The Inspiring Word (Orlando and America)

Omar Mateen attacked the Orlando nightclub “Pulse” as an act of terrorism inspired by Islamic Jihad. That makes him an Islamic terrorist. If he had done this in the name of Jesus he would be labeled as a Christian terrorist. The identification is a result of his ideology. As a pastor I read a lot and lately I have seen an alarming amount of reports of corruption, deception, violence, anger and many more behaviors that seem to define today’s culture. Or does it? What if anything has changed in the hearts of mankind? In seminary I studied anthropology (study of the origin, development, and varieties of human beings and their societies). Of course it was studied through the lens of theology and a biblical worldview. Some argue distortion, I reply with clarification. From the beginning God created the heavens and earth and everything on and in it; He created Adam and Eve in innocence. Their fall in the Garden of Eden brought from God an everlasting judgment upon all His creation. That may sound harsh but it is time our post-modern society faces the reality of absolute truth. We do and will continue to face the harsh reality of this judgment in the form of daily dangers which are present in our lives. Whether they come in the form of animals, terrorists, politicians, extremist’s, religion or any other unthinkable circumstance; be sure danger will come.

Does the fact of a present danger relieve us of any responsibility? Only a fool would believe that. Likewise the responsibility begins on a personal level. Your belief system will shape your world views and they will shape your view of responsibility and how it is managed. Likewise, our laws, justice system and liberty itself is shaped by a belief system. Many Americans huddle under the umbrella of postmodern thinking. This very ideology and that is exactly what it is and ideology teaches there are no absolutes. What is right for you is right for you and what is right for me is well right for me. So how does postmodern thinking relate to corruption, deception, violence, terrorism, and even incidents of nature and the animal kingdom? Omar Mateen’s behavior can be defended through postmodern thinking. What he did was right for him! Postmodern thinking deprives us of understanding that there is an absolute sovereign authority over our lives and the world we live in. God! Does that mean He caused these things? No, but absolute authority explains how they came to exist and furthermore provides us with the remedy of knowing God has established redemption and accountability for all. Absolute authority holds Omar Mateen personally accountable for his actions while revealing his ideology for carrying them out.

When America was a nation which embraced the absolute authority of the Bible and God as its author, we accepted the restraints the Bible placed upon our life, we willingly and happily lived by them and the result was by and large a peaceful, content people. Yes there were those who tried to live outside Gods authority but justice and liberty were understood as sound and stable. Today we are caught in a web of confusion one of our own design and even though we have the ability to get free we don’t want freedom because that requires personal responsibility to an absolute authority, a sovereign God.

Will a return to absolute authority in a sovereign God and personal savior stop the tragedy? No! But it will teach us once again how to correctly deal with it through individual accountability for behavior. If we continue to blame objects for our problems, and we have created those objects, then we have created our own problem. Our postmodern ideology has failed us and society is the physical evidence which proves it.