I’m preparing for my upcoming missions trip to Jamaica. I’ve been invited by my friend, and missionary, Cletus Titus to take a trip there and guest lecture in the Bible college which is something I’m very much looking forward to doing. Of course, I’m working on my lecture notes as I’ve been given the assigment of several topics within the realm of pastoral theology.

One of my assigments is the pastor in regard to government, politics and moral issues. The textbook covers the usual suspects in regard to morality: elections, politics, abortion, prayer in shcools and the public display of the Ten Commandments.

As an introduction to my lecture I wrote this statment:

The moral problems that we see in our country and culture are not stemming from a moral problem. The problem is spiritual. The problem with mankind is always, at its root, a spirtual problem. That being said, we will never fix the moral problems by addressing the moral problems but only by addressing the spiritual.

American Christianity has often failed at this. So many statements which are made reflect the fact that we still don’t get the above truth. So often, we hear statements repeated just because they sound good. (I’m not saying that I’m not guilty of this myself.)

One such statement that ran it’s course on the social media lately was that the tragedy that happened in the elementary school in Newtown Connecticut happened because prayer was taken out of the schools. Unfortunately, that’s pretty much a ridiculous statement. The sad part was that I saw a video clip of a professing atheist who actually got it right.

Actually, the atheist said something that makes a lot more since than what a lot of Christians have been saying. He said that what Christians were saying about the killings of the elementary kids in Newtown Connecticut had nothing to do with prayer not being in schools. This guy doesn’t believe in God but said something about Him that was absolutely true. I won’t get the quote exactly correct but is was basically that God could not be constrained by the lack of prayer in a school. He was right.

The atheist presumed that this meant God doesn’t exist. His assumption is, of course, incorrect but his statement is absolutely true. God is not bound by the lack of men’s prayer. It’s important that we not forget that. This truth doesn’t make me not want to pray, it makes me want to pray all the more. Why? because God, who is, tells me that I can pray; he tells me that I should pray!

Why did those children perish on that dreadful day? Because there’s evil in the world; that’s an undeniable spiritual problem. Why did God allow this to happen? Or, maybe a better question is why does God allow this evil to continue? Well, that’s not so easy to answer is it? Maybe it’s so others, hopefully many others will have the opportunity to be born into a right relationship with Him before He calls a halt to evil with supreme finality.

I believe God is, and I believe He knows what He’s doing. I also believe that all the moral problems that we see in our world are nothing more than a symptom. Our problem is spiritual and it will take a Spiritual solution to fix it.