"So Toxic... Nothing Can Survive."

"So Toxic... Nothing Can Survive."

By:  Pastor Jack Schneider

“Don’t stifle God’s Spirit or ignore prophecies. Put everything to the test, holding on to what is good while having nothing to do with anything that is evil [contrary to the Word].”  [1 Thess.5:19-22, PJV]

A recent “Digging Deeper” class was talking about the Aral Sea.  As recently as 1980, this 4^th largest inland saline body of water in the world covered over 42,000 square miles, employed over 60,000 people in the fishing industry and provided countless others income through tourism. Then the USSR decided to make the area the world’s major cotton exporter by tapping the sea’s two major feeder rivers, in much the same way as has happened here in the U.S. with the Colorado and Rio Grande. Flow into the Aral Sea stopped and, without the influx of fresh water, the sea literally died.  It became too salty even for the sea fish, eventually losing over 90% of its volume until now the seabed is a desert littered with rusting hulks of shipwrecks. All that remain are two small portions, hundreds of miles apart and far from any previous shoreline populations.

Our “DD” class applied this lesson to what happens when God’s people stifle His Spirit, ignore prophecies and, in general, shut down the fresh, challenging conversations of people He places in our lives each and every day.  We’re quick to dismiss unbelievers or those who do not share our opinions and beliefs [perhaps our values and politics?] when, in truth, they may be exactly what we need to keep us from becoming so toxic that nothing can survive around us. Even our own family members and friends at church will be avoided if, God forbid!, they disagree with our lock-step mentality.

I know, I know.  Much can be said about maintaining doctrinal/Biblical purity, which is why the Thess. passage above talks about testing everything and holding on to the good. But there’s a lot of good extra-Biblical stuff out there, and Jesus was not afraid to go looking for it and people welcomed Him into their homes as a result. We’re talking about keeping an open mind, a fresh outlook in order that we do not become dead seas, so to speak -- people who wither and die because of a lack of renewing, revitalizing conversations and relationships with our families, friends, churches and communities.

And you’re right, there is another Dead Sea: the original from Scripture. Same problem: nothing of the Jordan River reaches this infamous body of water and it, too, is vanishing; nothing in, nothing out. On the other hand, we have been blessed to BE a blessing, even as our Lord Jesus has said [John 7:38], 

“Whoever believes in Me, streams of living water will flow from within him.” We take rest in God’s Word, rejoicing in His people, prospering His communities wherever He has planted us.

The alternative is to dry up and blow away.

- Jack

"Beyond Our Fragile Planet."

"Beyond Our Fragile Planet."

“’But the days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will punish her idols… Even if Babylon reaches the sky and fortifies her lofty stronghold, I will send destroyers against her,’ declares the Lord.”  [Jer.51:52, NIV]

Stephen Hawking has spoken. Like a 21st Century prophet, the British cosmologist has declared that space exploration is the key to saving humanity, since we are not likely to survive another 1,000 years “without escaping beyond our fragile planet.”

C’mon. You seriously expect me to buy into the idea that we’re going to figure out how to bail ourselves off this rock and go somewhere else when we’re not bright enough to clean up the poop in our own back yard that trashed this one in the first place? [I know, pastors aren’t supposed to write like that, but it’s truth, isn’t it?]  Better yet, if we COULD go somewhere else in the universe and start over, what’s the filter to keep us from starting the whole destructive process all over again? That’s the real issue. Sounds to me a whole lot like Noah and his boys with their families. The problem is not with the process of reconstruction but with the DNA -- the sample is tainted.

And that, my friends, is what the Jeremiah passage reflects. It reminds us of Genesis 11 and the tower of Babel while looking forward to the arrogance of Babylon and her astrologer armies. These are idols, no doubt, along with others of wood, silver and gold. But our idols today take on other forms, as well. They’re digital, computerized, flashy, and sometimes do nothing more than take up space on our calendar to drag us away from Godly priorities in life. And wrong priorities are deadly. They’re like trying to build a rocket ship when all we really need to do is clean up the back yard. 

Which is what God has done in His Son. That’s what the Cross and Resurrection is all about. “At just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” [Rom.5:6,8] The key to saving humanity, contrary to the brilliance of Hawking, is not going somewhere else to start over but staying right here and regaining our center in the grace of God through Jesus Christ, Who makes all things new.

Hawking is right about one thing, for sure: this is a fragile planet. Furthermore, God has placed us here as stewards, managers of His creation, and He expects the best from us.  May we one day stand before Him to hear His voice proclaim, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” The alternative, to treat His creation with callousness and sloth, leaves us no place to hide. Literally.

Think about it.

- Jack