The Town Hall Archives

Jonathan · Posted: Tue Apr 19, 2005 1:16 pm Post subject: Article

Please forgive the subject title I know it's unoriginal. I ran across this today, and thought it was worth noting, which is why I'm posting it here:

So What, What Now?

School shootings at Red Lake, the death of Terri Schiavo—so what, and now what?

The drama of Terri Schiavo has played out in front of us, and the tragedy of Red Lake has shaken us. These two latest events make us wonder, with questions and opinions running rampant. Yet, let’s ask some greater questions beyond these recent events. The important questions of so what and now what reveal even broader insights about what is going on in our society.

First, so what? What do these issues (including the defense of marriage amendment, assisted suicide movement, the ongoing abortion battle) and other moral questions reveal to us? Simply put, they are all symptoms of an illness in our society—an illness that manifests itself in different ways. Our tendency is to focus and treat the symptoms instead of looking for the cause of the illness. Our society is spiritually sick because the immune system is not functioning properly. The immune system is that set of moral standards that have been set forth, not by a court or any legislation, but by the God of the universe who established a moral code of right and wrong. When the immune system breaks down, a variety of sicknesses will begin to manifest themselves in the body. There is a standard, and the more we ignore that standard, the sicker we will become—until we finally collapse.

Then the question becomes, now what? If we understand that we are desperately ill, what is the answer? The answer is to look beyond the symptoms to the true and lasting cure. There is only one Person who can cure our sickness. I happened to catch a newscast on Easter Sunday that spoke of this Person. As the reporter read his script from the teleprompter, he casually stated that Easter was the celebration for Christians of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. For the reporter, it was just another news item. But I was so struck at how this reporter completely missed the power and significance of what he had just read. Jesus Christ rose from the dead! It is not just a matter-of-fact statement. It is living truth!

And therein lies our so what. We in America have reduced Jesus to just another news item. Our “faith” rests in the intellectual assent to a “body of truth,” instead of in a living Savior who wants to be active and alive in our lives and society. Today as you read this, all across the globe in more than 350 locations, God is working in mighty power by transforming societies and healing the land—as God’s people turn to Him. Entire communities are being healed from long-standing societal illnesses.

So what needs to be our response to the sickness in our own society? We need to understand that as long as we only give our attention to the specific “issues” in our society, we will never be able to cure the sickness. There will always be issues. And it’s not that they don’t need dealing with. We need to support and pray for those called to battle in these areas. Unfortunately, there will most likely be more school shootings, and there will be more tragic life and death battles. As important as these issues are, our task is not to become consumed or distracted by each individual battle. Our underlying task is to grow in our understanding of how to pray beyond the issues. God’s people need to be praying the larger Kingdom principles. We need to learn to pray the Kingdom values and Kingdom destinies for our cities and our nation. Rather than being upset about the lack of response or opposition to the marriage amendment, we need to take a painful look at the attitude toward marriage among God’s people. If our divorce rates are as high as the national norm, should we not cry out to God in repentance and desperation for the threat that is within His Church? When we decry the killing of young children in our schools, do we also look inward to examine the value of the family in the Church? What about the vision in the Church to bring hope to those who have long been shunned and neglected? This applies to all of the issues that we are confronted with today. We must come to a place of knowing how to pray for the cure of the disease, not the symptoms.

We need to come to the place in our hearts first that Jesus Christ is the only answer to the ills of our society. We need to be consumed with the desire for God to move in our society—so much that this desire will overcome all other earthly desires. We must become desperate for Him! We must begin to cry out to God for mercy on us first. God very clearly states, “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 I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin, and heal their land” God says it, He means it, and He will do His part when we have done our part!

Come on, Church! Let’s stop playing games by saying we want the Lord to come, but then never changing enough ourselves to meet His requirements. Let’s humble ourselves before the Holy, Righteous Judge of Creation. We have before us a window of opportunity. Let’s pray and seek His face, not letting go until He answers. Let’s do an exhaustive, thorough examination of our own lives in the light of His Word, and turn from all our sin. Then we can expect that He will keep His part of the agreement—and He will heal our land. It is happening in other parts of the world. Why not here? Why not us? The answer rests in the condition of my heart and your heart.

Humbly submitted for your consideration,

Your servant in Christ,

Steve Loopstra

-Jonathan