"If you say, 'See, we did not know this,' does He not consider it who weighs the hearts? And does He not know it who keeps your soul? And will He not render to man according to his work?"
This one verse of Proverbs points to a fact that our western culture has been in denial about a hundred years now. There will be a Judgment Day. With the advent of the creation myth called evolution, people have concluded that there was no God and there was no Judgment Day. As a result, our whole culture has begun the slow but steady march toward lascivious destruction.
We have concluded that there is no reason to be moral; there is no evaluation at the end. There have even been awards for those who advanced perversity and wickedness. Some philosophers have proclaimed that one is moving up and forward when moving in an immoral direction. All the while the pall of alienation, angst, disconnection hangs over us and the stench of depravity becomes ever stronger.
God is, through Solomon, declaring yet again that He sees and records it all – everything you think, everything you say, everything you do, every motive you have, and every attitude. And at the judgment, He will just “play the tape.” I am amazed at the number of people who do not want this to be true or refuse to believe that it is true. It is the clear record of Scripture that there will be a Judgment Day for every single person. For a small remnant of the world's population – those who embraced Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord – they will pass out of judgment into life with God in the New Jerusalem where they will shine out for His glory.
It is important to say and understand that there will be no fixing this culture until the central idea of God and Judgment Day have been inserted back into the heart of the culture. If this doesn't happen, then western civilization is doomed to be destroyed and conquered by another civilization just as the Romans, Vikings, Aztecs, Greeks, and thousands of other cultures have been destroyed. A culture that forgets God and Judgment Day will soon be forgotten.
It certainly seems that we are running a rescue operation trying to get as many people out of the cultural destructive thinking as possible before the boat capsizes. There will be periods of cultural revival under various leaders; but until the culture is willing to admit that they got the macro-evolution thing wrong, we will continue the creep towards Sodom and Gomorrah.
Am I pessimistic? No, I remain optimistic that the work of God will continue. His will for me is to do what He has assigned. He controls the movement of nations and the consequences of the decision maker's anti-God stance. I also believe that those who realize that the culture and not just a few individuals is the part that is messed up must fight for the culture in the realm of ideas and institutions and moral boundaries.
This proverb says that we cannot just get into a little holy huddle and expect God to be pleased. Verse 11 says that we should hold people back from going to destruction. This verse says that it is a cop-out to say we did not know that they were destroying themselves with their pursuits. Tell God that you are ready to witness for Him. Let Him know that with gentleness and patience you are willing to interact with others about right and wrong, God, the end of life, and what happens after you die. If you tell God you are ready, He will have people for you to talk to.
Until tomorrow,
Gil Stieglitz