SYNOPSIS: Choose your issue: inflation, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, gender-bending, CRT, Christian Nationalism, BLM, social justice, QAnon, the refugee crises, identity politics, racism, inflation, the death of truth and the rise of moral relativism, abortion, homelessness, protests in the streets, lawlessness, violence, the rising crime rate, national anger, cultural decline, neighbor hating neighbor over politics—no matter what belief system with which you side, no matter what life philosophy by which you choose to live, most of us are worried about our nation. With good cause, many of us believe we are watching the self-immolation of America. We are at a point where God stands ready to judge us—or help us—depending on the heart response that we offer. If the worsening conditions of our country lead us to repent and return to him, then he is prepared to meet us with his provision of peace for our land.
Moments With God // Exodus 23:1-9
Do not spread false reports. Do not help a guilty person by being a malicious witness. Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd, and do not show favoritism to a poor person in a lawsuit. If you come across your enemy’s ox or donkey wandering off, be sure to return it. If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen down under its load, do not leave it there; be sure you help them with it. Do not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits. Have nothing to do with a false charge and do not put an innocent or honest person to death, for I will not acquit the guilty. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the innocent. Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt.
America is living in an incredibly divisive, mean-spirited, win-at-all-cost environment, with no signs of letting up. Racial disharmony, hatred, name-calling, government gridlock, lawsuits, violent protests, destroyed friendships, national anxiety, and general nastiness continue to pound our nation, and many of us are seriously worried about America’s stability and longevity as the best hope of the world. We are in trouble, and only we can fix it, with God’s help. We must create a grassroots, organic, internal movement that will call a stop to our national cannibalism and return us to the common ground that has made us the envy of the world, imperfect as we have been, for hundreds of years.
The blame for our mess is not to be laid at any one person’s feet—not at former Presidents Obama or Trump, nor current President, Joe Biden. The blame is not one political party or another—it is not the Republicans or the Democrats. It is not the media’s fault. Secularists or academicians are not to blame. Nor is it right-wing nut jobs, shrill Christians, or blue hairs from the Tea Party. The problem isn’t leftists, socialists, open borderists, or anarchists.
The fault is ours. We have met the enemy—and he is us. Let me be clear: you and I are to blame.
If you don’t believe me, read Exodus 23. God gets up in our grill in this chapter and shows us issue after issue where we have not just gone off the rails, we have annihilated his holy law and have deeply offended his righteous character. In very unmistakable language, he turns into an equal opportunity judge and goes after us on issue after issue:
- Dishonesty, dissembling, fake news, and flat-out lying: “Do not spread false reports. Do not help a guilty person by being a malicious witness.” (Ex 23:1)
- Pandering for popular appeal, blind loyalty to a political leader, media bias, and pushing a false narrative for political power: “Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd, and do not show favoritism to a poor person in a lawsuit.” (Ex 23:2-3)
- Nastiness, the politics of personal destruction, name-calling, and argumentum ad hominem: “If you come across your enemy’s ox or donkey wandering off, be sure to return it. If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen down under its load, do not leave it there; be sure you help them with it.” (Ex 23:4-5)
- Social justice, inequality, racism, profiling, judicial activism, and a legal system that is biased in favor of the wealthy: “Do not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits. Have nothing to do with a false charge and do not put an innocent or honest person to death, for I will not acquit the guilty. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the innocent.” (Ex 23:6-8)
- Immigration reform, open borders, religious discrimination, and the mounting refugee crisis: “Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt.” (Ex 23:9)
Did God leave anything out? I don’t think so. There is no cultural issue currently dividing us that God’s Word hasn’t already addressed. And when you look at what he has declared with an open mind and a tender heart, you realize that we are all guilty before a holy God who sees through our sophisticated philosophies and convoluted arguments with utter moral clarity. And he stands ready to judge us or help us, depending on the heart response that we offer him.
Choose your issue: inflation, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, gender-bending, CRT, Christian Nationalism, BLM, social justice, QAnon, the refugee crises, identity politics, racism, inflation, the death of truth and the rise of moral relativism, abortion, homelessness, protests in the streets, lawlessness, violence, the rising crime rate, national anger, cultural decline, neighbor hating neighbor over politics—no matter what belief system with which you side, no matter what life philosophy by which you choose to live, most of us are worried about our nation. With good cause, many of us believe we are watching the self-immolation of America. We are at a point where God stands ready to judge us—or help us—depending on the heart response that we offer. If the worsening conditions of our country lead us to repent and return to him, then he is prepared to meet us with his provision of peace for our land.
And make no mistake: you are a lawbreaker. So am I. If not the letter of the law, we have murdered the spirit of the law in our hearts and minds. And may your acknowledgment of guilt lead you to repentance.
What can we do to save America? It might sound simplistic, but I believe it starts with personal confession and repentance. Then comes obedience to God’s law, not man’s opinion or political preferences, or cultural philosophies. And when we follow God’s way, he makes some wonderful promises of what life will be like as he leads us into a time of peace and prosperity—which you can read about in Exodus 23:20-33. Among other blessings, our repentance and obedience will be met with his provision of peace: “See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared.” (Exodus 23:20)
If enough of us do that—repent and obey—we can save America. We really can!
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