A Debate About Whether Times Really Are Dark

A very high percentage of people with whom I speak agree with deep decline of the United States.  I ask many people the question, “Do you think the country is in decline?”  Very few say “no.”  Two different men touched on this subject in recent days, and I want to comment on their conclusions.

First, Kevin Schaal, president of the FBFI, wrote, “Wars and Rumors of Wars,” beginning the post with “we live in dark days.”  Second, Aaron Blumer, owner of fundamentalist website SharperIron, wrote in criticism of Schaal’s introduction with “Do We Live In Dark Times?”  First, Kevin Schaal, second, Aaron Blumer, and now I will write my thoughts addressing the question, “Are these really uniquely dark times?”

Maybe Not Any Darker?

From what I read, the older people in succeeding generations in the past complained about decline from a previous generation to theirs.  The new generation changes.  The former generation interprets this as decline.  Some would say this happens again and again.  Some would say what’s happening right now is just more of the same.  Is this true?  Blumer says it’s not much different and maybe better based on certain data.  At least in his introduction, Schaal says, No, these are uniquely bad times, enough to call them “dark.”

Blumer contends there have always been bad times.  He says this trend goes back to the beginning.  Job, Jesus, Paul, and Peter talk about dark days then and into the future, Blumer writes.  He also bemoans how leaders feed the anxieties already inundating the news media.

Preliminary to Christ’s Return?

I don’t think Kevin Schaal was feeding anxiety.  He was saying recent world events seemed tell-tale as something preliminary to the coming of Jesus Christ.  For a Christian, that doesn’t cause anxiety, but joy or happiness.

Mainly Schaal pointed to wars:  Ukraine, Israel, rumors of possible war in Taiwan, and maybe something bigger in the Middle East with Iran.  These are the dark times to which he referred, pointing to them as a warm-up for the seven year tribulation on earth.  Maybe Blumer totally missed Schaal’s point.  I believe Schaal thinks the catching up of the saints with Christ in the clouds, the rapture, precedes the second coming of Christ by seven years.

Yes, Darker Than Ever

When I talk to people out in the world, I too talk about uniquely dark times.  Based on the way true Christians judge the world, this world is darker than ever.  The United States, the greatest light for the Lord in recent world history, is as spiritually and morally bankrupt as ever.  It is the worst by far based on every way you can judge.

In the 1980s William Bennett published his Index of Leading Cultural Indicators.  Using accurate data, he reported the measurement of the downgrade in every cultural area.  At that time, there was little to no positive presentation of homosexuality in the media.  Now it is rampant and normalized.  It’s worse than that.  Conservative homosexuals now stand as leading spokesman against woke transgenderism.  There is a steep decline in this country and nothing indicating that we’re coming back.

Apatheism and the Start of a Turnaround

I’ve never seen greater ignorance of the gospel in places once considered the Bible belt.  Atheism has grown, but it’s not just that.  It’s what someone rightfully calls “apatheism.”  Apatheism might be worse than atheism.  It’s at least atheism from the neck down but in greater numbers by far than actual atheism.

When I preach and serve, I don’t act like we can’t come out of the present cold or lukewarm spiritual condition today.  I behave like we can see this all turn around.  Do I think it will turn around?  No.  But if it is, it will start with me, then my church, then my community and my county.  I’m not thinking of something as big as a nation changing.  Let’s start with our church and then our neighborhood.