Red Zone Warning
The Red Zone: Warning to the Nation (7/6/08)I was inquiring in my heart to the Lord as to why, in spite of all the wickedness of our nation, He has not dealt with us severely as our sins so justly deserve. Here is what He has shown me:
1. Never has there been a nation on the earth (aside from Israel, which is a different subject) that was founded with such a strong desire for godly righteousness and the Kingdom of God on earth. The U.S.A. was founded with a Christian foundation and heritage which, while certainly not perfect by any means, was so broad and deep that so see it in reality is breath-taking. (E.g., this quote from the famous historian Alexander de Tocqueville, "America is great because America is good. When America ceases to be good, it will cease to be great.")
2. To the current informed mind, America has ceased to be good. But America remains great, at least for the time being.
3. I believe this is because, from Heaven's perspective, there is a "bank account" if you will, of righteousness stored up from our forefathers (Arthur Burk calls them "generational blessings") in Heaven, on behalf of this nation, that we have been able to draw from (or maybe better, that the Lord has been able to credit to us). All of the extreme righteous acts of this nation, from the aid we've given to other nations to the constant sending out of the Gospel by multiplied hundreds of missionary organizations, makes us a nation unlike any other.
4. We are suffering from a severe case of split personality as this point, because we are both a "wicked" nation and a "righteous" nation at the same time.
5. I believe that the "rate" of wickedness has increased and that the "rate" of righteousness (righteous acts) has slowed, thus bringing us to a very dangerous point. I believe that what the Lord has shown me as that we are on the threshold of "The Red Zone" or the danger zone. This is where the rate of wickedness will soon out-strip the righteous "account" and the current level of righteous acts. Once that occurs, we are doomed as a nation.
6. The simple solution is this: Increase the rate of righteousness. Get the account filled back up again. Extreme righteousness is still in our midst, it is still part of who we are. But it is becoming scarcer and "slower" if you will. Let the Church (the only true source of righteousness in our culture) begin the process of corporate repentance and intentional acts of righteousness (which is our true mission, anyway). Let us get back to the basics of the faith, the basic building blocks of the Church of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God. We must let our righteous light so shine before men that they see our good works and then glorify our Father in Heaven.
7. "Where sin abounds, grace much more abounds." I believe that this applies here. Instead of focusing on the sin, let's focus on the grace, the righteousness of the Lord. Charles Finney said, "When the Church stops condemning the wicked and begins to pray for them, then we will see revival." I think that is because the problem is not the wickedness of the "world" or the lost, the outsiders, but the sin in the Church itself. This includes sins of the flesh (immorality, gluttony, sloth, etc.), but also -- and primarily -- sins of the heart (pride, arrogance, bitterness, gossiping, prayerlessness, self-will, independence, etc.).
8. We need to get our eyes off the wicked, repent, clean our own house, and begin to live out the righteous life, corporately, that we see taught in the Scriptures: walking in love, a heart for the poor, the widow, the orphan, and "to keep ourselves unstained from the world." Our job is holiness (refraining from sin) and righteousness (doing good in the land), not correcting the wicked. The problem is not "their" wickedness - it is our lack of righteousness.
"Do good to all, but especially to the household of faith."
If America falls, the sole responsibility will rest with this generation of Christians who failed to truly repent and turn back to the Lord with a pure heart (2 Chron. 7:14).
posted by Steve Gordon @ 11:30 AM
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