THE CLOCK IS TICKING

George Offerman

The vast majority of people who travel to Europe from the U.S. have remarked how “Americanized” Europe is. This is my take as well, and it was not difficult at all to see the influence of our country over there. Nearly every modern ‘gadget’ has been invented and developed here, and it is strange indeed, to see such modern living among very old buildings and cities that continue to stand after millennia, wars, ect. One also cannot help but notice how our culture also permeates Europe, and it very well may tie in with all the gadgets and other things we export. Nonetheless, it seems like it or not, the world still looks to us for leadership. With this leadership comes great responsibility.

We then have this huge tragedy in Japan, in which the situation seems to be getting worse by the day. Yet it is the first tragedy in my memory in which there are no reports of looting, price gouging, crimes against women and children. The Japanese people have demonstrated a dignity unseen in these modern times in the way they are handling this tragedy (I hope this is exported, especially here). We also have the Mayor of Tokyo making a public statement that the tragedy is linked to the ‘slide of morality’ and there is a need for Japan to get back to moral roots. Whether this is true or not may be unknowable, but for a public official to go on the record and connect behaviors with consequences may be a partial explanation for why these people are treating each other civilly in the midst of a personal hell.

We are now seeing ‘seers’ and other sages coming out of the woodwork with claims that this tragedy was prophesized beforehand (really???). We have even more (after the fact) that are quick to jump to conclusions about the nature of this event and are attempting to fit this into prophetic schemes. Whether this can be done or not is really to diminish the aspects and lessons to be learned from this tragedy. It would be very difficulty to attribute this to judgments if there was no warning beforehand from a legitimate prophet of God, spelling out the exact nature of the judgment and why it had to occur. Also, what have the Japanese people done that we in America have not done in spades?

If it is true that adversity bring out the true character of a people, the Japanese seem to have passed this test with flying colors, given the state of dignity and sharing they are showing in this dark hour of theirs. This is opposed to the animal like behaviors we witnessed in our own country after events like Katrina and other recent disasters. This reflects much o four own character as a nation. We kill our own children for the stupidest reasons with minimal resistance from so called Christians, and we exported our technology to other societies to do the same. Think we are not accountable to the Almighty and Living God for this?

If what happened to the Japanese was judgment for their sins and immoral behaviors, I cringe at the thought of what will befall us. Look at the blessings we have received as a nation. We have been blessed beyond belief, and likewise much is expected from us as a result. How is it we as Christians could possibly look at this disaster as judgment, and then not act on such a matter as pressuring the likes of Boehner and company to allow for government shutdown, if needed to defund planned parenthood and the killing fields? Is this a game for many Christians? Do they believe some people can be judged harshly, while major perpetrators of God’s laws are given ‘free passes’ due to geography and technological advances? Judgments ALWAYS proceed from unrepentant sin, and we in the U.S. have boatloads of unrepentant sin and boatloads of Christians who would rather stay silent than get their hands dirty in a war that requires taking sides and engaging the enemy.

Whether or not what happened in Japan is a judgment (I believe it is not), it ought to give us pause in attending to the needs of our own house. This game of chicken we are playing with our future, finances and ultimately the way we (mis)treat our fellow man has an end point. We need to end child killing now, we need to prostrate ourselves in front of the Lord with humble and contrite hearts now and straighten our acts out now. Time is running short, and if the judgment of God comes upon us, it may be so severe that we may wish we were in Japan.