A Bottom up Solution

Matthew 7:3-5 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.

 

If you want to reform the world for Christ, I have an idea for you first-Burn down your own idols. When Gideon was told to reclaim all of Israel for the God of Heaven, his first mission was to burn down the grove in his own hometown.

We have tried all sorts of formulas for taking back America, in fact, all of Western Civilization. We have elected Reagan, and we elected Bush. The moral-majority has tried bringing down the Berlin Wall, and we have had rallies marching on the capital. But still the edifice stands. We passed bills and called our senators, we have tried fixes from both sides. We have done stimulus packages and bailouts; we have tried New Deals and bipartisan reform. But in the end, the war on poverty did not end poverty; the war on drugs did not end drugs. I have an idea for a new war-a personal war on sin.

Top down solutions do not work. We have tried every variation. Even the chairman of the Federal Reserve admitted everything has been tried. But still the edifice stands. In Gideon’s day a revival broke out. Not because one hundred million voted, but because three hundred stood. Burn down the idols in your own life, and the fire just might spread. If you go preaching why everyone should burn down their idols without taking down your own, and you still have the same old problem-the edifice still stands.

Christianity is a personal war on sin, which, with the help of God, spreads. In the end it may take hold of the entire country, but until you clean your own room, do not try to clean out the capital building.

Many reformers either reform professionally as a job or in their spare time when they have nothing else to do. I have a new idea. Reform at all times…yourself.

Through His Strength We Will Conquer,

Andrew C. Abbott