Remember the good old days of “flatten the curve?” Fifteen days of lockdown was supposed to get a handle on the virus threatening to overload our healthcare system. But fifteen days is all it took to fundamentally change America; and it’s still changing. The pandemic was the launching pad for an agenda of rapid and radical change. These changes, however, didn’t come without warning.
I’m old enough to remember when Christian leaders not only recognized the threat of secularism, but warned us about it. There were preachers who alerted believers to assaults on biblical marriage and religious freedom. They cautioned the Church on the dangers of a social gospel that seeks cultural change at the expense of biblical truth.
Today, Christian leaders who warn of these realities are mocked as conspiracy theorists. Meanwhile, radical secularists successfully promote their agenda including critical race theory, transgenderism, and vaccine mandates.
How do I deal with rapid and radical change?
I talk to a lot of Christians who feel helpless and defeated. But as believers we already have everything we need to deal with each rapid and radical change. As I study the Bible, the power of the Holy Spirit gives discernment to recognize deception, which is rampant these days. The truth of God’s Word exposes the delusion being cultivated by false teachers and their social gospel. The discipline of prayer keeps me mindful of the times and focused on the Savior.
Daniel took this same approach in a time of cultural calamity. After reading the Word of God he tells us, “So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes” (Daniel 9:3). Notice that Daniel didn’t just read Scripture, pray, and go on with his day. His burden led him to fast, which then led to mourning. So what was the source of his grief?
Scripture again brought clarity to Daniel’s reality, “As it is written in the law of Moses, all this calamity has come on us; yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord our God by turning from our iniquity and giving attention to Your truth. Therefore the Lord has kept the calamity in store and brought it on us; for the Lord our God is righteous with respect to all His deeds which He has done, but we have not obeyed His voice” (Daniel 9:13–14).
What would it take to still see revival?
At the beginning of the pandemic we wondered if revival would break out. There were whispers from evangelicals regarding the need for Christians to recognize and repent from personal sin. Sadly, the whisper became nothing more than a sigh of remorse.
Believers need to acknowledge that this rapid escalation of evil is the result of a drastic decline of righteousness. Revivals usually result in the lost getting saved, but they start with the saved getting right. And that means grieving over personal sin.
God always has a remnant
We are in the heat of a spiritual battle masquerading as a cultural and political war. There seems to be a remnant of righteous believers who understand the days in which we live. They haven’t ignored the warnings God is faithful to give. They aren’t anxious that the world is passing away.
Instead, these men and women are full of hope; eager for our Savior’s approach. They urgently proclaim the rescue that our coming Savior offers. Yes, these are days of rapid and radical change and decline. But they are also days in which the redeemed can say, “My hope draws near.”
