The sons of Israel lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; and they took their daughters for themselves as wives, and gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods. The sons of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and forgot the LORD their God and served the Baals and the Asheroth.
Then the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, so that He sold them into the hands of Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia; and the sons of Israel served Cushan-rishathaim eight years. When the sons of Israel cried to the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer for the sons of Israel to deliver them, Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother. (Judges 3:5-9)
Under the post "Wayne Grudem's ethical casuistry," Mr. Alex Guggenheim commented: "You are going to get either Trump or Clinton. It's time to grow up and take responsibility for delivering one or the other to us."
Here's my response:
Dear Mr. Guggenheim,
You're avoiding the long game. I understand why you're doing so, but don't accuse those who think about history and judgement or blessing in more than four-year increments of being immature and irresponsible. I would say it's precisely the opposite—that those incapable of thinking and choosing anything other than short-term goods are the ones who are immature and irresponsible. Contrary to what all Donald Trump's supporters are telling the church right now, this election cycle...
is no kairos.
The real kairos was back many years ago when Covenant Theological Seminary allowed its theology and ethics prof to promote the repeal of sodomy laws publicly. The kairos was back many years ago when Lig Duncan debated Tim Keller on women officers at General Assembly and Tim showed up while Lig didn't. The kairos was back many years ago when, as the new president of Covenant College, Niel Nielson invited the feminist, Carolyn Custis James, to feed the sheep of his flock, and the board of trustees kept him on as president. The kairos was many years back when the denominational bureaucrats of the Presbyterian Church in America subverted the will of the General Assembly, refusing to rebuke the Christian Reformed Church for changing its constitution to allow women officers. The kairos was back almost fifteen years when Tenth Presbyterian decided to keep Paul Jones on as their music and worship director and Philadelphia Presbytery did nothing to stop it. The kairos was back many years ago when Tim Keller started refusing to ordain deacons, made a woman his head deacon, and no one in the Presbyterian Church in America rebuked or disciplined him for his violation of his ordination vows. The kairos was back many years ago when Bryan Chapell and the board of trustees were informed that their longtime Francis Schaeffer prof, Jerram Barrs, was telling his students that CBMW promoted the abuse of women and he was allowed to continue his feminist indoctrination of the future pastors of the Presbyterian Church in America. The kairos was years ago when Bryan Chapell was still in his halcyon days as president of Covenant Seminary and he began teaching his students that their preaching had to be graceful, as he defined it, thus removing the preaching of repentance from the Presbyterian Church in America.
My point?
We’ve taken our eye off the ball. The culture doesn’t drive the Church. The Church drives the culture. Speaking only for my own denomination for over twenty years, the Presbyterian Church in America, we abandoned Biblical preaching and church discipline—we abandoned God's "no"—and now across our nation we are reaping the fruit of our unfaithfulness. We willfully chose cheap grace, and thus betrayed the God Who saved us and called us to good works and holiness.
Read the book of Judges and see what causes evil men to rule over the people of God; also what causes God’s people to be released from those evil men and restored to freedom and peace. We have sinned against God and are refusing to repent. The salt has lost its savor. The light has been placed under the bushel. The pillar and foundation of the truth has gagged herself. We have stopped guarding the good deposit. We have refused to preach the Word out of season. We have chosen to scratch itching ears as long as they keep paying us well and our children are able to go to a good college and get a good job.
So that’s the tradeoff. We can have our money and status and degrees or we can have God. We can’t have both. And since we’ve chosen money, God has given us either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump for our next president.
But instead of calling the church to repentance, our shepherds tell us to man up and be mature and take responsibility and make the morally right decision.
Our shepherds tell us the solution to our oppression under evil rulers is…
To choose Trump. After all, it’s much easier than repenting.
Tim serves Clearnote Church, Bloomington, Indiana. He and Mary Lee have five children and big lots of grandchildren.
Want to get in touch? Send Tim an email!
