their land.”

Only God’s people can change this world for the better.

Do we dare? How can we not?

 

The Rev. Bobby Thornhill is a retired pastor.