This month, our meditation has been excerpted from the book entitled, Bound to Be Free compiled by Jan Pit. In the following short quotation from Ghassan Khalaf (Lebanese; amidst bombings and destruction, Brother Khalaf faithfully visited victims of war to encourage them in their faith), there is fodder for reflection and perhaps application:
"When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?" (Psalm 11:3)
During wars, moral spiritual foundations are liable to be undermined and people tend to be permissive. They abandon God's laws and government laws. In Lebanon when militia-men dominated, the government was dissolved. A state of chaos and complete confusion emerged. The foundations were destroyed. In a situation like this, what can the righteous do?
Learning from our situation, the righteous can prove that He is the foundation when moral and spiritual foundations are destroyed. The Christian is the law in the absence of the law, and he is the conscience of the nation when morals deteriorate. The example of Christ is reflected in our lives in humanity's darkest hours. Christ is the light of the world, and we should let Him shine through us.
When foundations are destroyed, the righteous should not stand still. He must rebuild what is destroyed. Our call is not just to stand by and observe the destruction. Our call is to share in building up whatever is destroyed, especially in the moral and spiritual realm. What if what we have rebuilt is destroyed again? The righteous should be determined to build it again and again and again.
A moment of introspection: We live in a precarious time of tumult, pain and uncertainty. Christ Himself described these days in Chapter 24 of the gospel according to St. Matthew. Much of the fabric of society is changing. Traditional Christian forms and institutions are increasingly being challenged or dismissed by groups and systems committed to the world and its sovereignty.
The church, around the world, is beset with challenges from persons and groups espousing competing faiths, including those whose incredible faith is focused on the godhood of the self, those who claim there is no God, and those with fanatical methods of expressing their own competing religious traditions and beliefs. Christianity is involved in a war which the Bible describes as part of what we as Christians can expect during the build-up to the end times--whether we would like it to be so or not.
Mr. Khalaf posed the question, taken from the Psalms: "When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?" Graciously, he gives us some ideas:
- Learn from our situation.
- Prove that God is the foundation when moral and spiritual foundations are being destroyed.
- We Christians are the law (in the absence of law).
- We Christians are the conscience of the nation (when morals deteriorate)
- In our lives, we reflect the example of Christ during humanity's darkest hours.
- Let Christ (the Light of the world) shine through us. Do not hide His Light under a bushel, in the dark.
- Do not stand still; as a Christian, do not remain inactive in society.
- We must rebuild what is destroyed--sharing in building up whatever is destroyed, especially in moral and spiritual realm.
- If what we have rebuilt is destroyed again, be determined to build again and again and again.
Many in our society today would rather see Christianity swept into the dustbin of antiquity--never to be heard from again. Will we be faithful to the task of rebuilding, even as Nehemiah was in the Old Testament? Will we find out that which needs rebuilding and dedicate ourselves to the task? Will we be observant to actually notice our civil rights being eroded--and then act to shore up what has been eroded? To learn from our situation, we need to know what our situation is. But in that knowledge, we cannot afford to stand still. The book of Revelation (3:2), God's prophetic gift to our generation, says, "Be alert and strengthen what remains, which is about to die..." Vigilance, not distraction, is the call to Christians today. We are called to be Watchmen on the wall even as Ezekiel was thusly commissioned by God: (Ezekiel 3:16-17) "Now at the end of seven days the word of the LORD came to me: 'Son of man, I have made you a watchman over the house of Israel. When you hear a word from My mouth, give them a warning from Me.'" We have a calling in these eventful days of Elijah and of Matthew 24. As Christians, "...to God, we are the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing." (2 Corinthians 2:15) Let Christ shine through us in a darkening world. We who know the Truth must stand for it--when more and more people glibly abandon Him.