“But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come…” –2 Timothy 3:1
At the end of most years, I often take time to reflect on what type of year it has been in terms of biblical perspective and prophecy. Since this is the last year of the decade, I think it is all the more important for us to ponder what has occurred and what type of forecast we have for the new decade.
The new millennium began with a sigh of relief as fears of a Y2K computer bug proved to be a false alarm. In 2000, we had the bombing of the USS Cole and the disputed presidential election between George Bush and Al Gore. Since every year has its share of bad news, there was no need for pessimism.
What turned the decade decidedly sour was the terrorist attack on September 11th, 2001. More than half of people surveyed named the attack as the biggest event of the decade. Gone are the days when all you needed was a boarding pass to get on an airplane. Today, going from Dallas to New York is like going from West Germany to East Germany during the height of the Cold War.
The past decade was also marked by scandals, schemes, and financial meltdowns. Time Magazine has recently declared the 2000s the “Decade from Hell.” Time then predicted that the twenty-teens would be a period of sunnier days.
A majority of Americans share this negative view of the 2000s. According to a Pew Research Center poll, fifty percent of those surveyed expressed a negative view of the past decade, compared to 27 percent who viewed it positively, with 21 percent holding neither a positive nor negative view, and 2 percent undecided.
People at the close of 1929 looked hopefully at 1930s for relief. Little did they know the economic hardship was only at the beginning of the downward slope.
I see the last decade as one of squandered time. One writer called it the decade of “oughts,” because so much that ought to have been done wasn’t:
Control entitlement spending
Rein in Islamic terrorists
Solve our long-term energy needs
Invest in food production
Stop the spread of nuke technology
Combat the moral decline of our society
The writers and editors of Time Magazine better keep their “Decade from Hell’ label handy because they may soon find themselves needing to cut and paste it onto the new decade. After the ball drops on Times Square, all the problems of the previous decade will still be with us.
A lot of the blame for missed opportunity rests at the feet of the church. If America had its moral house in order, the economic, social, and political issues would eventually right themselves. The Bible calls believers the salt of the earth. Our job is to be the nation’s moral compass. During the past decade, we’ve collectively been going along with the ride.
I’m absolutely ashamed at what passes today as “Christian” television. I’d rather watch back-to-back hours of Obama speeches than listen to some of these top-rated preachers. While the feel-good message plays on, the forces of darkness have taken over our nation.
It may have been a bad decade for the secular world, but it wasn’t for the kingdom of God. The gospel message has made huge inroads in the past decade. We have to be very near the point of fulfilling a key prediction made by Jesus, “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come” (Matthew 24:14).
It is time for American Christians to “get their heads out of the sand” and pray for revival in our nation. We are on our deathbed. Drastic times call for drastic actions…to prayer my brothers and sisters!
