PEACE OR PANIC

From My Perspective - - - 

We live in a world that seems to be moving from one challenging crisis into another without pause. There is barely enough of a time lapse to consider all of the ramifications and designs of ISIS-ISIL when we are thrust into the tremendous need of Liberia, most of West Africa and into other parts of the world as Ebola has not yet been constrained. While the government of the United States addresses both issues frequently, words do little to allay the fears, concerns and sense of panic within the citizenry. 

An Evangelical Leader, Dr. Erwin Lutzer who is Pastor of Moody Church in Chicago, IL,  has sent out a poignant statement that should be pondered. It is entitled, Church and Culture, and begins with the following statement: “Dark days are ahead for the United States. News outlets show increasingly violent and horrific scenes happening in our own backyards. God’s enemies are out to obliterate Christianity and destroy democracy. Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, ‘Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.’ This quote has always stirred me. Though it was made in reference to the churches that had lost their biblical mission and voice in Germany during the rise of Hitler, I’m afraid that it’s quite true of our churches today. We are losing the Gospel by not speaking and not acting.”

There is both advantage and disadvantage living in a nation and world where 24/7 news media is constant. The advantage is that it provides us with events that are taking place world-wide. The disadvantage is that reports can give viewers degrees of fear and a sense of panic. When Ebola first began to be the subject of daily reports, many people had no idea what it was or how it might affect them if it reached this nation. To some degree, the idea that “ignorance is bliss” has some advantage to “a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.” Will Ebola become an epidemic in the United States gets attention but the suggestion is often based upon ignorance rather than knowledge. This is how the seeds of panic can be planted and nurtured.

While we should be concerned regarding some with contagious diseases entering this nation illegally via the southern border, panic can too easily supplant peace. In like manner, fear can quickly overcome calmness and confidence. Fear can short-circuit sound reasoning and faith. A secular society and culture focuses primarily on humanness and has no time or space for the spiritual dimension of what constitutes a person in God’s sight. The words of I Thessalonians 5:23-24 are both instructive and reassuring: “May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.” These words embrace and encompass the totality of who we are as a person and allow that peace can and should be what we have in a personal relationship with God Himself. The lifestyle of hope and confidence that should permeate a Christian people is recorded in Isaiah 26:3-8 (selected), “You (God Himself) will keep in perfect peace those whose mind is steadfast, because they trust in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord, is the Rock eternal. He humbles those who dwell on high…The path of the righteous is level…You (God Himself) make the way of the righteous smooth. Yes, Lord, walking in the way of your laws, we wait for you; your name and renown are the desire of our hearts.” 

In 1914, Oswald J. Smith wrote the words to the Hymn, Deeper and Deeper. It is a about the intimacy one can realize in a relationship with Jesus Christ. The fourth stanza includes these words: “Into the joy of Jesus, Deeper and deeper I go, Rising, with soul enraptured, Far from the world below. Joy in the place of sorrow, Peace in the midst of pain, Jesus will give, Jesus will give; He will uphold and sustain.” This can be your reality, your encouragement and your assurance as you live your life amid the cultural chaos in our world. You can be safeguarded from panic as you abide in Christ’s peace. Consider these things with me.