FACILITATION

From My Perspective:

As one looks at the world and cultural trends, several questions can be asked: (1) How did we get here? (2) What did we do/not do to allow the trends of the time gain momentum and impasse? (3) Now that we are where we are, where do we go from here? A general answer to the questions is that we go where we are because of compromise, complicity, facilitation and/or indifference. 

In a book that I wrote and that will soon be released, Trending Toward Cultural Captivity, the Promotional Statement contains the following: We are standing at the threshold of Cultural Captivity. It is no less real than Israel’s years of bondage in Egypt (1500 BC). It is not dissimilar to the oppression and Captivity of Babylon (587 BC). It is nearing the severity of Rome’s oppression of Christians in the First Century. Despite the many warning signs, they have largely been ignored and we now stand at a point of complete domination by the culture and a Cultural Captivity. One Author (Erwin Lutzer) writes: “It’s gone. Some of you will remember when the Christian philosopher (Francis Schaeffer) wrote in the 1970s that someday we would wake up and find out that the America we once knew was gone. That day is here. We have crossed an invisible line, and there are no signs that we are capable of turning back.The “cultural war” we used to speak about appears to be over, and we have lost.” Another Author (Bill O’Reilly) summarizes: “America is in the midst of a fierce culture war between those who embrace traditional values and those who want to change America into a secular-progressive country. This is a conflict that differs in many ways from the usual liberal/conservative divide, but it is no less heated, and the stakes are even higher.” One other author (Robert Bork) summarizes: “Our’s is a culture in decline, a nation in such serious moral trouble that its very foundation is crumbling: a nation that slouches towards Gomorrah.” We can survive the inevitable but not without cost. We need to be certain that we can identify with the commitment of Paul in Philippians 1:20, “it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored (magnified) in my body, whether by life or by death.” 

To Facilitate means: “to make easier or less difficult; help forward (an action, a process, etc.); to assist in the progress of a person or group.” In the present culture, this has meant revising laws; dismissing the Judeo-Christian ethic and moral value base; and redefinition of national and foundational principles. As a result, marriage requirements have been legally changed; when life begins has been redefined; across the board change is occurring via Government Regulations and Executive Orders. The general public may complain or gripe about these trends but seldom place themselves on the front lines of the battles and/or issues that need to be fought and defined accurately. A slang word from Yiddish is nebbish. It means and refers to one who is: “pitifully ineffectual, luckless, and a timid individual.” Does that describe a cross-section of the population today? Does it give a hint that it might be you/us?

Anytime there is facilitation, or compromise and complicity taking place, there is also the offer of excuse and a plea of ignorance about a given matter. Proverbs 24:9-12 makes a statement, asks a question, and then offers a declaration: “The devising (or facilitation) of folly is sin, and the scoffer is an abomination to mankind. If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small. Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter. If you say: Behold, we did not know this, does not He who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not He who keeps watch over your soul know it, and will He not repay man according to his work?” Matthew Henry’s comments regarding verses 11-12 is: “If a man know that his neighbor is in danger by any unjust proceeding, he is bound to do all in his power to deliver him. And what is it to suffer immortal souls to perish, when our persuasions and example may be the means of preventing it?” We are at a crucial time and moment for a decision. Will you be strong or weak? You are called upon to be strong! What’s your excuse for being weak? Consider these things with me!