“Never Let a Good Crisis Go to Waste”
Some attribute this quote to Rahm Emanuel (Chief of Staff for President Barak Obama) who said “Never Waste a Crisis” during the financial crisis of 2008. But he only borrowed and altered it a bit from Winston Churchill who said, “Never let a good crisis go to waste.” during the darkest days of World War II.
Sometimes secular conventional wisdom is just wisdom. In this case, it is timeless biblical wisdom.
My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. James 1:2-4
We are in a national crisis, morally, economically, socially, and spiritually. We all know it. In the Realclearpolitics.com polls, only 24 percent of those polled believe our country is headed in the right direction. I am amazed that there are even that many. This is evidence of a perceived national crisis. There are various definitions of the crisis, but it exists nonetheless.
We are in a spiritual crisis. Denominational participation in churches is on a steep decline. The Southern Baptist Convention reached its height in 2006 and has been dropping by huge numbers every year since. It is not just the SBC. This includes all major denominations and we are just unwilling to face reality if we do not admit it is happening in Baptist fundamentalism as well.
Every crisis presents an opportunity.
There is an opportunity for personal growth and maturity.
James is very clear on this. We must not dread the trials that we face. These trials are the means by which God grows us and accomplishes His peace in the world. Even when others, ones we trust and should love us, work evil against us our sovereign God turns their evil intent into our good. Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery and eventually prison—lost and completely separated from his family in a foreign land. It is hard to imagine more dire circumstances and betrayals than Joseph experienced, and God used those wicked choices as steps in a process that would bring about the preservation of Joseph’s family.
But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. Genesis 50:20
Disillusionment provides an opportunity for spiritual renewal.
The cycle of sin and repentance in the Judges is not confined to the time of the Judges. Peace and blessing give way to indulgence and sin. The sin of the people results in judgment and slavery. The harsh conditions of enslavement cause the people to call out to the Lord. When they call out, God sends a deliverer who saves the people from their horrible conditions. That is followed by a time of peace and prosperity as the people reap the blessings of deliverance and obedience until the cycle starts all over.
The world is under the judgment of God. This is fact, not opinion. We are under the judgment that Paul clearly describes in Romans 1. People are seeking answers in more and more desperate places. The answer is Jesus Christ. We need to shout that answer from the housetops. We are expected to charge the gates of hell armed with the gospel of Jesus Christ and rescue those who are under the bondage of the enemy. We must do it with vigor, hard work, enthusiasm, truth, and a spirit of compassion.
Sometimes the crisis is precisely what we need to force us to move–to act. On the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg on July 3, 1863, Colonel Joshua Chamberlain (20th Maine) was charged to hold the end of the Union line at Little Round Top at all hazards. They were not allowed to retreat or the entire battle, and perhaps the war would be lost.
Their small group endured wave after wave of attacks from the Confederate 15th Alabama. Chamberlain found his men in a desperate condition. They were about to run out of ammunition and knew they could not withstand another charge, so Chamberlain reformed his line into a wedge to withstand the flanking maneuver of the Confederates.
They had no ammunition. They could not fire back. They could not retreat. So, he ordered his men to fix bayonets and charge. The shocked Alabamans turned and ran as hundreds of desperate screaming Yankees came running down the hill through the woods right at them.
We are in desperate times. We must not waste this crisis. We cannot afford to play defense. We must fix our bayonets and charge.
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Not the best time to use the language of war and violence. As in almost any crisis, what humans most need to do is be calm and think clearly. For Christians, what’s needed most in a national time of crisis is clear demonstration of Jesus’ “not as the world gives” peace. John 14:27 (ESV) “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” We should be people who conspicuously have hearts and minds guarded by “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding” (Php 4:7).