As Christians, what should our reaction be to current events today?

We are observing the rapid decline of  values and way of life that we enjoyed for so long here in the United States. The Christian community is responding in many ways, but not all are ways that I recognize as Christian. I see some responses that make me cringe. I am referring to those who are engaging in mean spirited debate motivated by anger. Also those  who claim to be followers of Jesus but are following the culture of the day instead. Yes, I could go on with descriptions of other responses but the point of this post is to find the answer to the question. What was the question??

As Christians, what should our reaction be to current events today?  

To find the correct answer always go back to the Book. The Bible has much to tell us about living in this world in all kinds of circumstances. Right now much of the current events are connected to leaders and soon to be leaders of the country. Election, election …Sometimes the subject is the only one covered in the daily news. So I’m just going to focus on one portion of scripture concerning leaders in this blog post. I will focus on other scriptures that address living in our changing culture in future posts.

This is a portion of scripture that is great to read and study using more than one version. I love it in the J.B. Phillips New Testament. Note: his spelling is a little different for a couple of words (British).

1 Timothy 2:1-8    J.B. Phillips   

Here then is my charge: First, supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings should be made on behalf of all men: for kings and rulers in positions of responsibility, so that our common life may be lived in peace and quiet, with a proper sense of God and of our responsibility to him for what we do with our lives.

 In the sight of God our saviour this is undoubtedly the right thing to pray for; for his purpose is that all men should be saved and come to realise the truth. And that is, that there is only one God, and only one intermediary between God and men, Jesus Christ the man. He gave himself as a ransom for us all—an act of redemption which happened once, but which stands for all times as a witness to what he is.

 I was appointed proclaimer and messenger of this great act of his, to teach (incredible as it may sound) the Gentile world to believe and know the truth.

 I want the men to pray in all the churches with sincerity, without resentment or doubt in their minds.

Question: As Christians, what should our reaction be to current events today?  

Answer: Prayer should be the first response

May I suggest that we keep these verses handy to remind ourselves of what we should be doing.

Corrie ten Boom tells about something that happened concerning this subject in her book “In My Father’s House”. The time was 1914 when one after another, countries of the world issued declarations of war. Corrie writes about her father and a weekly prayer meeting. Her father’s name was Casper ten Boom. The following is a short section from the book.

Father continued to pray for the Queen and the government of Holland, as he always had. We were very patriotic and loyal to Queen Wilhelmina and her prime minister, Abraham Kuyper, who was also a prominent theologian.

A division of purpose developed in our weekly prayer group. “Casper, it’s not right to pray for those in government,” some of the people said. “The world is evil-Satan is prince of this world and we should only look at the Kingdom of God.”

But Father said, “As Christians we are in the world, but not of the world. We must not give over our country to the enemy, because then we would be disobeying 1 Timothy 2 which says  ‘First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, in order that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.’ “(vs. 1,2).

As the weeks and months of World War I went on, the pietists became more uncomfortable as Father, Betsie, and I continued to pray for our government. The difference in these basic beliefs drove the group apart. The others began to draw more and more into their spiritual shells, until we could no longer meet together for prayer.

I invite you to visit the Corrie ten Boom page to learn more about her.

This is what Joni Eareckson Tada says her response is to news stories. She says “I use what I’ve learned as fodder for prayer and intercession (there’s hardly a time I turn off the news that I don’t pray about what I’ve watched).”

I love her way of stating her prayer reaction. I want to begin to see each news story that I hear about as a call to prayer. How about you? Are feeling overwhelmed with bad news? Let us go to the King with everything immediately.

Please leave  a comment because I would love to hear from you.

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