Worth Repeating - July 4, 2017

Genesis 18: 23 Then Abraham reproached him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked?” (NIV)

God’s plans can be on a greater scale than our worthy, heartfelt prayers.*

When God came down to investigate the reported wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham assumed the role of mediator on their behalf. God offered to spare the city of Sodom if he found at least 50 righteous people there. Abraham negotiated for 45, then to 40 to 30 to 20 and finally, at ten, he gave up.

I don’t imagine that Sodom and Gomorrah were any more or less wicked than our world is today. Perhaps it seems worse today because we are exposed to it through our television, movie and computer screens and have become desensitized to man’s depravity. I confess that sometimes I wonder why I’m not more appalled at what I see and hear.

I have prayed that God would spare the United States for the sake of the righteous. I know that there are more than 50 good people in this country. My negotiating skills don’t seem to be any better than Abraham’s because it looks like my country is heading down the path of destruction.

Why was God willing to spare Sodom and Gomorrah but, apparently, not America? Perhaps the lives of ten good people are more valuable than the political freedom of millions. We American Christians have the notion that we have replaced Israel as God’s chosen people. Why? Because he has blessed us? Because our country was founded on Christian principles? Because we are a beacon of hope to the oppressed and exploited nations of the world?

We have forgotten that the “Church did not need constitutional protection in order to take root in a hostile pagan culture two thousand years ago.”* The church flourished in the midst of persecution then and still does in other parts of the world today. What we need is not to “take America back” for Jesus, but to take his church back for him.*

Back to Abraham’s question regarding sweeping away the righteous along with the wicked: Yes, Abraham, if that’s what it takes.

The first century church didn’t pray for an easing of persecution; they prayed for courage to speak the truth regardless of the consequences.*