The Jericho Factor

What would it have been like to be alive when Rome fell in A.D. 476? Or when the ancient Persian empire fell to Alexander the Great in the fourth century B.C.? Or when Charlemagne stopped the Muslim conquest of the West and was crowned emperor of the new Holy Roman Empire in A.D. 800?

I think I know, because we, too, are witnessing the fall of an empire. Eastern-bloc communism, with the largest standing army in human history, has suddenly disintegrated like Jericho before the Israelite trumpets. What was once seen as a dreaded threat is everywhere in disarray.

What can a Christian believing in a sovereign God learn from these momentous events?

1. Most important of all, we should thank God that we have been spared the awful devastation that accompanied such earthshaking events in the past.

2. No human government has any permanent or inherent right to govern. When a government fails to fulfill its God-given functions—preserving freedom and justice—it becomes dispensable.

3. We ignore the truth about human beings at our peril: the depravity and the infinite worth of human beings. The communism of Marx, Lenin, and their followers denied these Christian teachings. No individual or group is wise enough and good enough to be trusted to work for the good of all. And communism reckoned that humans are dispensable and, hence, ruled with a ruthless hand that antagonized all but the most obdurate party stalwarts.

4. Human freedom is more important than food and comfort. Early communist leaders promised better food and a better life for all in exchange for freedom. The fact is that communist nations lost both food and freedom. Eventually their people could no longer be mesmerized into overlooking the facts of life about their own economic-political system.

5. The free world, including the United States, must not proudly assume that because communism has failed, all our ways are justified. Our achievements on behalf of freedom and justice have fallen dismally short of what any Christian holds to be tolerable. Justice for minorities is lacking. Unrestricted abortion has made a mockery of “equal justice for all.” Elaborate welfare programs have only led to enslaving the poor in permanent poverty. The current public educational system has frustrated parents who want their children instructed in ethical values and has betrayed the ideal of a decent education for all citizens.

6. The Soviet empire, Gorbachev’s experiments have shown, is first nationalist and only second communist. It is clear that he is willing to sacrifice aspects of communism for the sake of the country.

7. The end is not yet. The world now faces a power vacuum. All sorts of possibilities—both horrendous and wonderful—lie before us. Fortunately, the United States neither wants nor is capable of world domination. In a fallen world, power is safest when it is divided. Our forebears who wrote the Constitution taught us that, and they learned it from the Bible. As Christians, we seek to work with all who seek good toward the goal of a world of peace and justice for all.

8. Perfect freedom and perfect justice are goals worthy of our commitment as Christians. Indeed, God holds us accountable for what we have done to foster or hinder these goals. Yet, in a fallen world, neither will be fully realized. That perfection will come only when the King of heaven returns. But for now, it is our Christian duty to seek to change this imperfect world for the better.

By Kenneth S. Kantzer.

Agenda for the Nineties

Prognosticating is a task fraught with peril. As anyone who has watched old sci-fi movies will attest, our visions of the future can look ludicrously out of date in just a few years. And, as recent events in Eastern Europe remind us, unforseen developments can catch us off guard as we scramble to adjust new realities to old ideologies.

But one prediction is certain: We will not be able to avoid dramatic changes in the days to come. Like the philosopher Heraclitus, we know that change is constant, that we never step in the same river twice. Thus we look forward, girding our loins for the coming year’s—and the coming decade’s—new challenges. As we stand precariously at the threshold of a new century and peer into the future that awaits the church, we offer these strategies for work and witness:

First, the church must recapture its zeal for sharing its faith and hope—the good news of God’s redemptive love in Christ—whether it be through neighborhood evangelism or global missions. In the nineties, as never before, this will mean abandoning our sometimes culture-bound vision of Jesus and his kingdom. One Asian theologian we know says the resurgence of traditional world religions (Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism), to say nothing of new so-called folk religions, will make our allegiance to the exclusive claims of Christ even more crucial in the days ahead. While liberal Christians relax into a generous-sounding openness toward all religions as pathways to God, we must vigorously affirm that Jesus is the only name in whom is found redemption—for us, and for all.

Second, the church of the nineties should find itself in a position to reclaim a long tradition of providing refuge to the needy and oppressed. International dislocation and the growing scarcity of food and shelter in some regions will provide us with continued opportunities to be open-hearted and open-handed. And the poor and refugees in our own communities will need churches that have become like the “cities of refuge” God instituted through Moses—places for the “stranger and sojourner” and unjustly accused (Num. 35:15). The church of the future will fulfill its mandate for service and maintain its credibility only to the extent that it opens itself to the special needs of the nineties: caring for persons with AIDS and their families, supporting youth deprived by divorce of one or both parents, and helping the growing gray population cope with their inevitable medical and financial crises. Fortunately, the American church, like American business, has a can-do attitude inspired by the needs at hand. In the past we have been open to developing new forms as the Spirit has led us to confront fresh opportunities for service and evangelism. Let us not lose that “parachurch ethos.”

Third, we will need to recover our identity as “a peculiar people.” That means resisting the currents of a culture that still drifts toward materialism, secularism, and a fuzzy New Agism. We will need to be more diligent in helping our young people build a moral framework. We must avoid the inconsistencies and hypocrisies that cause youth to question our own commitment: Our choices in consumption, entertainment, family commitment, and use of time should reflect our “set-apartness” as people in Christ.

Finally, the nineties will require of us a confident, solidly rooted faith. With some observers predicting that we will face as much change in the next ten years as we have in the last three decades, we will need even more wisdom and sustaining power. Prayer—heartfelt, urgent, and constant—will be crucial as we meet challenges we may not have yet envisioned. God’s unchanging resources in the Spirit, mediated to us through the personal and corporate practice of prayer, worship, and Bible study, will enable us to meet the coming decade head-on, no matter what stresses and opportunities it may hold.

By the editors.

Who’s Afraid of EFICOM?

Later this month, religious broadcasters—those affable hosts, owners, and operators of Christian radio and television—will meet for their annual convention. It is always a major event, worthy of past visits by Republican Presidents and network news crews. But for all the razzmatazz, nothing much happens.

To be fair, little happens at any major convention. These are good opportunities for fellowship and inspiration. But we suggest it is time for religious broadcasters to get serious about an agenda item that appears to be drifting off into the ionosphere: EFICOM (Ethics and Financial Integrity Commission), the industry’s sensible effort to protect itself from scandal.

NRB members approved EFICOM last year, requiring members to take precautions, such as limiting the number of relatives on their boards, using acceptable accounting methods, and opening their books to donors—hardly the stuff to frighten off seasoned shysters, but a commendable effort just the same. At press time, only 211 of the 825 NRB members had received EFICOM approval—and 96 of those received it automatically by virtue of their membership in the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. Curiously, for-profit members (possibly more than half the NRB membership) are exempted from EFICOM. So are the small “mom-and-pop” stations, leaving perhaps only one-third of NRB’s total membership required to meet the standards of accountability.

Somehow, the difficulty in holding members of a Christian professional organization to standards of integrity escapes us—unless some of those members have something to hide. We trust that is not the case and invite the NRB to set our fears to rest by releasing a list of those 211 members who have received the EFICOM seal of approval (something NRB has refused to do), as well as a list of members who, for whatever reason, cannot wear the seal. This small step will allow potential donors to make informed decisions about which ministries to support.

And it may convince critics of the electronic church that the NRB is indeed serious about policing itself.

By Lyn Cryderman.

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