Cataclysm and Chaos
By Dr. Jay Herndon
Each year the Officers travel the district, visiting the ministers in the sections, and we share a message that the Holy Spirit has laid on our hearts. It takes us two years and 24 sessions to complete the tour. But, once we are done, the message is indelibly imprinted on us… at least for the three of us who shared it 24 times!
Last year, we finished our tour on February 11. It was the 24th time that the officers shared a message the Holy Spirit identified for our district. You might remember the three lessons:
1. To practice of Honor.
2. To practice Biblical Leadership.
3. To produce Spiritual Heirs.
The Supt addressed a fourth topic in his State of the District Address: To practice Reconciliation in relationships.
We finished the last meeting on February 11th. Withing a few days of that meeting COVID swept across the nation and the President declared a national emergency. The health threat spawned other consequences: shutdowns, economic collapse, bitter debates about science and constitutional authority. Conspiracy theories emerged about government and media.
COVID wasn’t the only crisis of 2020, but it was an accelerant, like gas on a fire, inflaming other social issues: politics, race relations, and a widening divide in our nation.
Superintendent Allen has been telling us that we are being tested. But none of us woke up on Feb 12 and said to ourselves, “Today we will be tested.” But there it was. Ready or not.
Tests are opportunities to show what you know, or don’t know, what you can do or not do, who you are or who you aren’t.
If you pass the test, you qualify for a diploma, or a job, or a higher test.
The subject matter of the test is always the point where GOD’S WORD IS CHALLENGED BY OUR CIRCUMSTANCES. The way to pass the test is to align our BELIEFS, our DECISIONS, and our EMOTIONS with God’s word. That’s how you pass the test.
So, I need to ask you. Did you pass the test?
God spoke to us about Honor. That was challenged this year. Honor is easy when the subject is honorable. The test comes when the subject is not honorable. Did we show honor anyway?
God spoke to us about Biblical Leadership. The whole world, even our own church, was pushing us to exercise unbiblical leadership. Did we pass?
God spoke to us about Reconciliation? Wow, we had lots of opportunity there—racial issues, social division, politics…. Did we pass?
I’ll let you grade yourself. I’m glad I am not judge! But, someday, we will be judged…. By a better judge than me!
So, this year the Holy Spirit has directed us to share some thoughts and lessons with our district about how to conduct ourselves in chaotic times.
One of the things the Holy Spirit has impressed upon me is to “avoid the black hole of the End Times.”
Let me explain that: A “black hole” is a body of matter in space that is so dense and the gravitational pull is so strong that it sucks everything into it, nothing escapes from it, not even the light. There is “black hole” associated with the end times, not a physical one, but a spiritual one. And we need to avoid it. You’ll see it in just a minute.
These past months have been chaotic. Many of us have prayed and wondered whether we are in the End Times. It seems like each day we found ourselves in a new chapter of Revelation!
So, let’s talk about the End Times a little:
When John the Beloved describes the End Times he describes cataclysmic events from 30,000 foot view: he identifies angels and demons in heavenly places, he describes fire falling from heaven and famines on earth. He talks about massive armies moving about.
But when Jesus talks about the End Times, he mentions some of these cataclysm events, but he doesn’t stop there—he starts to talk about the impact on the people. He says, “brother will turn against brother” “one shall be taken and another left” “lawlessness will increase, and love will grow cold” he says, “you’ll be dragged before courts.” Jesus doesn’t just talk about the impact of the brimstone, he talks about the impact on relationships.
Some of this is just a natural consequence of the stress to society—civilization keeps people civil. When the institutions of civilization are destabilized people become uncivil.
But the natural consequence only partially explains what Jesus is talking about. Because the catalyst of the End Times is not a meteor, a virus, or the collapse of the dollar. The catalyst of the End Times is spiritual. Spiritual things are happening.
On the surface, the last days looks like a complicated social problem. Natural disasters, International Wars, and Pandemic. On the surface, it looks like the proper response is to devise a public solution.
Bring out the guard.
Print money.
Vaccinate people.
A public solution to a public problem.
But it isn’t a public problem. It’s a spiritual problem.
In Luke 12, Jesus talked about the Last Days and he told them that it was a spiritual problem. But some people didn’t like the instruction. They must have thought, “We are living in the last days right now! Our problem is with Rome. We need to act now!” They didn’t like Jesus’ solution.
That’s the black hole of the End Times—seeing public problems and proposing public solutions. If you get sucked into that, you will hard time getting out. There is only solution to this problem, and that is Jesus.
