Some of us are old enough to remember typing class. Each class period we exercised our fingers by typing, “Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country.” The idea was that repetitive typing of this phrase would help the typist use the full range of finger motions on the keyboard.
My, how times have changed!
We don’t even have typewriters anymore unless you are hoarding some in a closet in the basement just in case there is an Internet meltdown. We have word processors, iPads, smart phones, touch screens, laser printers and digital voice activation software. Who needs to type?
While the phrase “Now is the time . . .” is not used as it once was, the message of the phrase could not be any more important than it is today. There is a desperate cry for courageous people with a biblical worldview to return to places of leadership in our homes, our communities and our nation. Negative economic prognosticators are becoming increasingly prevalent and point to the debt-ridden unrest in Europe as our nation’s destination. Honest sociological researchers continue to release information pointing toward cultural decline, noting the evaporation of monogamous heterosexual marriage relationships.
Good men must courageously arise.
Courage doesn’t cause fear to shrink. It is what we need to face our fears and prevail. President Ronald Reagan said of courage, “Above all, we must realize that no arsenal, no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is so formidable as the will and the moral courage of free men and women. It is the weapon our adversaries in today’s world do not have.” In today’s battlefield of ideologies, convictional courage about a biblical worldview holds the power to bless people and provide security for people. While the enemies of a biblical worldview want to take away this nation’s birthright of liberty, men of courageous faith must prevail for the sake of this generation and the next.
If we choose the route of passivity instead of leadership, it means that degradation of the status quo will be our demise. For example, would you believe that approximately 40 percent of evangelicals (that includes Baptists) are not even registered to vote? And of the registered voters, too many are thinking they will sit out this election. They don’t like the sitting President who has openly opposed biblical values such as life and religious liberty, nor do they care for the Mormon business executive. Then for the Senate race, they don’t like the engineer who puts his foot in his mouth or the incumbent who says she is a middle-of-the-roader while her voting record is radically left of center. So, they say they just won’t make a choice.
Say it isn’t so!
Yes, there are actually people who claim to be believers, who will shirk their biblical responsibility to vote and by default cast their ballot for an incumbent. “No, I’m just neutral. I can’t choose.” However, to not choose is to make a choice. That is just the way it works. Consequently, without saying a word, the current state of affairs will continue and the impact will be felt in every major aspect of life.
As long as God’s people silently, passively acquiesce to the prevailing winds of public opinion, if good men and women do nothing, then we can expect to be recipients of a culture void of God’s blessing.
“Now is the time to be courageously, radically, responsibly biblical.” Try quickly typing that sentence three times to limber up your fingers.
There is a place for you at the Annual Meeting. All the details for Missouri Baptists’ Oct. 29-31 meeting in St. Louis are in this issue of The Pathway. Sharon and I hope to see you there. We long to express gratitude to our Lord for all He has done for Missouri Baptists in the past year.
We are excited to hear the great reports about God at work through our cooperative ministries in Missouri and around the world. There is a “big give-away” in the exhibit hall showcasing our Missouri Baptist Convention ministries. There will be superb preaching, inspiration and challenge. Then the whole convention wraps with encouragement from the Minister of Encouragement Dennis Swanberg.
C U There!