No Wisdom in Sin

“It is time the young people of this generation learned that there is nothing smart about wrongdoing and nothing stupid about righteousness.  We must stop negotiating with evil.  We Christians must stop apologizing for our moral position and start making our voices heard, exposing sin for the enemy of the human race which it surely is, and setting forth righteousness and true holiness as the only worthy pursuits for morals beings.

I am among those who believe that our Western civilization is on its way to perishing.  It has many commendable qualities, most of which it has borrowed from the Christian ethic, But it lacks the element of moral wisdom that would give it permanence.  Future historians will record that we of the twentieth century had intelligence enough to create a great civilization but not the moral wisdom to preserve it.”

Paul warned Timothy:   (2 Tim Chapter 3)

But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: ² For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, ³ unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, ⁴ traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, ⁵ having a form of godliness but denying its power.

And in chapter 4:

³ For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; ⁴ and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.

⁵ But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

I don’t like suffering.  I’m old and slow and hurt a lot of the time.  I’ll admit I resist exercise:  “I’m retired, I don’t want to, I don’t have to, and you can’t make me.”  😛

BUT that is NOT suffering persecution!  Persecution is being arrested for reading the Bible in public., or having to flee your country because the government has classified you as a terrorist – even as a pastor, or being told you can’t hold a Bible study in your apartment building.

BUT that is nothing compared to what Christians are facing around the world.  Africa, China, South America, people are arrested, beaten, and murdered for being a Christian.  Pastors are executed in front of their families.  Churches are vandalized and burned.  Christians, even in America, are being called “extremists” and “terrorists.”

And it’s pervasive in our colleges and universities; in Nashville, Tennessee, the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in it’s “DEI toolkit” defines ‘religious oppression’:

“Religious Oppression: Refers to the systematic subordination of minority religions by the dominant Christian majority,” the toolkit reads. “This subordination is a product of the historical tradition of Christian hegemony and the unequal power relationships of minority religious groups with the Christian majority.

Additionally, the toolkit lists a definition of “Whiteness,” which it claims was used as a substitute for the terms “Christian and Englishmen” during the 17th century to “distinguish European colonists from Africans and indigenous peoples.”

Therein lies the tenets of SEL – Social and Emotional Learning – (which Critical Race Theory is now called) which is being accepted and implemented by a lot of elementary and high schools.  CASEL, which stands for Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning provides guides that are more about teaching kids “social skills” rather than academic skills (contrary to their name):

“In this moment and always, Great Minds® remains focused on one of the most powerful ways to dismantle racism: challenging educational inequities with knowledge-rich solutions for every student, every day. We are educators on a mission to flood classrooms with powerful antidotes to racism: knowledge and intellectual curiosity. That includes examining not only fractions, functions, and phenomena, but also the struggle for equity.”

And while it sounds good, it opens the door for a lot of opinion to be taught.  History is knowledge, until it’s not taught truthfully, i.e. “America was built on racism” or “America invaded other countries during the war” are not true, historical facts.  Those are opinions.

Knowledge and intellectual curiosity is good, as long as it leads to truth, whether in math or history or other subjects, because if it doesn’t lead to truth , then it’s not worth teaching, and does more harm than good.  If it’s centered more on social engineering (or social justice), it should not be taught!  It’s one thing to teach kids to get along, but it’s quite another to indoctrinate them with ideas that are more activist-related (politically-related) than moral-related.  Our schools are becoming less about education and more about social activism, especially in higher education.

Abraham Lincoln said what is taught in the classroom today is the next generation’s government policy.

As Tozer said, “There is no wisdom in sin.”