The present configuration of our world by all barometers of moral assessment suggests that we are in a downward spiral. The God consciousness and moral rectitude for which America was known and was easily distinguishable from all others are in question.
Throughout human history, the family unit anchored by its faith in God has been the fulcrum that kept some measurable balance on the morality scale. But that scale is noticeably tilted towards what many fear as the inevitable doom. Where and when did this insidious inertia come from? Let us pause for a moment. I’m not referring to the fall from grace act in the garden which the Bible captured in Genesis. I am not also pointing to the mystery of iniquity as represented in 2 Thessalonians 2:7, For the mystery of lawlessness [rebellion against divine authority and the coming reign of lawlessness] is already at work; [but it is restrained] only until he who now restrains it is taken out of the way.”
But to explore the question posited above, I wondered about the influence of the psychedelic explosion of the 60s and 70s, which launched stealthily into the psychology of a Judeo-Christian America. At this time in American history, according to a report from Psymposia, America had never seen anything like this kind of cultural shift. There were no existing models for handling the epidemic, whether in the medical, religious, or even larger society. Moreover, America was not only dealing with the Hippie saga. Other sources of tension fumed in the background. There were noises of revolution which were echoes of opposition to the Vietnam/American conflict. As that was not enough, race riots were erupting all around. It seemed like a perfect storm for Armageddon. The impact on families and society was unprecedented. Many marriages, particularly among the baby boomers, were fractured in the aftermath.
Yet, amid the gloom and doom, the finger of God was etching a Goshen type of enclave out of a little beach town of Costa Mesa, California, within a remnant gathering at the Calvary Chapel. In the heat of what was called the Summer of Love, the wind of revival carried the fragrance of Christ in the direction of the troubled Hippies. By God’s sovereign will, they perceived the allure of His Love and tracked it to the little Church. The Love encounter with Jesus changed their lives, and a generation of God seekers was harvested out of the palpable force of doom gunning for the nation’s soul. The scripture in Romans 5:20 lends clarity to this dichotomy of consciousness, “when sin abounds, grace abounds much more.”
Today, we find our society at a similar crossroads of moral balance. The seeming altruistic campaign for tolerance espoused and formulated by the Obama administration has metamorphosed into a much more sinister race-inspired epitaph, the Black Lives Matter (BLM). In the meantime, every veneration of God and Jesus is shunned and excommunicated from every available educational curriculum and secular corporate policy. Homosexuality and same-sex marriage have become the new norm with flags of inclusivity, Equality, and Justice. Another cultural shift has now dawned upon us with the campaign of Woke-ism. This paradigm shift’s permutations are succinctly captured in Isaiah 59:14-15, “And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and the LORD saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment.” Yet again, in the apparent mutilation of our shared hope for a morally superior society, with the voice of the redeemed increasingly being periled, a vista of hope awakens the perspiring womb of the Church.
Among the Gen Z demographics, there is a groan for truth and a cry for righteousness from the most improbable quarters. Such groan superimposes itself over the reeling weight of injustice. And therefore, an earnest yearning for the manifestations of the sons of God awakens the senses. It is the Father’s response to the iniquitous yoke of a nation. The petition of Isaiah in chapter 51, verse 9 resonates; “Awake, Awake, put on strength, Oh Arm of the Lord. It is the Ecclesia’s cry for help. And God, therefore, summons man once more; “And I sought for a man among them that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it…” So, up from the ashes, these few Gen Zs gather weekly at Comenius School of Creative Leadership (CSCL) in the quiet Fort Mill SC Campus of MorningStar Ministry. There, with a subtle yet impetuous and humble demeanor, they position themselves in worshiping His Presence and freely sharing Christ’s love. There is simplicity in their worship. Like the David of the Bible, they dance and flow in tandem with the rhythmic distillation of Holy lyrics from a contemporary gospel genre. Those who have witnessed the fire of the atmosphere confess of its organismic purity and zeal. It validates the expectation of a billion-soul harvest, a prophecy of the Late Prophet Bob Jones. God always has a remnant (Romans 11:5), for those who must worship Him, must worship Him in spirit and truth.
