As Christians we know that prayer is our first line of defense against the tyranny of the world, a world driven by Satan and his minions. As humans we want to play a part in dismembering this tyranny and doing so with the direction of God. We want to be a part of the solution and not a part of the problem. As history has shown us, sometimes well-meant intentions can sometimes get out of hand. We want our works to be God ordained and driven. So, what can we do to deliver this world from the Communist oppression that has destroyed so many lives?
Probably the greatest weakness of the Sino-Soviet bloc is its shaky economy. Here is where peaceful pressures could be devastating. No amount of Soviet propaganda can cover up the obvious collapse of the Chinese communes and the sluggish inefficiency of the Soviet collectivized farms. Every single Soviet satellite is languishing in a depression. Some business leaders have even had the temerity to suggest that trade with the Reds helps the cause of peace. They suggest that ‘you never fight the people that you trade with.’ Back in the late Thirties this exact type of thinking resulted in the sale of scrap iron and oil to the Japanese just before World War II. While trade with friends may produce peace, trade with a threatening enemy is an act of self-destruction. Have we forgotten that fatal lesson too soon? Thus far attempts to deal peacefully with Russia…as with the space station…has given us an unprovoked attack on Ukraine. Free men must first make up their minds whether they really want freedom for the captives of Communism. Is it worth giving up a little trade? While Russia has been a constant threat to peace throughout the world, we have still seen fit to import Russian oil not only into the United States but into the western democracies. Is it worth the temporary political heat of a showdown in the UN? Is it worth the momentary clamor which Red agents would foment if we withdrew diplomatic recognition? It is extremely confusing to freedom fighters when they watch the failing Communist economy being bolstered and fed by 39 Western nations. UN distortion of justice and common sense is bewildering. Constant capitulation and compromise is a source of outrage. So long as wrongs exist in the world, we cannot bring permanent peace to the world. Of course as Christians we know what the only source of permanent peace is but then that is what we see under attack by those who put their grasp for power, greed, and envy in a priority position over the search for peace.
Today, we, as Christians, are much like the exiles in Babylon. This earth is not our eternal home. We are citizens of Heaven, temporarily exiled on this planet. While we are here, we are to make the most of it, live our lives, and be good citizens. But we are surrounded by false prophets (and political tyrants) with lying messages, deceptive philosophies, and godless religions. There are even false prophets in the church. We need to listen for God’s voice and screen out the deceptive babble of the false teachers all around us. That deceptive babble includes the false purveyors of Communist propaganda. We may find ourselves in situations where we are enduring the consequences of poor decisions or sinful choices in the past. This may even include laws of men not dedicated to the Word of God. We can have regrets. Our lives as a result may be unpleasant. It may seem as though nothing can change it. But, what does God say about those circumstances? He says to us what He said to the exiled Jews in Babylon: Accept what we cannot change. Make the best of what we can change. Do good to the people around us. Be patient, wait for God, and he will deliver us when the time is right. At no time are we told to do nothing. As a blessed nation, we have an obligation to help and support those who are risking their lives to rid their society of tyranny.
The war between freedom and slavery is not just a fight to be waged by Congressmen, the President, soldiers and diplomats. Fighting Communism, Socialism, and the subversion of constitutional government is everybody’s job. Working for the expansion of freedom is everybody’s job. Communist influences are gnawing away everywhere, and thousands of confused citizens often aid and abet them by operating in a vacuum of their own ignorance. Here then is where parents…a necessary element in society…and the church can play a very critical role in the development of a strong nation. It is a critical mix of politics and the church.
> Stay close to your children to make sure they are being trained to think like Washington and Lincoln, not like Marx and Lenin.
> In providing physical needs for the family, parents…don’t forget their spiritual needs. We, as a society, are in an ideological war. From a Marxist viewpoint, an atheistic mind is already three-fourths conquered.
> Parents, take your children to church, don’t just send them. Make sure they are getting true biblical religious values, not modernistic debunking.
> Parents, be involved in helping your children grow up. Don’t fall for the current Socialist-Communist line that parents are a detriment to their children. They are only a detriment if they don’t do their job.
> Children require a formula mix of love, 90%, and discipline, 10%.
> Parents, do not fall for the ‘permissive’ school of psychology which says discipline will harm human development. A child needs to know that he/she lives in an orderly world. Part of that order is discipline; not a discipline of extreme harshness but of reasonable and consistent enforcement of rules.
> Parents, be active in the PTA. If you are not, centralized planners and Communists will take over.
> Parents and church leaders, take a little time each day to keep up with political problems at home and abroad.
> Where older children are involved, make current events part of dinner table talk. Help them learn how to pick out left-wing slanting of news, TV, or radio broadcasts.
> Church and parents, organize a family, neighborhood, or church study group. Discus the struggles that are going on in the world and what can be done to help win these struggles.
> Church and parents, let your children see that you are interested in civic affairs, that you participate in political affairs, and that you are concerned with what is going on in the community, the state, the nation, and the world. Our children will borrow many of their own attitudes from the adult leadership that they experience.
Next week we will take a look at probably the most prolific influence our children and young adults will be exposed to…professors and teachers. Life today is very complex and there are sources of information coming from all directions. The Communists…as did the Nazis…know that young minds are fertile grounds for indoctrination. Remember that all tyrants were at one time children. Our children are not assets that our nation can ignore.
-Bob Munsey
“Faith enables you to turn from what is wrong to what is right, from dark and hurtful things to right and true and healthy things, from the worship of idols to the worship of God.” (Hope in a Chaotic World , Ray C. Stedman, page 14)
Geezer Politics 