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Forty five years ago our country was in complete turmoil. We
were a war weary nation. This week marks the 45th anniversary of
four college students that were gunned down at Kent State University by
National Guard seeking to “keep the peace.” This tragedy was merely symptomatic
of the mass confusion happening in our land at that time.
Three months earlier to this tragic event, on February 3,
1970, something else erupted on a college campus 350 miles south of Kent State.
In the small college town of Wilmore KY, it was just another Tuesday morning
where students from Asbury Seminary would meet for their 50 minute prayer
chapel. What should have been just a 50 minute gathering turned into something
extraordinary and remarkable. Confession of sin by one student resulted in more
confession by others, then more, until there was a weeping and repentance of
sin that was totally unexpected. Suddenly, there was a long line of penitents
lined up to confess their sins at the microphone. What should have been a 50
minute chapel service turned into a 185 hour (over a week long) outpouring of
God’s Spirit. Arguably, many believe from this outpouring the Jesus Movement of
the early 1970s resulted in sweeping our nation which brought about millions of
youth turning to Jesus not only in our country but around the world.
Isaiah tells us in the 26th chapter, verse 9: “With
my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I
seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of
the world will learn righteousness.” In 1970 our country was under severe
judgment. The sexual revolution had taken its toll on our youth. The drug
culture was being winked at causing ramifications still being felt today. The
Vietnam War, as previously mentioned, had divided our country and put us at
odds with one another. Yet, in the midst of these judgments, God had incredible
mercy by sending His Spirit and saving millions through His awakening.
Why is this significant for today? As Isaiah said, the
promise is that where there is judgment, there is also a display of God’s
righteousness. People more often learn mercy and righteousness through
judgment. Peter tells us in I Peter 4:17 that judgment begins with the
household of God. As in 1970, as well as today, if the church had judged
themselves in a proper manner and embraced confession and repentance, then
God’s judgments on a nation would not be necessary. I believe that if the
church judges themselves properly then judgment of the nation becomes moot,
because the nation will then follow the church. The answer is not in the White
House but from the church house.
As the church, we must judge ourselves correctly because the
world is judging us every day. How do we look differently than the world? Believe
me, there are not “Fifty Shades of Grey” in this area. There is God’s plumb
line and he has told His church that we have come up short. It is time once
again to not only confess the sins of our nation but more importantly the sins
of the Body of Christ. As Isaiah promises and Peter point out, judgment is
vital and necessary. It is our choice how it is delivered. None of us here
desire to see God’s judgment on our land. If that is the case, let us pray that
we learn righteousness by embracing judgment – first for ourselves, then our
local churches, then for the Body of Christ at large in this nation.
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