"I was asking hard questions: 'How do we make a just society?' 'How do we look at the immorality in our world?' I had tried to make life better through social reform and psychological reform and educational reform and political reform," he says. "After I got to a certain point, I began to understand that the undergirding of all of those principles has to be spiritual, not something that Freud said but something spiritual. So that's when I went to seminary."
Gerald Durley in "Pastor and Activist," Leadership (Summer 2000), 54.
A new year is upon us. I have had years where my wife and I stayed up to midnight just to see a painful year pass. This year, we both feel asleep early and let the year pass without comment. All in all, I truly enjoyed 2012 and I feel like it will go down as a good year for my family. I do not know what 2013 will bring, but from my vantage point in early January, I am looking forward to it!
A new year also means a time for assessment and reflection. What went well in 2012? What needed improvement? What is God calling me to do and be in 2013? Where should I put my time and energy?
This past year, I wrote much in this blog/journal. It has been so helpful! Practice makes one better. In over 500 pages of writing, I have learned a bit better how to communicate through writing. In addition, through the 239 posts I can now see what is important to me, what I often think about, and what I should be writing about more. The upcoming year, I plan to build upon all this practice by continuing to write. I just do not know if it will be as much in this format.
Why?
I believe that the primary problem in this world is a spiritual problem. I agree with Gerald Durley, who has lived an interesting life as a civil rights activist, a political activist, and a pastor. At its root, the problem in our country, the problem in every country, the problem with every "system" is its tendency toward decay and ruin by running away from God's ways.
We should never be surprised when we see injustice and immorality. It is a mark of a world turned in upon itself and away from God. As the world system pulls further away from how God made it to be, more injustice and immorality will come to pass. It will become codified into law. It will be enforced by the heavy hand of the state.
What is the answer and cure to all these problems? Believers of every strip have taken up the cause of politics, education, psychology and other social answers. In particular, we have aligned ourselves with political parties, and we live and die mentally and spiritually by who wins elections. We fight using political means to change our culture, our educational system, and every other system thinking that the arm of the state can make things right. Then we are disappointed when every political solution has more harmful unintended consequences than helpful results!
While we are called to pursue God's Kingdom by promoting justice and love, our embrace of politics as "God's means" of changing the world is wrong-headed. Why? Humans as individuals and humans collectively are a fallen lot! Our biggest problem is spiritual. The more fallen people who get together to create a "system" the greater the possibility of corruption and evil to become the new law. This goes for our political system, our educational system, and even our local churches! It is a fact that should not be ignored. If we choose to ignore it, as our culture does, we do so to our own peril!
As a culture, our system is broken. I believe no amount of tinkering with the fringes of the system will cure the problem. In fact, I think because the heart of the system is in rebellion against God, the entire system will only grow worse no matter what political party or powerful group tries to take control.
What is needed in 2013?
We need to repent and believe in Jesus Christ as individuals and as people involved in a cultural "system." Instead of claiming "Bush did it" or "Obamas the problem" we need to confess that selfish pride and independence from God because of unbelief are the real problems in our culture.
Our system is broken because the heart of the system is bad!
Our biggest problem is spiritual. My goal and calling in 2013 is to write and teach about the cure for a bad heart- repentance from sin and faith in Jesus. I am thankful that none of us as individuals and I pray no system either, is beyond redemption. But just as "bleeding" or "leeches" were once thought as the best medical cure but later proved to be false, we need to look to the true cure of our individual and cultural woes.
We are sinners in need of grace. God's ways and truth should not be ignored by recognized. We recognize God's ways by repenting our our sin against Him and others and believing in Jesus Christ as our source of forgiveness and power for transformation. We must live this truth as individuals and pray it through and for our country.
May that Grace and Power mark 2013.
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