Saturday, June 27, 2009

Treating symptoms or applying the cure?

The way to cure any sickness is to attack its cause. Treating the symptoms, although necessary, does nothing to rid the person of the disease.

The universal sickness of mankind is sin. In American society alone, we see sin’s symptoms in family strife, discipline problems in our schools, widespread divorce, homosexuality, abortions, illicit drug use, dangerous neighborhoods and crime of all sorts. I could go on, but you get the idea.

The only cure for our societal sickness—the only cure for sin—is the gospel: the message that “Christ…suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18). I’m convinced that the only hope for this country is another Great Awakening brought about through the preaching and dissemination of the gospel.

Is it just me, or does anyone else sense that we evangelicals, in general, spend an inordinate amount of time and energy merely treating the symptoms of our societal sickness, compared to the time and effort we spend in applying the cure?

Neither social and political activism nor compassionate deeds of mercy can take the place or do the work of the gospel.

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