Evangelical Reformation

Do you have answers to the following question? If so, I would like to hear from you.

With a host of serious problems facing our nation, why are the top stories covered by Fox News (which I consider to be the best television news option) the Natalee Holloway case and the Duke lacrosse team? Here are some concerns that may have somewhat more national and international significance:

• The illegal immigration issue has the potential for creating serious upheaval in our nation, and yet it gets little rational coverage.

• The Chinese military buildup represents a major threat, and yet we hardly ever hear about it.

• The prospect of Iran having nuclear capability coupled with its position on the annihilation of Israel is ominous to say the least, and yet I hear little substantive discussion on that issue.

• The takeover of Venezuela by Hugo Chavez, the radical policies he has implemented, his spreading of his approach to Bolivia, and his intent to continue to influence the rest of South America could have devastating implications for the United States. Yet this is a non-issue for Fox and other news outlets.

• Higher gas prices are now getting some attention, but I have yet to hear much on why we are not drilling in Alaska.

• Then there are North Korea, Belarus (one of the latest on the list of rogue states), the step-up persecution of Christians in Indonesia, India, and Nigeria, which should be of concern to us, the increasing influence of China in South America, etc.

Granted, I am not a news junkie. Maybe if I listened long enough I would hear these issues discussed intelligently. However, the little I do listen I hear plenty about scandals and murders but little on these issues and virtually nothing of substance. Occasionally I hear two people yelling at each other at the same time on Hannity & Colmes. That doesn’t help much.

Fox is sounding more and more like the National Enquirer. Any day I am expecting to hear about an Elvis sighting or see a picture of a little green man taken at Roswell, New Mexico. The other day I got tired of hearing about the Duke lacrosse team on Fox so I switched to MSNBC. You guessed it, they were talking about the Duke lacrosse team.

Talk shows are little better. Again, I do not have much time to listen, but the time I do tune in has not given me much grist for the mill on the topics above.

I can think of a dozen significant questions I would like to ask about each of these topics—information I need to know to meet my responsibility as a citizen. Yet, I sense that I could spend a substantial amount of time listening to news outlets without getting answers.

Could it be that our education level is so low that people cannot process substantive information? Could it be that the feelings orientation introduced in the sixties has left us, like the occupants of the Brave New World, only interested in that which stimulates our senses?

In any case, if the evangelical community, instead of following the culture, would lead it by doing serious Bible study and developing a thoughtful biblical worldview, we might become a population not satisfied with entertainment as news. The development of an evangelical community of that quality would require an evangelical reformation.

Chinese President Hu Jintao visited the White House and to Yale University this past week. In both places advocates of Falun Gong demonstrated against China’s persecution of the followers of this movement.

Falun Gong, rooted in Buddhism and Taoism, is viewed by some as being scientific in nature and by others as religious. In 1998 China banned its practice and imprisoned some of its adherents.

Christians are also targets of persecution in China. Jim Jacobson, Director of Christian Freedom International reports the following:

Right now–in China–many Christian leaders are in prison.

Tragically, in spite of all our “free trade,” the persecution against Protestant house churches in China has intensified. According to reliable reports by China Aid Association and others, from February to December 2005, at least 1317 confirmed arrests of house church pastors, leaders, and believers has occurred in over twenty provinces in China.

CAA confirmed reports through victims’ own testimonies showing inhumane torture against the arrested believers including coercion of evidence through drugging and other extremely abusive methods by the interrogators from both Chinese Public Security officers and State Security agents.

Despite this, I saw no media reports of protesters representing persecuted believers in China. Strange, isn’t it, that in a country whose predominant religion is Christian protests came from the followers of Falun Gong and not Christianity. It is of special note that the persecution is predominantly against evangelicals, yet the apparent absence of evangelical protest conveyed that evangelicals are okay with conditions in China.

Evangelicals might respond that protest is not our style. It is not gracious. Can you imagine Christ carrying a sign and yelling out accusations against Pilate or the Sanhedrin?

Fair enough, but what then is our style? What is the evangelical church in America doing to alleviate the suffering of our brothers and sisters in China?

The answer is precious little. Oh yes, we can point to some work being done here and there, but this is nothing compared with our size and capacity.

This lack of concern that is sufficient to awaken us to action signals the presence of spiritual disease. When someone brutalizes your arm or leg and you feel no pain, you may be in the advanced stages of leprosy. The fact that evangelicals demonstrate less concern for suffering brothers and sisters than do the followers of Falun Gong for fellow adherents would indicate that we need an evangelical reformation.

I wonder where the last dock is located upstream from Niagara Falls. The current must get pretty strong upstream, and I would think that there must be some dock with a big warning sign saying: “Last chance to tie up before the falls.”

www.tothesource.org reports that HBO has a new series starring Tom Hanks titled Big Love, about a polygamous family. At first blush this factoid might seem like a total disconnect from what came before, but on further reflection you may catch my drift.

Just when you thought that polygamy was consigned to jungle tribes, there it is coming right into your living room. It comes as no surprise that the producers are gay activists. I read an article some time ago asserting that the homosexual community promotes promiscuous sex in the heterosexual community to make its own lifestyle seem normal. Polygamy would do that. If polygamous marriage was accepted, not too many eyebrows would be raised at homosexuality.

It is difficult to believe that in the 1980’s the American Psychiatric Association still listed homosexuality as a disorder. Now we have the state of California advancing a bill requiring that its schools teach the positive contributions made by homosexuals, transvestites, etc., and beyond that there is polygamy and pedophilia right around the corner.

We can feel the current picking up and hear the sound of the falls not too far away. History teaches us that the deterioration of sexual mores destroys civilizations.

How did we get so far downstream? HBO’s new series shows us how. First it is just a funny show. Then someone does a scientific study discovering that kids growing up in polygamous homes are really better adjusted. Did I mention that Tothesource also spoke of scientific studies on polygamy that have been done in Canada. (They can make scientific studies support any conclusion they want. Alfred Kinsey proved that.) Next is the push for legalization. By then the practice has received such widespread public acceptance that anyone opposing it will be diagnosed with polygamophobia.

The bad news is that evangelicals are displaying this kind of drift. A book I have been reading on the emerging church movement notes that some evangelicals are now questioning whether Scripture really does view homosexuality as a sin. They will have an even easier job finding polygamy in Scripture.

The good news is that upstream from the falls is a secure dock with a visible sign. The sign on the Word of God announces: “The entirety of Your word is truth, and every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever.” (Psalm 119:160) “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.” (John 17:17) Tying up to that dock will keep us from going over the falls.

However, the evangelical community seems to be more enamored with the drifting culture than the secure Word. For our society to be saved from the falls, first the church must firmly tie itself to the dock of the Word. This would require serious study and sound conclusions. Such a commitment to the Word would bring about an evangelical reformation. Being tied to the dock ourselves, we would then be able to throw a rope to secular society.

We live in a day when the options are clear—the Word or the falls.