Daniel and friends weren’t marginally different; they were 10x better!
Another pro-family U.S. congressman has gone down in disgrace, ambushed by his own lust. This is the refuse on which the bottom-feeding pundits thrive. Meanwhile “conservative” talk show hosts try to put the best spin on it, saying the only reason the incident made the news was because it concerned a Republican; Democrats, they say, due to their concept of relative morality, condone such behavior—in other Democrats, at least.
The argument is specious. If you claim a higher standard, in fact, the Bible’s standard, don’t be surprised if other people hold you to it. And if, being a failing sinner, you come short of that standard, it is no time to excuse yourself or give an anemic “apology” (I’m sorry if anyone was offended by what it has been reported that I perportedly may or may not have done). Such, like Laodicean water, serve only as an emetic to others.
The prophet Jeremiah would have some stimulating commentary on today’s talk radio circuit. Take, for example, his quoting of the Lord’s words to the leaders in Israel:
How can you say, “We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us”? Look, the false pen of the scribe certainly works falsehood. The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken. Behold, they have rejected the word of the Lord; so what wisdom do they have? Therefore I will give their wives to others, and their fields to those who will inherit them; because from the least even to the greatest everyone is given to covetousness; from the prophet even to the priest everyone deals falsely.…Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No! They were not at all ashamed, nor did they know how to blush” (Jer. 8:8-12, nkjv).
These are sad days in North America. Lands blessed with everything—in fact surfeited with their excess—Canada and the U.S. not only are embracing the darkness, but those who ought to be lights in these countries have found their influence waning. And why? Pollster George Barna observes: “The downfall of the Church has not been the content of its message but its failure to practice those truths…” (The Second Coming of the Church, p. 5).
Is there any hope of making a dramatic, eternal difference in our day? What was the secret of the New Testament church? We turn to the early pages of Acts and discover that what they did was not only the truth of chapter 2 and verse 42; there was more than that:
• they had a strategy to methodically, systematically reach their world for Christ
• they took the gospel to the people, preaching on the street corner, in the universities and schools of the philosophers, in the markets, and one-on-one with every strata of society; they sought open doors and were given them (Acts 14:27; Col. 4:3)
• they did good works—in fact, miraculous works (signs and wonders, Acts 2:43) and one can’t help but ask if we don’t believe in a miracle-working God anymore
• they loved each other; in fact, were in each others’ homes daily (see 2:46) and actually shared financially with one another, an idea also adopted by so-called “early brethren”
• they actively removed barriers—economic, social, ethnic—and by it told the world that the gospel was for all people, and that it was level ground at the cross
I think we might benefit from another series of Powerscourt conferences, like they had in the early 1800s, to discover the truths we may have overlooked in the church’s history book.