Posts Tagged ‘action’

 My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back,  let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins. James 5:19-20 (ESV)

Bad news can be hard to hear but good to know.

Consider Paul in Acts 23. He is being held by the Romans because they were looking for evidence to prove the accusations made by the Jewish leadership against him.

While imprisoned, forty Jewish leaders made an oath not to eat or drink until they had succeeded in killing him. They made a plan that the Lord revealed to Paul’s nephew, who reported it to Paul.

Paul sent this nephew to the leader of the Roman soldiers to inform them of the plot. This Roman leader had Paul moved while guarded by 200 soldiers, 70 horsemen, and 200 spearmen (Acts 23:23). That was some serious protection from 40 men!

Paul got hard news but it was good to know. Acting on it saved his life.

Many today would rather hide from truth figuring they don’t have to deal with it, confront it, or change it. What they don’t know… they’d rather not know.

John 8:31-32 says, “So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, ’If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’”

Knowing the truth will set us free. Pretending a problem doesn’t exist will not improve matters; in fact, not acting on something we know needs action usually makes matters worse. We may be prolonging our own misery or leaving someone else to be a victim.

This may be part of why our nation is where it is today. We prefer our comfort over openly resisting the world (I am guilty of this) about abortion, the attack on the family, and many other unbiblical practices of our day.

Many of us are afraid of the fight, the rejection, or other negative responses. We want peace and comfort now over the long term benefit of the confrontation.  Whether it is a personal friend falling into sin or an unjust law being passed (or a Drag Queen Story Hour for small children at the local library), “Who am I to judge?” is not the proper response.

If God has revealed the problem, He has entrusted a truth for us to act on, not to sit on, talk about, or avoid.

If you do not know something evil is happening you cannot fix it. If you do know it’s happening, you have a responsibility to try. This is not a guarantee the situation will be resolved, but our job is obedience in confronting the wrong.

My Pastor pointed out that the Lord has left us (although we rarely use them)  the prayers within the imprecatory Psalms. We don’t like to ask God for judgment. We have been taught that judgment is harsh and cold. And that may be true when it’s our judgment, but God’s judgment is always perfect and it is how He protects the innocent.

First, will we ask God to bring justice to the evil-doers of our day? Will we deal with the truth of what is happening in our midst by first praying – bring out the imprecatory Psalms and use them (Psalm 5, 10, 35, 58, 59, 69, 70, 79, 83, 109, 129, 137, and 140)?

Then, action as God directs, for the good of the nation and His glory, would be a wonderful thing!