The events of the world swirl in chaos and confusion. Political leaders want us to believe that they know what they are doing. But, I suspect that they don’t.
As some have reminded us, the 20th century was the bloodiest century of human history. The first twenty years of this century don’t seem to have changed that perception.
“Experts have calculated that roughly 13 million people were captured and sold as slaves between the 15th and 19th centuries; today, an estimated 40.3 million people – more than three times the figure during the transatlantic slave trade – are living in some form of modern slavery, according to the latest figures” (Feb 25, 2019 The Guardian)
Need we mention that financial experts daily warn us that the pain of inflation that we have experienced so far is nothing compared to what is coming
On and on go the experts, the politicians, the pundits. It is always interesting that these experts can get things so wrong, have little to no real accountability and return to posture once again before us as “experts” on a new topic a week later.
I thought it well to reissue the blog from just one week ago: to make sure that we hear the rumblings.
History is always turning over a new realty. From the beginning of human history, who is in charge has consistently changed. In a former blog, I cited Glubb in this regard. His study of 3,000 years of human history, shows that just about 250 years is the average lifespan of an empire. And, then, a new one appears. The order of nations “in power,” and those out of power, changes. This always releases times of chaos, loss and conflict.
Our world order has changed. The last year of national political life in America, demonstrates this clearly. It is not that the last year has alone produced the loss of our empire. It is only that it is has become abundantly clear that empires are changing.
Political leaders cannot agree, even when the facts portend significant pain ahead for their nation. Agreement for the good of the whole degenerates into name calling, subterfuge and outright lying.
The clarity of this deconstruction of one empire and the rise of another, has also been seen in how the West has handled geopolitical tensions. Our failures in Rawanda, Bosnia, Somalia, to name a few, witness to how inept Western nations can be at “keeping a reasonable peace.”
Most recently, Afghanistan revealed that the whole of the West was not prepared for the rapid fall of one government and the immediate installation of another one; one that was supposedly, dead and buried,’ years ago.
Rising empires, and empire “wanna be’s,” took note, and prepared their own global actions.
Global conflict doesn’t just happen, It brews for decades. Discontent on the behalf of one nation grows proportionately. Successive generations of corrupt politicians inside of another government, seed weakness in preparing for the day of conflict and, produce tepid acceptance by a larger body of nations.
The Western idea of cooperation has been a growing farce. Ultimately, time reveals that each do what is right in their own eyes. The moral compass of all of the Western nations has been slowly turning towards corruption and incompetence, for decades.
Does anyone now still doubt that one global conflict is a dry run on another, potentially greater conflict? Will we be any better prepared? I can’t see how.
Whether I am right in this short assessment or not, the most important question is, “what is the Church to do when conflict arises? That is, the true Church.
I am praying for Christians in many nations today who find themselves in the midst of regional and larger conflicts. Especially, the many that I know. But, am I also to automatically pray that God must rescue the nation state?
Nations come and go. All are geopolitically “created.” Wars, change of Empires, global financial opportunity and trauma, all contribute to the creation of a nation, or its death
Nations rarely reflect homogeneity of ethnicity. Most are made up of multiples of “peoples.” Some of these diverse populations are more united as a nation. Most are not, no matter how loud the political rhetoric. Diversity takes a lot of work. So, most nations of the world, have the seeds of conflict built right inside of them.
While I can hope that so and so nation survives, is that what I am to pray for from God? I am not sure. But, I do know what I can pray for!
I can pray for God’s kingdom to come. Matthew 6:10, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
I can pray that believers in every nation will have the peace and space to live for God. 1 Timothy 2:1-2, “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.”
I can pray that the church will be the effective salt and light to the other peoples around them. Matthew 5:13, “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.”
I can pray for God’s people to have strength in the face of evil. Evil of any kind. John 17:15, “I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.”
I can pray that God will provide and protect His people. Psalm 59:1-2, “Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; protect me from those who rise up against me; deliver me from those who work evil, and save me from bloodthirsty men.”
I can pray that we, all of us, will be ready to enter His presence at the drop of a hat. 1 Timothy 6:12, “Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called….”
Our brothers of the persecuted church era understood the tension between the temporary nature of their sojourn here on earth and the eternal nature of our calling. AJ Conyers quotes a Christian apologist from the second century, “They live at C look in their own home-towns, but only as sojourners; they bear their share in all things as citizens, but endure all hardships as foreigners. Every foreign land is home to them, and every home is foreign…Their existence is on earth, but their citizenship is in heaven….They love all, and are persecuted by all.” (The eclipse of Heaven, pgs 65-66)
Commentaires