Ever since the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, hostility, aggression, and war have been an integral part of the human race. From the first violent act of murder committed by one brother against another brother, simply because his offering to God was superior to his (Genesis 4:1-8), to the present pandemic of violence, crime, and murder that we are grappling with in our culture, there is an escalation of hostility and war that is being waged by various opposing factions, nations, ideologies, and such like globally. I want to briefly consider and comment on the term “a call to arms” and how each of us can answer the summons. A call to arms is an invitation or appeal to engage in active hostilities against an enemy. The enemies that we are waging war with (for the sanity and survival of both our culture and democracy) is diverse in their nature, strategies, and modus operandi. I am going to consider and comment on a few ways that each of us can enlist and engage ourselves in this war for the sanity, soul, and survival of our nation.
Accepting the Fact That We are in Serious Trouble
Before you or anyone will truly answer the call to arms, one must first believe and accept that there is a genuine war going on. Common sense will tell you that no one will prepare or go to fight in a battle until they believe there is truly a battle going on. This is true for all except for the Don Quixotes of this world who believe that they are fighting dragons when it is really a windmill or something that their unhinged minds have fabricated and fantasized to be a real adversary.
The average person must first believe in a cause or something worth fighting for. I want to make a serious appeal to you today to please accept the undeniable fact that we are in a battle for the soul, sanity, and survival of America. The handwriting is on the wall. If there is no drastic change in the nonchalant attitude that seems to characterize the average American about the state of our union and Democratic Republic, I believe that history and present disturbing, deteriorating, and divisive things will continue to act like termites that are eating away at the very core and foundation of our culture and country.
This will continue to happen until it collapses from within without any hope of recovering its vitality, vigor, and prominence as the most powerful nation the world has ever seen. This will be the inevitable if we do not accept the fact that we are in serious trouble and only our repentance and individual involvement in the struggle will be able to alter the outcome.
How to Fight and Make an Impact as an Individual
In this war that is being fought for the soul, sanity, and survival of the America we once knew and greatly desire to restore it back to its greatness and glory, it is going to take a diligent and individual effort from every American citizen who aspires and desires to experience a renewal and restoration of what we forfeited and lost.
This fight can only be won by one citizen at a time who must be willing to lay aside partisan politics, social activism, ethnic biases, and other divisive and detrimental principles and practices. In the place of these national negatives and undermining termites, we must instill patriotism and a true devotion for our nation. A loyalty that will motivate us to enlist in the war through discreet voting, being both good neighbors and citizens, and doing things without any bias or prejudice.
Answering the Sound of Reveille
Through much of recorded history, there has been reveille calls by various instruments to awaken or alert soldiers. The most common instrument that was used in the biblical narrative for reveille during the time of the Exodus was the shophar (that we commonly refer to as a trumpet). Technically speaking, it was made from a ram’s horn. This horn was blown in the morning to prepare them to get ready to move out, as well as for other ceremonial and strategic times. One of these times was to prepare them for battle. I want to use this illustration to let you know that there is a trumpet being sounded to awaken every patriotic American and summon them to the battle. On the risk of sounding redundant or repetitious, I will reiterate that there is an emergency that requires our urgent attention and effort to fix. The longer we wait or delay, the less of an opportunity we will have to cure the cancers that are gradually killing us as a nation.
The Ultimate Solution
The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God. (Psalm 9:17)
Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance. (Psalm 33:12)
To the best of my human ability, I tried (without success) to avoid being preachy or theological in my column today. I truly wanted to address and appeal to the human intellect about the grave dilemma we have found ourselves in as a nation. However, like the Prophet Jeremiah, I could not hold back the burning of the Word of God in my heart (Jeremiah 20:9) about this matter. How dare I (or any frail, fickle, and finite man) attempt to suppress or hold back what God has to say about any issue pertaining to man or creation in any area. Thank God, the prompting of the Spirit won, as it always will! To be perfectly honest, there can be no healing of what ails us as a nation without us following the prescriptive instructions of the Great Physician that are contained in the passage in 2 Chronicles 7:13-14 that will conclude my column today:
If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people; If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
