Western civilization is in dire danger. Not from the encroaching power of Communist China, which is very real, nor from the veiled threats of our old cold war nemesis, Russia.
Not even from the inroads of Islam from massive migration and continued terrorism.
We are in danger because we have sold our souls to causes too small or insignificant for the destiny for which God created us.
In Luke 11:29-32, Jesus warns a gathering crowd about impending doom at the coming Day of Judgment. He calls them an evil generation seeking a sign – that is, they appear religious but their hearts are far from God. The greatest sign from heaven is in their midst, Jesus, but they have completely missed his import as they scrabble for the flash and dazzle of supernatural displays of power.
Jesus declares that no sign will be given them except the sign of Jonah. “For as Jonah became a sign to the men of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to this generation” (v. 30). Jonah was a sign to the Assyrian nation of God’s impending judgment. In the same way, Jesus’ presence among his own people served to rebuke them for their spiritual blindness and apathy. They were giving their hearts to other pursuits, whether it be adherence to the Law of Moses, or the destruction of the Roman Empire, or the rituals of the Temple, or even the quest for family, wealth, or social standing. They gave lip service to God, but their first love was something else, something too small and cramped to befit the soul of man. When Jesus appeared in their midst, they were too preoccupied to recognize him, too swallowed up in lesser things to let them go in repentance and to offer up their full allegiance to Jesus.
So Jesus speaks harsh words to them. The Gentile sinners of Nineveh will rise up on the Day of Judgment and condemn this generation, says Jesus, because when they heard the preaching of Jonah they recognized the truth of God and they repented. Yet now, something greater than Jonah is here (i.e., Jesus, the Son of God and Messiah) and yet his own people fail to recognize him or heed his words. Likewise, Jesus says, when Solomon ruled as the greatest King of Israel, a Gentile queen from Sheba heard of his legendary wisdom and made the arduous journey of some two thousand miles just to hear his words in person. And now, something greater than Solomon is here in Israel, and the chosen people can’t be bothered to give him the time of day.
In the Gospel of Matthew, the Pharisees are attacking Jesus for allowing his disciples to pick grain and eat it on the Sabbath, something they deemed unlawful before God. Jesus reminds them of David and his band who, under duress while fleeing from Saul’s army, stopped at the house of God and ate the “show bread” on the altar, which was “unlawful” for them to take. He also reminds them that on the Sabbath day the priests in Temple service regularly profane the Sabbath because of their work requirements, and remain guiltless. Then he proceeds to make this blockbuster claim: “I tell you, something greater (i.e., Jesus himself) than the Temple is here” (Mt. 12:6). Greater than the Temple, where God’s presence was believed to reside on earth? Where Israel’s annual atonement was enacted by the high priest every Yom Kippur? Where all the nations of the earth would one day come to bow before the God of Israel?
Something greater than Israel’s mightiest King has come? Something greater than Israel’s greatest prophet to the Gentiles? Something greater even than the Temple housing the presence of God is standing among human beings? And the people of God are blind? No wonder the people of Nineveh and the Queen of Sheba will rise up in judgment against the Jews of Jesus’ day who failed to recognize when God walked in their midst as the humble Messiah Jesus!
But what about us in the West today? No one can say we haven’t had ample opportunity to learn the truth of who Jesus is. In America, the average home contains three Bibles (3.4 to be exact). There are over 350,000 churches dotting our land. Christian evangelists and pastors televise their messages and worship services on cable TV around the clock. Christian books on a thousand subjects can be bought by the armload. Hundreds of thousands of websites contain information on the gospel. We have no excuse for ignorance.
Yet like the Jews of Jesus’ day we settle for things of too little worth compared to the destiny God envisions for us. We fill our souls with Wall Street, with partisan politics, with social justice causes, with increasing possessions or friendships. We pay for self-help programs, for health newsletters, for new cars and status symbols, filling our lives with clutter. But something greater is here! Do we recognize him? Do we pay him any heed? Would outside observers say that his words and example are the key to our lives? On the Day of Judgment, will the men of Nineveh and the Queen of Sheba speak commendation or condemnation over us? Something greater than Jonah and Solomon is here. Something greater than the Temple is in our midst. Something greater than the American dream of prosperity and success looms before us. Will we recognize and treasure him, or will we gain the world and forfeit our souls?