WHEN PASTORS ABDICATE THEIR DUTY TO DISCERN France is engulfed in unrest. Germ… · @JackyYqt0817 · TwKit

@JackyYqt0817

WHEN PASTORS ABDICATE THEIR DUTY TO DISCERN France is engulfed in unrest. Germany is in turmoil. Italy is beset by conflict. Why have the nations that once stood at the heart of Christian civilization fallen into such distress? This is a question I have long pondered. Is it excessive welfare? Corrupt and cowardly politicians? A population drifting away from faith? Perhaps all of these. Yet none seems to strike at the heart of the problem. Today, while studying Scripture, I suddenly recognized a fundamental issue: Pastors have abdicated their responsibility to exercise spiritual discernment! On what basis do governments and citizens make their decisions? How should they resolve matters of great difficulty and consequence? In Exodus 28, God established a clear responsibility: the Urim and Thummim were to be placed in the high priest’s breastpiece of judgment. Bearing the people upon his shoulders and over his heart, the priest was to seek God’s guidance, discern truth, and distinguish right from wrong on behalf of the people. In other words, it is the responsibility of today’s pastors and churches to teach the whole counsel of God and guide the people in making fundamental moral judgments and choices. This responsibility belongs not primarily to the people or the government, but to pastors and the Church. The government is charged with rewarding good and punishing evil. But what constitutes good and evil? What deserves support, and what must be opposed? Pastors and churches have a responsibility to discern these matters in the light of God’s truth and to instruct both the people and those who govern them. Yet today, some churches preach love without justice, acceptance without repentance. They fear offending people but seem unafraid of offending God. Pastors have become therapists; churches have become social clubs. Almost anything may be proclaimed from the pulpit—except the truth that might offend the world. If those who devote themselves to studying God’s Word refuse to shoulder this responsibility, who else can be expected to do so? This is why judgment must begin with the household of God. More absurd still, some have elevated the “separation of church and state” into a theological principle, insisting that faith withdraw from public life, mistaking silence for wisdom and disguising dereliction of duty as tolerance. If the Church refuses to distinguish good from evil, political power will define them instead. If pastors cease to teach the truth, the media and prevailing ideologies will shape the minds of the people. Ironically, this understanding of church-state separation has helped push governments ever further toward secularism and practical atheism. The Church, which professes faith in God, refuses to exercise moral discernment, while a government that acknowledges no divine authority becomes the ultimate arbiter of the people’s destiny. How can such a society escape moral decline? Society never exists in a moral vacuum. The Church imagines that it has merely withdrawn from controversy. In reality, it has surrendered its responsibility to shape moral judgment. The prophet Ezekiel warned: If the watchman sees the sword coming but fails to sound the trumpet to warn the people, God will hold him accountable. (Ezekiel 33:6, paraphrased) When the Church abandons its responsibility to discern, the world does not stop making judgments. Instead, truth gives way to power, and conscience yields to prevailing fashions. The fate of peoples and nations is then drawn, step by step, toward darkness. Watchmen who neglect their duty will ultimately answer to God. Pastor, will you still dare to remain silent? Will you still say, “We do not discuss politics. Everyone must decide for themselves”?

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