“If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” (Daniel 3:17-18)
“This is the most consequential election of our time!” “This is the most important issue of our time!” While I fully understand these sentiments, as a pastor, I also want to give balance and perspective to our perceptions. It pays to not only know Biblical and church history, but to hold close the reality that we serve the same God. He is mightily at work in our world, even through His Church, and “who knows but that (we) have come to (this) position for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14, adapted) We know what a great deliverance God brought about for the Jews during the time of Esther, or the Israelites “trapped” by Pharaoh’s army at the Red Sea, both at Zero Hour! It seems as though God works this way!
We are certainly living in troubled times in our nation. Our president has been through multiple assassination attempts. Charlie Kirk’s assassination was met with open celebrations by many in public spheres. Fewer are attending church the US than in previous generations, percentage-wise. The lack of children being raised by God-Designed family units is met by the rise in youth crime and mental health crises. Jesus’ answer to the evil witnessed and addressed in His day was, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. 4 Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” (Luke 13:2-5)
Jesus promised that persecution would come upon His disciples, and it certainly did, within their lifetimes, and one of the reasons He gives for it is quite fascinating! John 16:1, “All this I have told you so that you will not go astray. 2 They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God. 3 They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me.” 4 I have told you this, so that when the time comes you will remember that I warned you.“ All this must be taken with Christ’s eternal perspective in mind: What sounds hard in this life is nothing compared to the glories in store for those who love Him! “I tell you the truth,” Jesus said to them, “no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life.” (Luke 18:29-30) “Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.” (2 Timothy 4:8)
All these times we are dealing with must be met with Biblically-driven perspective, and that requires believing that we serve the same God who works in similar ways, reaching a remnant of believers who operate with trust in what He has revealed! God works through his faithful disciples in big and little ways: The “little ways” being acts of love demonstrated with benevolence towards his Creation, like helping out a neighbor in Jesus’ Name, or voting for the lesser of 2 evils. The “bigger ways” we serve God are demonstrated by acts of obedience to His Word, such as “Making Disciples of All Nations”.
I am sharing this with permission: As Bob is going through rehabilitation from surgery at a nearby rehab center, he told me, “What I am going through is nothing compared to what some other people are going through in the rehab room.” We talked about the “incorruptible bodies” God has in store for us, from 1 Corinthians 15, and prayed together that the Lord would use him to be a light of Christ where he currently was.
Jesus’ answer to his disciples raising a theological debate stemming from a man born blind, was to heal him! Debate Over! So know the issues of our day, but don’t get distracted by them. Don’t let them sideline you from the purest expressions of faithfulness that we’re already called to.
Simply put, we love God, love each other, and make disciples with the pure Gospel given to us. His instructions haven’t changed from the 1st Century. It if worked, by the Holy Spirit, to transform the Roman empire in due time, then it’ll work today by the same Spirit. Let’s proceed, then, as the faithful, and move forward confidently!