World Impact Ministries / Peter Youngren

Have you noticed how much God is mentioned in the public discourse? Politicians across the board end their speeches, “God bless America,” and some Canadian counterparts have added, “God bless Canada” as a closer. To talk about God or spiritual values is very non-offensive, but it gets a little sticky when Jesus is mentioned. Even then it depends on what aspect of Jesus you’re highlighting. When we speak of Jesus’ leadership skills, His servant-hood, His goal-setting abilities or the golden rule, everyone – atheist or believer – usually nods approvingly.

Today many around the world are filled with admiration for America, for its ability to renew itself, shed old prejudices and move forward. My grandfather immigrated to America almost 100 years ago, and through the twist and turns of my own life I have had an opportunity to live in America, although born in Europe.
When I enrolled in Zion Bible Institute in 1973 my roommate Steve Rodriquez, an African-American, opened my eyes to racism. This was brand new to me; I came from Sweden, which at that time, especially in the smaller towns and rural areas, was almost completely a homogenous country. We had little or no reason to interact with people of other races. Years of travel around the world and across America have caused me to hear many stories of prejudice and meet many who have been victims of terrible discrimination. Racism is an ugly sin, and regrettably the church has not always been at the forefront in rooting it out.

Each soul has eternal value; it can be saved or lost. Jesus puts the value of the soul above “the whole world”. Yet, this simple fact has been deemphasized in evangelical Christianity. It is rare to come across a church or an individual believer who considers winning souls to be of supreme importance. Though lip service is paid to the task of evangelism, in practical terms buildings, musical instruments, programs for believers, feeding programs and a host of other activities get priority treatment way ahead of salvation of souls. We claim to believe in the value of souls, but not much of our offerings or people resources are committed to the cause of winning people to Christ. Yet, believers and unbelievers have one thing in common; God has put eternity in our hearts (Ecclesiastes 3:11). We are soul- and eternity-conscious. Why then does the question of eternal souls take a back seat?

On Dec 10th, The Globe and Mail reported that the gay-bashing, hell-preaching Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas is protesting a Canadian high school drama in the small town of Uxbridge, northeast of Toronto. This 5-member church, which specializes in hate-mongering, is headed by “Pastor” Fred Phelps. They will raise placards that read “God Hates Canada”, “Fear God” and “Hell is real”. The protest is in response to a performance of The Laramie Project based on a story of the slaying of a gay Wyoming student Matthew Shepard in 1998. The Kansas group also picketed the Shepard funeral ten years ago. It seems this little group gets publicity all over the world. Recently I saw articles in Scandinavian newspapers where they had found an occasion to protest some event or another in those countries.

Former Chairman of the US Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan, acknowledged in his October congressional hearing that he didn’t have the answers or explanations for the current global financial crisis. That was a startling statement from the man many consider the world’s top financial advisor, and a striking illustration of the limitations of human wisdom [1 Corinthians 1:17-25].

The last few weeks have brought to light the limited abilities and powers of politicians; no government seems to have fully anticipated the financial turmoil. For years the markets have been given a free hand, resulting in common sense being thrown out the window in the name of greed. Politicians passed laws that enabled and at times drove lenders to give money to people, who really had no business to get into debt. Banks took the cues and drove up the debts to unimaginable proportions.

If you checked Focus on the Family’s website a few weeks ago you would have found a video with a call for prayer. This was a prayer request that a torrential rain storm would drown out Democratic presidential nominee, Barack Obama, at his rally at Invesco Field in Denver. Once the media got a hold of this, pressure mounted, and Focus on the Family apologetically withdrew the video. Ok, so we all make mistakes. I suppose even those who believe that such a prayer would be God’s will realize how ridiculous this looked. The person who produced the video stated that he believed God would show His divine disfavor towards Obama, by a torrential downpour beginning the very minute the program started. Of course, this would only happen if born-again believers prayed hard enough.

The most famous dissident of the Soviet era, Nobel Prize winner Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, passed away last week at the age of ninety. To my way of thinking, he was a giant, not because I agree with everything he said or wrote, but because he exhibited a rare quality. Solzhenitsyn believed in something beyond his own personal wellbeing and convenience, which is probably a common human trait, but here is what stands out: he dared to give voice to what he believed, no matter what the consequences.  Now granted, most of us live in societies where we can believe and say whatever we desire and there are no negative repercussions. We can think, say and write whatever we want about political and religious leaders; our television networks produce comedy shows that mock anyone who is in the public’s eye; we can picket, demonstrate and shout obscenities without fear of any real consequence. Sure, someone may be detained for a couple of hours but no one is going to jail long-term and certainly no one is going to be shot in a back alley for voicing an opinion.

Most gospel believers were appalled when the news media ran clips recorded at a Sunday morning service in September 2001 when the Rev. Jeremiah Wright declared, “God Damn America.” Reactions to the pastor’s outburst ranged from amazement to outrage. Rev. Wright is the retired pastor of the South Chicago church where Presidential nominee, Barack Obama worshipped for more than 20 years.