PLUS

Ecclesiastes 7:8 “Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.”

With Ecclesiastes 7:8 in mind, I published the following in Air Force Times this past week (February 8^th, 2016):

In a recent New Republic article, ethicist Edward Queen rails against Volkswagen for its “unmistakable malfeasance.” He describes their actions as “an intentionally designed and executed violation of the law” and “an ethical violation of the highest level.”

Interestingly, Dr. Queen traces the VW scandal back to a culture that breeds “moral midgets” who focus on short-term greed and promote an attitude of immediate gratification. Dr. Queen contends that this abhorrent culture stems from one primary and repeated business school lesson: “the only duty of a corporation is return on investment.” According to Dr. Queen, this lesson has been “drilled into generations of business school graduates” driving “tsunamis of corporate malfeasance.” How shameful!

But wait … is it possible that military leaders are following the same path? Each time we encourage short-term successes without regard to long-term consequences we are effectively saying “the only duty of our corporation is return on investment.” Each time we praise, reward, or promote those whose immediate accomplishments are magnificent though they hinder long-term sustainability we are doing the same thing. Each time we create a myopic strategy that solves immediate problems without due regard to enduring results we are following the same path. Each time we fail to equip, encourage, challenge, and compel (and correct) people who are the core of long-term mission success we are delivering the same message.

May American military leaders never be labeled “moral midgets” who create “tsunamis of malfeasance.” A long-term perspective that rewards, promotes, and emphasizes sustainable performance and long-term mission success is the real lesson that should be drilled into generations of military professionals.

This lesson also applies to Christians in all walks of life. In order to avoid tsunamis of malfeasance, Christians in particular must live with a long-term perspective that permeates our lives. Otherwise, we may act like moral midgets instead of moral giants. PLEASE PRAY FOR A LONG-TERM PERSEPCTIVE THAT IS REFLECTED IN OUR ACTIONS AND OUR ATTITUDES.

Ecclesiastes 7:8 “Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.”

God has convicted me to focus on “the end of a thing” in 2016. We are so often consumed with our present challenges that we fail to consider the preeminence of the long term over the immediate. Politicians, military leaders, and businessmen fall into the same trap as tactical demands overwhelm strategic forethought. With Christians, it should never be so.

God reminds us that the end of a thing is better than the beginning. In the same breath, He also reminds us to be patient. Humility and the long-view of life are valuable tools to avoid the pitfalls of being consumed by the immediate to the peril of the permanent. God directs us to be tactically content, but strategically restless. As Job learned, latter end blessings are more wonderful than those in the beginning:

• https://prayatlunch.us/the-end-more-than-the-beginning/
• https://prayatlunch.us/twice-as-much/

There is nothing more strategic than prayer, and praying for our nation and her leaders is critical to our long term well-being. It is the least we should do and the most we can do to make an impact. We should do so with a prevailing patience about the present and a holistic humility about our position. We should bathe everything in prayer as we keep our eyes on the end of the thing.

PLEASE PRAY STRATEGICALLY, PERSISTENTLY, AND PATIENTLY FOR OUR NATION. “Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof.”

SET YOUR ALARM: If you’re alarmed (that Christians haven’t redeemed the time today to impact America’s future), set your alarm (to pray for our nation)!

James 5:16 “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”

The author of the “God Isn’t Fixing This” article in the New York Daily News (see the previous post) stated that offering prayer condolences to victims (e.g. ‘my thoughts and prayers are with you’) are “meaningless platitudes.” Yet again, this misguided author is partly right.

When we say we will pray about something or for someone, and then fail to do so, then we are indeed offering meaningless platitudes. When our prayers are dull, insipid, banal, trite, or stale, then our claims are meaningless platitudes. When we express concern about our country and then fail to pray daily and fervently about it, then we are being trapped by meaningless platitudes.

The Daily News article directs the reader to a subsequent editorial about gun violence subtitled “when will America wake up?” Indeed, when will Christian Americans wake up? When will we move beyond meaningless platitudes and employ the power of meaningful prayer? When will we get serious about our prayer obligations? When will we faithfully and fervently pray for the things for which we express concern? Until we do, we are rightfully called out as ineffectual.

PLEASE EMPLOY MEANINGFUL PRAYER INSTEAD OF MEANINGLESS PLATITUDES. Our nation needs us to do so.

James 5:16 “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”

After December’s terrorist attack in San Bernardino, the following was defiantly emblazoned on the cover of the New York Daily News … “God Isn’t Fixing This.” The accompanying article started with the thought that “prayers aren’t working” and went on to describe the futility of prayer as a solution to our nation’s problems.

The author may be partly right – our prayers haven’t been working. What he doesn’t realize, however, is that this situation says far more about us than it does about God. Our prayers can be effectual, availing much, but they must be accompanied by purity and fervency. As a nation, are we praying as should? No! Are we as repentant as we should be? No! Are we as fervent as we should be? No!

The deteriorating conditions in our nation are not the fault of a loving, all-powerful God. Instead of placing blame upward, we should place our blame inward. The situation we face is our fault, and until we focus on righteousness, humility, and fervency, we shouldn’t expect things to change.

PLEASE PRAY FOR A NATIONWIDE, HUMBLE SELF-REFLECTION ON THE ROOT CAUSE OF OUR PROBLEMS. Until we affix our eyes on God, He shouldn’t be expected to fix anything.

SET YOUR ALARM: If you’re alarmed (that the election season is upon us without us committing to a season of prayer) set your alarm (to pray for our nation)!

Psalm 33:12 “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.”

After describing the purpose of government, uplifting the importance of uniqueness, explaining the pitfalls of monarchy, and expounding upon the blessings of God, Thomas Paine decides that there is only one natural conclusion that compliments independence:

“But where say some is the King of America? I’ll tell you Friend, he reigns above, and doth not make havoc of mankind like the Royal Brute of Britain. Yet that we may not appear to be defective even in earthly honors, let a day be solemnly set apart for proclaiming the charter; let it be brought forth placed on the divine law, the word of God; let a crown be placed thereon, by which the world may know, that so far as we approve of monarchy, that in America THE LAW IS KING. For as in absolute governments the King is law, so in free countries the law ought to be King; and there ought to be no other. But lest any ill use should afterwards arise, let the crown at the conclusion of the ceremony be demolished, and scattered among the people whose right it is.”

Yes, God is to be King of America with His crowned Word as the nation’s foundation. There ought to be no other. Instead, we have supplanted our rightful leader with earthly treasure. The result is national havoc stemming from the brute of our own banality. We are no longer exceptional because we have become egotistical as we have dethroned our true leader. PLEASE PRAY THAT WE WOULD RE-CORONATE AMERICA’S RIGHTFUL KING.