Listen Very Closely!

This week begins the final leg to the White House as the Party conventions begin.  I usually do not write about politics, yet this cycle I speak as a watchman.  A watchman was one who stood guard on the tower of the wall surrounding the city.  If the guard saw the enemy coming over the horizon he would call the alarm to warn everyone to grab their arms.  As servants of the Lord we have a responsibility to cry out to a culture, even when we do not want to.  It goes against the norm.  It goes against complacency.  You are ridiculed.  You are called a fanatical or religious wacko.  You are called out of touch.   I do not profess to have some power to see the future.  I do not proclaim to be a psychic!   So take this or leave it!  I write this as one who is taking a step back, looking at culture and asking the Lord, what is going on?  Why has our culture and way of life seem upside down.  I believe it stems from ones worldview and the dangers of a relativistic society.   

This is why I believe that this election is not just about Republican vs Democrat, it's about the type of worldview we want as a nation to rule the land.  Create a triangle.  Separate it into three sections.  In the bottom section write “worldview”.   The next section above that, write out “values” and the section above that, “behavior”.  This is called the Worldview Triangle.  Let me explain… our worldview is the foundation of who we are.  It answers the questions to how we see the world created; human beings; life after death and right and wrong.  Everyone has a worldview.  Our worldviews will shape our values, which provide the answer to the questions…God or evolution has laid the foundation of all creation.  When it comes to death, one may live life in such a way that proclaims an afterlife or eternal sleep six feet under!  Right and wrong may be seen by a person as relevant or absolute. These values shape our behavior.  Our behavior is what is seen by those we come in contact with on a daily basis.  When I see government mandate healthcare for its citizens; create bailouts for union driven companies; the wealthy become an enemy of the state; the belief that wealth should be distributed; religion is seen as an obstacle and the mantra that everyone is equal when it comes to the status of its citizens…I have to take a step back and say, “What is going on?”

Karl Marx said, "Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the sentiment of a heartless world, as it is the spirit of spiritless conditions. It is the opium of the people."1  

Karl Marxist believed that capitalism eventually destroys itself as it exploits more and more people until everyone is reduced to worker status.2

Friedrich Engels wrote, "While the capitalist mode of production more and more completely transforms the great majority of the population into proletarians, it creates the power which, under penalty of its own destruction, is forced to accomplish this revolution. Eventually the proletariat seizes political power and turns the means of production into state property."3

V.I Lenin said the following, “Democracy is a state which recognizes the subordination of the minority  to the majority, i.e.; an organization systematic use of force by one class against another, by one section of the population against another.” 4

John Dewey who is considered to be a secular humanist stated that "social control of economic forces is necessary if approaching economic equality and liberty is to be realized."5

Former Humanist of the Year, John Kenneth Galbraith stated, “In an intelligently plural economy, a certain number of industries should be publicly owned.”6

Karl Marx believed that we are the gods of our destiny.  He stated, “The philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways, the point however is to change it.”7

Socialism is the phase in history when the proletariat seizes both the means of production and the state. The arrival of communism will occur when the government has withered away because classes have ceased to exist and no one owns the means of production (it is owned in common).8

So what worldview do we want to rule the nation?  Marxism?  Socialism? Or a Capitalist/free market, which may have some flaws, yet allows freedom and liberty to be its compass. 

This election is about ideas. It’s about worldviews that will shape the values of this nation which in return will create a behavior for the world to see.  So my prayer is that people will think with their minds and not their emotions. May you prayerfully seek the direction of the Lord and move forward.  Listen closely to the speeches these next coming weeks for you will be bombarded with words that DO have meaning.  You will hear words that are based on values which stand tall on a worldview.  Common sense and critical thinking cannot be thrown out the window.  C.S. Lewis writes, “We are now getting to the point at which different beliefs about the universe lead to different behavior.”9 I close with the words of the late Chuck Colson, “Christians are to do their duty as best as they can.  But even when they feel that they are making no difference, that they are failing to bring Christian values to the public arena, success is not the criteria.  Faithfulness is.”10

His call.  His gift to you.  Your purpose.  Irrevocable.

Noebel, David A. Understanding the Times. Manitou Springs, CO: Summit, 2006.

1.     pg. 67

2.     pg. 377

3.     pg. 377

4.     pg. 337

5.     pg. 370

6.     pg. 370

7.     pg. 66

8.     pg. 377

9.     pg. 3

10.   pg 322