While Evangelical Progressives applaud recent cultural changes, Conservatives are concerned as traditional values are thrown over in favor of the Moral Revolution. What they need to remember is that this is the way it has been since the beginning.
In Genesis 2:17, God warned Adam and Eve if they ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, they would die. As warned, when Adam ate, death insinuated itself into creation. It wrapped its pale fingers around the throat of our world. Everything decays and dies, even stars. The Second Law of Thermodynamics is an inexorable rule; everything goes from order to disorder, unless energy is intelligently put into it.
What is true of the physical realm is true also of the spiritual. History is the tale of how, left to themselves, human beings go from bad to worse. If that course is not interrupted, they end in ruin. But the interruptions, rare as they are, can effect a reversal that brings a kind of Golden Age, a bright shining moment when people see what could be if they would just do things God’s way.
Most major civilizations of history enjoyed a period of ascendancy precisely because they honored the eternity God planted in their hearts. (Eccl 3:11) That was a work of His grace, staying the deleterious effects of the Fall, in a reversal of a kind of spiritual Law of Thermodynamics, one in which moral order falls into disorder.
As the followers of Jesus, let us not forget that we live in a fallen world that, precisely because it is fallen, will keep falling further into moral decay and chaos. The best we can do is to be salt to slow that decay and light to offer a refuge for those who want out. But while salt delays decay, it can not reverse it. Our light, at best, shines in the darkness. Only our Daystar, Jesus, can bring the Day.
The Church errs when it thinks it can effect social transformation through political action and social justice campaigns. History proves that wide-spread cultural renewal is a consequence of the sovereign work of God’s Spirit bringing revival. People’s hearts must change before their choices will.
Let’s be Salt and Light by learning and living God’s Word. And let’s pray earnestly for a sovereign and mighty move of God’s Spirit birthing a new season of culture-transforming revival.
Lance is the founding and lead pastor of Calvary Chapel Oxnard where he has served since 1982. Lance & David Guzik co-pastored the church for six years before David planted a church in a nearby community.
Lance & his wife Lynn were married in 1980 and have three adult children and five grandchildren. Lance loves teaching the Bible, History, and Leadership. He holds Masters-of-Arts in Biblical Studies and Ministry.
Lance serves as a chaplain for both the Oxnard and Port Hueneme Police Departments and enjoys backpacking, wood-working, working out, gardening, home improvement projects, reading, and graphic design.
The popular Communio Sanctorum: History of the Christian Church podcast can be found in both audio and video at the Into His Image website along with a growing inventory of Lances teaching.
