Tennessee Drifter

I am not one of those people who has read the Holy Bible cover-to-cover. And, I do not recall ever reading the book of Habakkuk, nor do I recall ever hearing a sermon, until recently, based on this short book in the Old Testament. But a few months ag0 I was flipping through my bible app and for some reason stopped at Habakkuk 1:1-4.

The book was written by Habakkuk, who lived about six hundred years before the birth of Christ, and everything that is known about him is contained in the text he authored.

These words leapt off the screen…

2 How long, Lord, must I call for help and you do not listen or cry out to you about violence and you do not save?

3 Why do you force me to look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing? Oppression and violence are right in front of me. Strife is ongoing, and conflict escalates.

4 This is why the law is ineffective and justice never emerges. For the wicked restrict the righteous; therefore, justice comes out perverted.

Habakkuk wrote those words about 2600 years ago, but he could have been writing about our times. Oppression and violence, strife, conflict escalate…the wicked restrict the righteous…justice comes out perverted.

Have you looked at where our society is today and wondered, “How did we get here”? Crime, homelessness, drug abuse, widespread sexual dysphoria?

As I said above, Habakkuk lived six hundred years before Christ. So let us consider his prayer and apply it to what Christ and his apostles have taught us.

Because the Bible is a guide to help us navigate life in our time, let us also consider the structure of the society we live in compared to the structure of society in the time of Christ.

At the time of Christ, most of the known Western world was part of the Roman Empire, an empire ruled by an Emperor and an elite ruling class, compared to the government in most Western nations today, governments elected by the people, but too often controlled by an out-of-control bureaucracy…a bureaucracy that too often works against Christian values.

Habakkuk asked God why he was silent as he watched crime, perversion, and suffering. But I must ask, as Christians, why are we silent? I know many stand and speak, but more do not, and so while I ask what “we” do, understand I ask the questions of the collective body and not so much the individual…but all collectives involve individuals, so read the question as you will.

Look in the mirror Christian because we let this happen. We allowed our kindness and our tolerance to be used in the public square against us and against Christ. The word tolerant is used as a bludgeon against Christians.

When we call out sin for what it is, we are called “haters,” we are called “intolerant,” we are called “prejudiced.” We too often allow their persecution to cause us to be silent. But we are not called to be silent!

Blessed are they which suffer persecution for righteousness’ sake; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:10)

The Bible is not a buffet where we can pick and choose which sins are acceptable in the eyes of God. God defines sin, not us. We allowed “turn the other cheek” to be used to ignore sin…to excuse sin. When we say nothing about sin, then we accept that sin.

We all have an obligation to call sin what it is and work to remove sin from our lives and help others turn away from sin too. What we are not called to do is persecute the sinner…because we are all sinners, and that judgment is for God alone.

Love the sinner, hate the sin.

Several years ago, members of a Baptist church based in Kansas travelled around the country calling out the sin of homosexuality. They did it in a manner that persecuted the sinner, and anyone associated with the sinner. Their behavior sparked hatred for all Christians.

Our guide for how to treat sinners, all sinners, is found in John 8:2-11, the story about the adulteress Jesus forgave. Jesus called sin a sin but set the example not to persecute the sinner but to show the sinner the love of forgiveness with his command to “go forth and sin no more.”

We cannot help the sinner by ignoring the sin…by calling sin something else; and we cannot ignore sin either. Just as you would not raise your child and ignore that child’s harmful behavior, you cannot ignore the sin of our neighbors or our country…because sin is harmful behavior.

When the government promotes and protects sin, then everyone is harmed.

As Satan threw his “stones” at us we grew indifferent and allowed Satan to gain control of our government and use the power of government, which is supposed to be the power of the People. But the government today actively works against Christian values.

Because we live in a nation where the People elect the “leaders” we must be informed voters. And we have a duty to elect people who share our values—Christian values. 

Instead, we get busy and pay little attention to the details, and in the process, people who promote sin are elected and then they embed the government with bureaucrats who also promote sin, and then sin becomes ingrained in our government and our society.

Sometimes we even elect people who will help us sin because “we” like sin. Sin can be fun…until it is not.

Politicians abound who promote drug abuse, excuse theft, and protect abortion. But sin is sin, regardless of anyone’s desires in the moment.

Christians should work to eliminate sin in our lives, and that includes the government that represents us and should be protecting our “unalienable rights”.

Part of spreading the gospel in the modern world is selecting people for office, at all levels of government, who are also Christian and who are willing to share the gospel in the policies they put forth.

Politicians who wrap themselves in the cloak of Christianity and then work against Christian values are not worthy of our support.

Consider what Paul wrote in Ephesians 6:10-13.

10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

11 Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the assaults of the devil.

12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, and against the worldly governors, the princes of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness, which are in the high places.

13 For this cause take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to resist in the evil day, and having finished all things, stand fast.

So, as you/we struggle with the challenges of modern society, do not ask God why He is silent…

ask why you are not louder.

_{–Tennessee Drifter is an affiliate of Central Texas Christian Business Fellowship}