These men disagreed with what Jesus was saying, and so they told him a story, in an attempt to pull Jesus into their black hole. The story is in Luke 13. Lets look at it.
“There were some men there in that season, who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifice.” They implied that Pilate sent his goons to slit the throat of innocent Galileans while they were in the act of worshiping in the Temple.
Let’s think about this story:
Pilate was famous for the brutality and violent way he governed. He killed a lot of Jews. Pilate is guilty of many atrocities. But is Pilate guilty of THIS atrocity? Frankly, THIS story is not consistent with what we know about Pilate—we know that he acted swiftly and savagely to put down insurrections and rebellions. But slitting the throat of innocent worshipers? Even for Pilate, that is a little far-fetched. I think the story is embellished. I don’t doubt that Pilate executed them, but I don’t think they were worshipping when he did it, and I don’t think they were as innocent as the story suggests. Galilee was known to be a hotbed for agitating rebellion. I think Pilate discovered their plot he acted with savage swiftness.
The story here is what we might now call “outrage porn.” I came across that term recently. Regular pornography is designed to incite and inflame sexual desires. The producer often embellishes the image, removing flaws and enhancing the fantasy to amplfy the effect.
Outrage porn is similar—it is a story that is designed to incite and inflame outrage. It is often embellished: facts added, facts ignored. And when we read it, we have an emotional response that is so strong we have a physical name for it: “blood boiling.” When we read one of these outrage porn stories, we can’t help but be angry. If you are not angry, then there is something wrong with you.
This story is outrage porn. Their hope was to tell the story in such a way that the only reasonable way to respond is to be outraged. They wanted Jesus to shake with fury, and to take up the sword against the evil Pilate.
I wonder if there was a moment when Jesus was tempted to do that. It would be hard not to be tempted. Pilate was evil. Jesus was Galilean, these were his neighbors. There was a clear abuse of power. Jesus had a higher sense of justice than any man ever. Certainly Jesus was tempted.
But Jesus responds to them differently, “Do you think that those Galileans were worse sinners than other Galileans?” Wait, Jesus…. Were you not listening? The Galileans are saints! Pilate is the sinner here! Then Jesus says, to these rebel recruiters, “The same will happen to you if you do not repent.”
Jesus did not join their outrage, this is a spiritual problem. Jesus wasn’t going to abandon his spiritual mission and take up a political cause. Jesus isn’t going to save the people through with a natural or a national solution. That doesn’t save people.
Tests are opportunities to show what you know, or don’t know, what you can do or not do, who you are or who you aren’t. The subject of the test is always the point where GOD’S WORD IS CONTRADICTED BY OUR CIRCUMSTANCES. And the way to pass the test is to align our BELIEFS, our DECISIONS, and our EMOTIONS with God’s word.
This past year was a comprehensive test—so many different factors that it seemed like a precursor to Revelation. Disasters, Disease, Division, Persecution. Some Christians got sucked into the Black Hole—they spent more time and emotion on public solutions than they did spiritual solutions.
My wife and I have a private saying, that we use to remind one another of this truth: “It’s not about the tuna fish.” Teri was hosting a lady’s tea at the church and she asked a deacon’s wife to organize the sandwiches. One of the newer ladies signed up to bring tuna fish sandwiches. Apparently, it is not proper to have tuna fish at a tea! And the deacon’s wife was furious. She confronted Teri in the lobby of the office. She yelled at Teri. She told her this atrocity would destroy the reputation of the church, she said it was all Teri’s fault. But the Lord spoke to Teri and said, “It’s not about the tuna fish.” So Teri just let her vent. And the lady stormed off.
After a bit, Teri went and found her. “Sister, what’s happening?” And the lady broke down crying. She told Teri that her husband had been diagnosed with advanced heart disease. He might not live. She was overcome with fear. It’s not about the tuna fish.
We see things happening in society. We are very concerned. Some things that make our blood boil. But there is something behind what is happening. We could respond to every problem, but we would merely be playing “wack-a-mole.” Until we solve the true problem, another problem will arise. God has not called us to a culture war. Our primary responsibility is to preach the gospel.
This was just a test. Someday the true last days will arrive. We know it will happen and we know what will happen. This society WILL be shaken, the world WILL pass away. We should not be surprised or discouraged. We may mourn it, but we should not lose faith over it.
What WE need to do is to heed to instructions of Jesus, call people to repent, ask them to pay attention to their own heart, help them to align themselves with Jesus.