Certainty without power can be interesting. Certainty with power can be dangerous. -Donald Rumsfeld- |
This axiom of Rumsfeld is true on both sides of the political aisle. All sides seem to have a corner on certainty. Being certain is helpful if it is tied to truth. The real issue is not political construct but theological conviction. And that is manifested in a person or a nation’s “World View.” Latest polls describe not only a deterioration in trust of the government and media, but also a dwindling in church attendance, and diminishing belief in the authority of the Bible. This decline reflects a change of view and a reconsideration of people’s “World View.” “Thus says the Lord” does not carry the weight it used to in the minds of the modern man, not to mention the postmodern man. Skepticism, suspicion, and cynicism are replacing personal confidence and conviction, not to mention personal consecration. This is not simply a millennial mindset or a woke mentality. Its roots go back farther than that. It goes back to Eden. It goes back to a challenge against the authority and accuracy of God’s word. It is an audacious condemnation of the character of God’s goodness and a challenge of His love. We are living in a day when everything we thought was nailed down is now coming loose. I know it can feel like that is certainly true. However, let me assure you -- it is not! Moses (1400 BC) in Genesis 1-3 wrote about things of the past, and the apostle John (70-90 AD) in Revelation 20-21 wrote about things of the future. Both wrote convincingly and with compelling clarity about God’s Person, God’s Plan, and God’s Program, with an accurate prophetic certainty of both history and eternity. This is certainly why God makes sense in a world that does not. As Swiss theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar reminds us, “The first thing that must strike a non-Christian about the Christian’s faith is that it obviously presumes far too much. It is too good to be true.” It certainly is true! Serving Him with you until He comes for us, Fred |