Cause of the Christchurch Earthquake (3) - Shaking the City
A related view to my previous post suggests that God is shaking the people of Christchurch to open hearts to the gospel. This view is wrong. The destruction of the earthquake does not look like God’s handiwork. He is a creator. The earthquake is a destroyer. Ascribing such destruction to God is bizarre. Traumatic events are an ineffective method for bringing people to faith. Disasters often push people further away from God. After the first earthquake, church attendance in Christchurch increased for a while but quickly returned to normal. The same happened in America after 9/11. The Holy Spirit can convict people of sin far more effectively than an earthquake.
I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin (John 16:7,8).
The best way to change human lives is to reach into human hearts. The Holy Spirit is an expert on working in human hearts.
God sometimes uses events to shake the world, but this is only effective if his people are ready to move with the Holy Spirit and minister to those who are shaken. If the church is not ready, shaking a city does far more harm than good. The Church in Christchurch was not prepared to minister in a disaster. Some good stuff has been done by many churches, but Christians have been thin on the ground in the places where people are hurting. If God was going to shake Christchurch for the gospel, the timing was wrong for the church.
God cannot transform society by whacking it over and over with a big stick. Belting it harder and harder will not produce repentance. Repentance is a work of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit needs Christians to carry him in their hearts into the world.
When the harvest is ripe, God needs harvesters. Earthquakes cannot do what the harvesters are not ready to do (John 9:37).
The earthquake has released awful fear and terror among the people of Christchurch. Many will be emotionally crippled for years. This leaves them vulnerable to evil, and hardens their heart to the gospel. The earthquake might have produced as many new alcoholics as there are new Christians.
Spirit of fear and terror have been able to make their home in our Christchurch. The earthquake has given these principalities and powers a stronghold and they will not leave until they are forced out of the city.
The Holy Spirit only intervenes where he is invited. The forces of evil have no such scruples. They push in uninvited whenever people are made vulnerable by shock and fear. This means that the forces of evil are often better placed than the Holy Spirit to take advantage of traumatic events.
The earthquake has increased confidence in political power. The people of New Zealand have watched their political leaders declaring peace and calm on television and seen them rescuing those in trouble and promising to restore broken dreams. Faith in political power has been boosted. Fear of the future and faith in the state is a dangerous mix. When fear and dread are pervasive, and faith and trust in human government is widespread, the accumulation and concentration of political power is easy. These trends increase resistance to the Kingdom of God.
5 comments:
great insight
This is not a comment related to your blog post, but I was unable to send you an email. I have thoroughly enjoyed your writings on law and government. Fantastic. Thank you.
Thank you Jeremy. I am pleased that you found them helpful.
Ron this is exciting stuff- I'll write more in an email when Ive finished reading and digesting all your recent flurry of posts from the past few weeks but I particularly said a big out-loud "YES" to your #4, #6 & #10 points!!! Oh how I WISH I was there at the moment..!
in the meantime, love to both you and Lindsay
cx
Thanks Charlotte.
I have thought of Paul, who when a door closed to him, pressed on in what God was doing wherever he was until the doors opened up again. Although you are not here in the city, I am sure you prayers are much more effective than you realise, due to your great love for the city and your on-the ground experience here. Miriam, Hannah and Anna are women whose prayers had significant impact at pivotal times in history.
We must not be disturbed by the activities of the enemy, but see through them and focus on what God is doing in the city. Miriam is an interesting example. When she encountered the daughter of Pharaoh, who was the enemy of her people, this could have seemed that a bad situation had turned into a disaster. However, Miriam was not intimidated, because she had a sense that God was doing something more important (Ex 2:7). Her insight and action opened up the situation where Pharaoh educated Moses and provided him with leadership training. This is ironic given that Moses eventually destroyed Pharaohs army.
God is raising up an Invisible Army. in Christchurch. Many have been called and some are training. Most do not see it, because they are looking in the wrong places. I am sure that you are part of it, just hidden outside the city for a time.
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