America In Deep Sin: Our Nation's Beliefs Are Irrational
- Dr. James O. Davis Global Pastors Network
- Published Mar 22, 2004
Most of us know that AIDS is an abbreviation for Auto Immune Deficiency Syndrome. But I believe it could be redefined and relabeled to represent America In Deep Sin. In essence, our nation is reaping what she has sown for the last thirty to forty years. The Apostle Paul, under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, issued three indictments against this world - three indictments that God brought to pass in the courtroom of His justice. Here is the second:
Our Nation's Beliefs Are Irrational
A) Indifference (v. 21a) "For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks; but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened." God has given us this earth on which to live, and fresh air to breathe, and bountiful blessings on every side. To ignore God is the essence of selfishness. Our beliefs are irrational because we have become indifferent to God. We need a fresh, reverential fear of God. We need to fear God more than men. We need to fear some things, like snakes in the woods and drunk drivers, but we had better fear God. Our beliefs are irrational because of our indifference and our imagination.
B) Imagination (v. 21b) "But they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened." When a person refuses to put his mind on the things of Christ, his mind will become a garden of weeds. We imaginatively create our sin. Man's mind has become full of the weeds of sin, of apathy and indifference. Our beliefs are irrational because of our indifference, imagination, and our ignorance.
C) Ignorance (v. 22) When a person refuses to believe the truth, he will then believe the ultimate lie. One's mind cannot live in a vacuum. When an individual denies the truth, he will then distort the truth. He will become a practicing idolater. We live in a time when men want to enthrone human reasoning and dethrone divine revelation.
"Professing to be wise, they became fools." The word here for "wise" means a "learned man," a "cultured man." The word for "fools" is the Greek word "moros," from which we get the English word today "moron." Do you know what God says? "Man thinks he is wise, but I say he is a fool." When one starts with the wrong premise, he will end up with the wrong conclusion every time.
In many ways, America believes education will solve all of her problems. We are educating ourselves further and further away from God. Please do not misunderstand me. I tell young men and women everywhere I go to get the best education they can. I've had my fair share of sitting at a desk in the classrooms of education. I had the privilege of going four years to a Bible college, then earning two masters degrees while attending seminary for three and one-half years, and earning a doctorate within the next seven years. So, I am not against education.
But, a lot of people think that education holds the answer to all of our problems. Every time there is a crisis, we lift up the banner of education and say that education will help us out of our problems, whether the problems are AIDS, illegitimate births, drugs, or alcoholism.
The world says we need more education, I say we need more salvation. The world says we need more culture, I say we need more of Calvary. The world says we need to turn over a new leaf, I say we need to get a new life in Jesus Christ. Education is good, but education alone will not solve our problems.
We do not want to deal with the issues. We want to feel good about sin, to make it more sophisticated. While man professes he is wise, God says he is a fool. He is a fool because he has chosen to ignore what's right. Our beliefs are irrational because of our indifference, imagination, ignorance and idolatry.
D) Idolatry We may not bow down and worship sticks or stones, but our idols sometimes come in chrome and fiberglass. Sometimes they roll down the highway, or float on a lake, or even fly in the air. Sometimes they may come in the form of checkbooks, stocks, or mutual funds. Anytime we worship something man has made, God calls it idolatry. Notice what God says about idols.
1) Man Creates His Idol (v. 23) "And exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures." An idol is a projection of the worst in mankind. Man makes a god out of his vices, anger, fears, greed, and hatred. Man's vices then become his virtues. Have you ever noticed how idols are disfigured and grotesque? That is because they represent what is deep in man's heart. Man first of all creates his idol and then he is consumed by it.
2) Man is Consumed by His Idol (v. 24) "Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, that their bodies might be dishonored among them." First, man molds his idol, then his idol molds him. We become what we worship, what we love. Nothing is too good for man's idols. The Bible says that, "...God gave them up..." Three times in Romans, chapter one, that phrase is used, "God gave them up...God gave them up...God gave them up."
It is a terrible thing for man to give up on God, but it is a far more terrible thing for God to give up on man. When man pushes God too far, there comes a time when God literally gives up on him. Giving up means God turns one over for sentencing or execution. He lets man go and do what he chooses, but man will suffer the consequences.
God gives a person up to uncleanness. Uncleanness means impurity, and literally represents the contents of a grave. God gives a person up to rot and to decay. God gives the person up to the decay and rottenness that lies in his/her heart. People spew out the uncleanness from deep within their hearts. It is like the foul smell from a broken sewer line. God gives a person up to his/her uncleanness and lust. The word "lust" deals with a person's wrong desires and illicit cravings.
When a man or woman is abandoned by God, he or she no longer lives by logic, but by lust. Others degrade themselves by displaying themselves in films and in person. The body thus becomes an extension of man's lust and abuse. It is America In Deep Sin. Man creates his idol, is consumed by his idol, and then he is corrupted by his idol.
3) Man is Corrupted by His Idol When a person is seduced by his idol, then he will spiritually serve his idol. If one's idol is lying, he will deceive; if it is hate, he will kill; if it is money, he will steal; if it is lust, he will fornicate and commit adultery. It is America In Deep Sin. Our behavior, our beliefs are irrational. There is no logic and there is no common sense about them. We no longer base our beliefs on what is right. We base our beliefs on what pleases self.
Years ago, Cal Thomas, wrote an article from which I quote: "We have been kidding ourselves that the sexual promiscuity of the last thirty years was without cost. Free love turned out not to be free at all, but expensive in the extreme. Open marriages, swingers, no-fault divorce, adultery, condoms in the school, all these regularly discussed on tabloid TV turned out to have a big price tag. We know the consequences of violating the physical laws of the universe, but we thought we could escape the consequences of violating its sexual, moral laws.
"In addition, sex of this kind has its own set of emotional, relational and spiritual costs unrelated to the physical consequences. The only safe sex is that practiced within a marital bond in which both partners are committed to each other. Truly safe sex means remaining chaste until marriage. The role models should not be the rock star Madonna - it should be the original Madonna. 'Avoid sexual looseness like the plague.' Each other sin that a man commits is done outside of his own body, but this is an offense against his own body. That's from the Bible, America's most banned Book.
"Ask yourself why condoms are now distributed in the public schools but the Bible, and the principles it contains are banned, and you will have a clue as to why our cultural fabric is unraveling. Its truths now ring with a new clarity in the age of AIDS. Since the sixties, we've treated sex like a recreational sport in which high scores took on a totally different meaning.
"We've stripped sex of its intimacy. Like so much else in our culture, focused on the gloss, the veneer, and the external. Sex is more than an a physical act. It is thoughtfulness, tenderness, courtesy, gentleness, kindness, selflessness and commitment. It is caring, sharing, learning about another, giving of one's self fully to another and knowing the person in the deepest possible way.
"Promiscuous sex is the opposite. It is the ultimate in human degradation, disappointment and delusion. It is in fact dehumanizing. Anyone who watches someone die with AIDS must conclude that this disease is absolutely, and above all, anti-human. We should realize that it's time to come to our senses and to turn from our wicked ways and to consider where this three-decade journey is leading. It is leading us into the direction of destruction."
Our nation's blindness is inexcusable. Our beliefs are irrational. And our behavior is immoral.
Read Part One of this series: A.I.D.S. - America In Deep Sin - Part 1