This post originally appeared at https://www.vcy.org/from-the-executive-director/2023/10/30/from-the-director-6/
“The Consequences of Thanklessness”
By Jim Schneider, Executive Director
VCY America
Have you taken a look at our society and wondered, “How did we ever get to this point? How did we drift so far off course? How did we ever let slide into our homes, our churches, and our nation the very things exhibited today?”
Consider where we are:
Morally we have sunk to lows never before seen as a nation. Public and school libraries are increasing their holdings which promote aberrant sexual deviancy. Drag shows once confined to adult-only nightclubs are now declared “family-friendly” and are in full display in parks, farmers markets, schools, pre-school library time, restaurants, and yes, even in some churches.
Media and entertainment have latched onto being allies and promoters of abnormal lifestyles filling their airtime to promulgate perversion.
Parents once having confidence in schools and sports programs are now having to devote their time fighting battles before boards to protect their daughters from biological boys who desire to identify as “girls” and parade themselves in restrooms and locker rooms.
Over 65 million pre-born babies have been killed in our country with many people thirsting to see these numbers escalate. Chemical abortions are off the charts and the floodgates are open in many states to accommodate the killing of the pre-born up to the moment of birth.
Division and tensions are escalating across the nation. Lawlessness is abounding. Drug abuse, crime, carjackings, and vandalism along with “smash and grab” have become common place in major cities across the country.
Economically we are headed toward collapse. There is little restraint in spending, taxes are escalating, and a national debt is setting new records every single day.
Politically our nation is poles apart on many issues. A contentious election season is presently unfolding.
Families are falling apart with relationships being shattered. Institutions are driving wedges between child and parent relationships with instruction given that “parents cannot be trusted.”
Spiritually speaking there are a growing number of churches abandoning doctrine in order to gain popularity and “acceptance.” Churches once upholding the authority of Scriptures now surrender to the culture to be more “welcoming.”
It’s been stated by many that we are living in a time of Romans 1:18-32 where the sins of a nation are laid out. In response to this we see “God also gave them up to uncleanness” (1:24); “God gave them up unto vile affections” (1:26); and “God gave them over to a reprobate mind.” (1:28)
How did this happen? What was the starting point? What were the early steps that led to such a depraved society? Perhaps there is a lesson we can learn from Romans 1:21, “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”
Not glorifying God and having a lack of thankfulness toward God are steps that led a society down the pathway of depravity.
Consider also the societal distinctives laid out in II Timothy 3:1-5, “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy…”
Exhibiting a lack of thanks is characteristic of the last days and the perilous times Paul described.
Psalm 18:3 – “I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.”
Psalm 9:1-2 – “I will praise thee, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works. I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High.”
We must also learn from Joshua as he declared,“And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house we will serve the LORD.” (Joshua 24:15)
The people well affirmed they would follow the Lord. But consider what happened following the death of Joshua and that generation.
“And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel.” (Judges 2:10)
They forgot God and the works He had done. I contend we are in this same boat today.
On March 30, 1863 President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation declaring a National Day of Prayer and Humiliation. He wrote in part:
We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us! It behooves us then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness. Before you write off the correlation between lack of thanks toward God and our depraved society, consider these questions in self-examination. When is the last time you spent meaningful time in prayer thanking God for who He is and what He has done? When is the last time your children heard you give praise to God? When is the last time your spouse has heard you give thanks to God? Giving thanks is not limited to a single day a year, but rather must be part of our everyday expression to God. Think about it.