Come, let us return

“Come, let us return to the Lord.  For He has torn us but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us.  He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day, that we may live before Him.” -Hosea 6:1-2

For the past few weeks, this passage from Hosea has been on my heart.  I think it is pertinent for America, but I also think it is applicable for many, many people who are not completely surrendered to Christ.  I think that we in America have proven time and time again that even amongst the professing believers there isoften very little regard for Christ’s precepts.  Sometimes there is even outward hostility to them.  I have heard statistics regarding the spirituality of this nation that stagger the imagination.  In a nation where 85% of the populace professes to follow Jesus, there are multi-billion dollar industries revolving around virtually every vice (some legal and some illegal), while neglecting our God given responsibility to love our neighbors.  Within our churches we engage in sins which frequently exceed those of the world around us.  And in addition to it all, every six months or so we become embroiled in some nasty controversy as Christians follow after heretical teachings (from within and without) in droves.

All this is to say that it is reasonable for us to expect the consequences of our actions to catch up with us.  The current economic crisis is one part of a larger threat to the American future.  That threat is our sin. Six years or so ago as California began to be ravaged by a then-unheard of forest fire I was reminded of an axiom I had heard from social scientists: “As California goes, so goes the country.”  Since that time we have endured so many natural disasters that we don’t even realize there have been more floods, hurricanes, tornadoes and drought than at any other time in history.  Even amongst people with no beliefs whatsoever, there is a foreboding feeling that things simply cannot continue as they are.  The media seems to be awash in the constant threat of destruction.  Wether it be through international conflict, terrorism, natural disaster, rising crime rates, financial ruin, global warming or a pandemic disease, we are bombarded with the news that very soon it all might fall apart.

And so it goes, while in the meantime we hear about the problems in the land.  Crooked politicians, powerful small-interest groups, bad education, poor literacy rates, judicial activism, bad legislation, the broken family structure, the prevalence of illegal drug use, the greed and self=serving practices of large corporations, and the escalating level of violence and immorality in the media are all blamed and battled as roots to our current national distress.  Certainly these are genuine problems and contributors to the decline in good morality, but they are also only a part of a much greater problem.  That problem is our sin.

Yesterday on the radio I heard that now that the election is over, the culture war is heating up.  Many in the social conservative movement are gearing up to face the challenge full-bore.  The media-circus associated with the elections has wound down, but the fervor of the fight is picking up.  No doubt in the near future Christianity will come under the fiercest attack ever, but the real problem is not political, or judicial, or economical.  It is not strictly social, either.  It is spiritual.  It is our sin.

As I mention all of these big-picture, broad-stroke ideas, I don’t want to get lost in the mix.  The problem is our sin.  Honestly, it’s always easier to look at the other guy and point your finger.  It’s easier for one to think that the problem is the constant attack and erosion of one’s own values by others.  It is easier to mobilize people in defense of themselves than to get them to abandon self.  It’s easier to get mad at the devil than repent of sin.  The problem is our sin. I could probably create a much larger list of indicators that professing Christians are engaged in sin, but every sin I list might not be the one that you are giving in to.  What I really want to say is that we, as Christians, have been harboring our selves from the storm, and it just won’t work.  In our heart of hearts, we have turned away from God.  Possibly we have raised our fists in his face, or possibly in some way we have chosen a sin which we consider to be harmless; we may have simply eased into a life in which God simply takes second or third priority to our families, work, or posessions.  Possibly we have never really surrendered every area of our lives for the glory of God.  It could be simple, or it could be complex, but the problem is our sin.

For a minute, forget politics.  Forget the economy.  Forget SARS and the bird flu and oil shortages and civil unrest around the world.  For just a minute, don’t think about hurricanes or forest fires or crime rates.  Please, just consider your life.  Is there any area of your life which is not surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus Christ?  Is there anything you hold more dear than Him?  Is there anything you are doing that you already know is sin, but have been too focused on other things to really deal with?  Is there anything which could be hindering the movement of the Holy Spirit in your life to transform your world?

Maybe you can answer no to every one of those questions.  I don’t really know.  But if not, I want to encourage you:

“Come, let us return to the Lord.  For He has torn us but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us.  He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day, that we may live before Him.” -Hosea 6:1-2