Paul Derengowski, ThM
Following up on the previous post of “God and prayer” returning to the public education system, as advocated by WBAP talk-show host, Rick Roberts, a thought came to mind concerning the first words out of Jesus’ mouth, when he began his preaching ministry.
Jesus did not start out by advocating God and prayer, but with repentance and belief.
After his forty days of trial in the presence of the devil, Jesus preached his first sermon in Galilee, whereby he commanded—not suggested—”The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mk. 1:14-15 cf. Matt. 4:17).
Repent is the English verb translation of the Hebrew word shuv (שׁוּב) and the Greek word metanoeō (μετανοέω).
In the former instance, the word conveys the idea of “return” and in the latter the idea of changing the mind.
In common parlance, one might say to a person headed in the wrong direction to “turn around and head the other way.”
Implied in the concept of repentance is confession and contrition over a wrong done.
The prophet Ezekiel warned the nation of Israel about the impending judgment against its idolatry with these words: “Thus says the Lord God, ‘Repent and turn away from your idols, and turn your faces away from all your abominations'” (Ezek. 14:6).
Moses advised that when anyone became guilty of sin, “that he shall confess that in which has sinned” (Lev. 5:5).
Jeremiah lamented over Israel’s sin by claiming, “But they have not become contrite even to this day, nor have they feared nor walked in My law or My statutes, which I have set before you and before your fathers” (Jer. 44:10).
In the New Testament, we see similar admonitions, including the one seen above from Jesus.
Peter told a crowd of people to “Repent therefore and return, that your sins may be wiped away….” (Acts 3:19).
Paul told the Corinthian church, “I am afraid that when I come again my God may humiliate me before you, and I may mourn over many of those who have sinned in the past and not repented of the impurity, immorality, and sensuality which they have practiced (2 Cor. 12:21).
John warned of a perilous day yet to come, when even after God’s judgment had already taken the lives of millions, “the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, so as not to worship demons, and the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk…the did not repent of their murders nor of their sorceries nor of their immorality nor of their thefts” (Rev. 9:20-21).
The whole point is that in order for God and prayer to be re-introduced into anything, let alone the public education system, there must be repentance.
There must be a change of mind or heart, that reflects contrition over ever having walked away from God in the first place.
Then, as Jesus said, there must be belief, but not just belief to be believing. That would like saying, “You just need to have faith in faith,” which would be insane.
There must be belief in the gospel!
Belief, though, is not just some nebulous superstition that is created by the person claiming to believe.
It is a gift from God that compels the believer to turn from his wicked ways unto that which is good, wholesome, and viable.
It is absolute trust and/or dependence upon God for the penitent’s livelihood, welfare, and spirituality.
It is a the complete disavowal of a person’s self-confidence that he may please God with a cheap substitute for what God has already done through the sacrifice of His Son to purchase redemption and reconciliation for the sinner.
Then, and only then, will a knowledge of God and prayer mean something beyond the otherwise vacuous reintroduction of God and prayer into a public school setting.
God and prayer will be defensible, since an intimate relationship with God will be established, which entails a prayer life with God, whereby not only “good” deeds are objectively verified, but a holy understanding of prayer’s place in the worship of God is the saint’s foremost desire.
Right now, in twenty-first century Americana, God is an afterthought and prayer has been pigeon-holed as something that only the religiously superstitious engage.
The end result has been the erection of one idol after another to take God and prayer’s place, whether in or out of the school, home, business, government, et cetera.
Until Americans repent and believe, then it would be totally pointless to push for either God or prayer to take up residence anywhere.
In fact, it would be tantamount to erecting another religious idol to go right along with all the others, including Christmas, Easter, Mardi Gras, and a whole host of other lesser known, as well as private, rituals that Americans have adopted to appease their guilty consciences.
Nevertheless, do not count on repentance or belief being advocated on the radio or television for that matter.
Such are not welcome.
It is must easier to advocate a cliché, than it is to proclaim the Bible.
Cliché’s evoke visceral responses that pass with a little time, whereas the proclamation of God’s Word evokes an intellectual response that convicts the soul and does not pass away with the ticking of the clock.
Moreover, cliché’s are more lucrative, financially, than is proclamation and defense of the truth.
And is that not what radio and television is really all about: money and not the truth?
