Almost Perfect

Disclaimer:
I don't know everything. I may be wrong. I also have the unshakable conviction that we as members of the Body of Christ need to be searching out and advancing ideas about where we are and where we are going. I keep hearing it prophesied that there are new, undiscovered truths in the Word of God. So please allow me to dig, hone my skills, stumble somewhat, and contribute to a marketplace of ideas where healthy competition elevates those things that are beneficial and discards those that are not. Thank you.


Almost Perfect

I love this verse:

Habakkuk 2:14
"For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea."

It's so interesting that it doesn't say the glory will be everywhere, just the knowledge. It kind of reminds me of that part of the Great Commission where Jesus commands us to make disciples of all nations -- not that every individual in every nation will be saved, but that as a whole, the nations will acknowledge Christ as Lord.

I'm noticing a recurring theme of the exuberant Old Testament prophesies -- they have so much to say about wonderful things happening on this earth, in this lifetime, and, importantly, before any sense of "absolute perfection and the end of all things" has arrived. For example:

Isaiah 2
2 In the last days
the mountain of the LORD's temple will be established
as chief among the mountains;
it will be raised above the hills,
and all nations will stream to it.

3 Many peoples will come and say,
"Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
to the house of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways,
so that we may walk in his paths."
The law will go out from Zion,
the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

4 He will judge between the nations
and will settle disputes for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
nor will they train for war anymore.

It really sounds like the people are still in a state of "seeing in a mirror dimly" rather than "knowing fully as we are fully known." Otherwise, why would the people a) need to learn God's ways, b) need the law, c) have disputes, and d) own weapons? It's almost as if God were reigning but not actually physically present on the earth to completely enforce His will.

Given that God has given us images like this of a reformed-but-not-yet-perfect world, why then the current passivity of the church in the arena of world-influence (that is to say, culture and politics)? I suggest it's a case of doublespeak; we need to spend trillions to solve our debt problem, we've always been at war with Eastasia, and God has to lose before He can win. I'm speaking of a literal, chronologized, and modernized interpretation of the book of Revelation and other apocalyptic passages.

Jihadist Muslims believe in ordained chaos, so they order their lives around accelerating it. Western Christians believe in ordained chaos, so they sit back and numbly or gleefully watch it happen. This is not surprising -- you can see the same trend in relationships. Imagine a young engaged couple: maintaining purity is hard work because the devil is constantly pushing them toward physical intimacy before they are in covenant. On their wedding day, the tactic switches: since he hates marriage, he does everything in his power to drive them apart. Similarly, to advance the doctrine of ordained chaos, the devil drives one group to create chaos, and placates another against resistance.

Understand what I'm not saying: I acknowledge that judgments must come, and certainly we in America are experiencing national judgment right now. However, the Biblical pattern of the Flood, the Egyptian Plagues and other judgments is that they are times of dividing; God wipes away the wicked and causes the righteous to escape, and often to inherit land and wealth. (Aside: this is a very appropriate thing. Since wealth simply gives the power of being a "decider," you want Godly individuals doing the deciding. People in positions of wealth and power determine what is reported in the news, taught in the classroom, directed in the boardroom, encoded in law, entertained on TV/movies/radio -- in short, they control the culture.) Even when Jerusalem was destroyed in A.D. 70, the Christians who had been forewarned or driven away by persecution were not massacred. It was the Jews who rejected their Messiah and engaged in false worship in the Temple that were destroyed. Judgments are a case of God bringing alignment to the earth and therefore cause the devil to lose power, not gain it. (Aside again: I can't stress enough that this should be making the Church think, "Opportunity!" rather than "Hunker down.")

I love the statement made about a year ago that "Jesus was a community organizer." I completely agree, and I believe that He established and commissioned the Church as a world-organizer. When He sovereignly moves and causes certain things to happen, we need to understand that He is creating the conditions necessary for us to do our jobs.

I think a big (BIG) part of the Church's job is simply to be a voice that loudly and insistently speaks the truth. Going back to the Biblical pattern - John teaches us that Jesus is the Word of God. Through Him all things were made, and later, through Him the devil (the father of lies) was defeated. So part of the job is boldly confronting lies (remembering that the Truth has already won). Another part is casting vision -- you can't just be against something, you have to be for something. Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint, so we need to advance a hopeful vision of where God is going, and share whatever He is currently saying or what we have discovered in the Scriptures, with anyone who will listen. "Wisdom calls aloud in the street / she raises her voice in the public squares."

I really love the work some are doing to train young people with a Biblical worldview and send them out into the mountains (arenas of influence) of culture. I also feel strongly about the value of pleading established e.g. governmental covenant in prayer, necessarily involving imprecation as well as establishment. ("See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.") That is, I feel that if we can uncover the solid foundations laid by our forefathers, God can empower us to build "new and better" structures upon them.

Understanding that all things are already in the mind of God, I want to apprehend the spirit John Adams had when he said, "Why have I not genius to start some new thought? Some thing that will surprise the world?"