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God, what are these riots about?
 The riots in London and other parts of the country seem to have come from nowhere and have shocked us all. Our sophisticated wealthy society seems suddenly vulnerable to rapid breakdown. Something under the surface seems to require very little to turn our streets into something very ugly! But where does God fit into this challenging situation? I am reminded of what Billy Graham's daughter said after 9-11 when she was asked, "How could God let something like this happen?" Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said: "I believe that God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman that He is, I believe that He has calmly backed out.” Even in the UK, Christians seem happy to water down everything they  once held dear to fit better into society and appear to be more loving and accepting. The riots are perhaps a window in the true heart of our country behind our wealth and sophistication. As we build a nation without God at its centre, will the real nature of our nation’s heart be exposed? On a local level rather than wrestle with the Bible we simply reject whole parts of it or core biblical concepts as unloving. We seem afraid that the content of the Bible will not fit or be unacceptable to modern society.  Perhaps it is time to get back to a Biblical truth and try to understand God’s ways rather than just reject them as unloving. Perhaps we should again wrestle with issues such as sin and judgement. Only honesty here will allow us to once again grasp the scale of our need for God and our need for rescue. Only when we see our own weakness and absolute need for God, do we begin to grasp the scale of the cross and the love of the man that hung on it. As our society rejects God the breakdown will increase, as will our need for God. Many times God let the Israelites choose their own path from Him while he waited with open arms for their return. God awaits our return today.
“For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths” 2 Timothy 4:3-4
Prayer
“Lord Jesus Christ forgive us that we have strayed so far from you in so many ways. Help us be bold and let you back into every part of our lives, our work and our homes. Help us not run from the difficult issues we find in the Bible and our relationships. Help our government and society to realise that nothing of value can be built without you.”
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James Levasier, 15/08/2011 |
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| | | Bob Kiteley | 20/08/2011 10:49 | Thank you James for your helpful & insightful comments. Bless you. Bob
| | | | Dan Johnson | 21/08/2011 16:55 | Hi James – thanks for you thoughtful addition to the well. You make some excellent points about the riots – particularly with regard to compromising the gospel. I for one come from a background that could hardly have been more profoundly different from many of the rioters so feel somewhat at sea to comment on their reasoning.
I do however struggle with the quote from Anne Graham. In the post 9/11 world the evangelical right in the US wanted simple answers quickly. The issue of school prayer has become a political punching bag for those on all sides of the divide. That issue, along with others you highlight, are thought to profoundly show an America that is becoming ‘less Christian’ – and as a result God has removed His hand of protection. The American historian Bernard Lewis has said that Americans by and large take a very short view of history – tending to see the past through rose tinted glasses. A generation before kids could pray in school - but those same class rooms were segregated along race lines whilst white Christian Middle America looked on. Philip Yancey comments that many white Evangelicals saw Martin Luther King as a trouble maker – including his own magazine – Christianity Today. Was America really ‘more Christian’ in those days and would God have protected the US then because He found segregation less offensive than the removal of school prayer?
The pilgrims are often cited as being the spiritual root of the US and represent a ‘golden age’ of Christianity. After a generation in the US these same pilgrims were responsible for mass slaughter of the American Indian population and the subsequent subjugation of that indigenous population. But through rose tinted glasses this generation are seen as ‘more Christian’.
For my money each generation of American Christianity has been a mixture of some fine Christian examples and parallel contradictions. I find it hard to say that todays’ generation is any more or less Christian than those of the past.
With regard to the events of 9-11 - It’s not that there is no merit in her argument I just feel there are better explanations.
| | | | David Howell (Guest) | 29/08/2011 16:00 | Thank you James for your helpful comments. I found reading Proverbs chapter 1 amazing (especially verses 8-20), as it seems to describe the riots with great clarity and that one of the root causes is that the teaching of God's word by parents is being forgotten..... or perhaps it is not being taught in the first place.. the chapter ends with some salutary verses (verses 29 - 33) "Since they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord, since they would not accept my advice and spurned my rebuke, they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes. For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them; but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm!". I think that Christians have fresh voice and an attentive audience after these riots. We need to share our faith clearly for the benefit of Society so that it can experience God's healing.
| | | | James Levasier | 31/08/2011 12:24 | Dan thanks for your helpful comments. However I was not trying to suggest the US has a special place in God's heart nor I think Anne was. I think the question is "Does God have a special place in our hearts?" When he does not our very society I believe is affected. David your biblical answer seems clearer that what I wrote!!
| | | | Grant Everson | 08/09/2011 12:45 | Sadly, for many I think the riots are just old news now, and dinner party conversations may allude to them and the disbelief at the age of some offenders and possibly that, "I was right" about it all being sadistic violence at the end of the day. We may happilly move to the next topic that interests us, and which might make us more comfortable in debating.
James's question, "As we build a nation without God at its centre, will the real nature of our nation’s heart be exposed?" is the real crux. I believe it is exposed and I have to sadly admit that there are basic values, in my experience, with young people that are no different whether they fear God or not. (I'm in no way making it a young prople's riot.)Yes the riots throw up many questions, but how do we bring "salt and light" to our communities that encourages a change of heart and attitude to eachother? Maybe the question isn't "how" but rather "do we"? Maybe more reflection is needed and maybe a response as robust as the riots. I don't know, I'm still reflecting...
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