Dover, PA

Our good friend Pat Robertson is making news once again.  This time he is warning of possible disaster for the town of Dover, PA.  If you haven't heard the story, the school board has been dealing with the issue of evolution in their curriculum.  There is a current court case about it.  Last week, eight members were voted out because of their views in favor of teaching intelligent design.  So now as it stands, even if the court rules in favor of intelligent design, the new school board may decide to keep it out of the curriculum anyway.

Pat Robertson didn't say that judgment would fall on the city, but basically said, don't be surprised if it does.  Of course this sparked national debate over the issue and once again causes conservative Christians to appear like we are just waiting to drop the hammer on anyone we can find caught in sin.

The sad thing is that I agree with 95% of what Robertson had to say.  God has become our safety net and the only time most people even think about Him is when they are falling and face disaster.  People should not act like God exists until they find it convenient to ask Him for help.

The problem is that anyone with the slightest bit of intelligence knows how such statements from such a public figure as Robertson are going to be played.  Even if there was no intent to judge or prophecy disaster upon the city, that is exactly the way it is going to be portrayed.  Conservative Christians come out looking like judgmental jerks or foolish idiots hearing messages from God.

God speaks to me quite often, but it is in His word.  And try as I might, I have yet to find any mention of Dover, PA, New York City, or San Francisco.  I know what God considers sin.  I know that one day He is going to judge sin and there will be no excuses anyone can offer.  However, I am given no guarantees when and if God is going to cause disaster to fall upon any area.

Make no mistake about it, God notices the rejection of Him that is taking place.  However, if God was going to judge every area that has a majority of people who have rejected him, I'd say there aren't too many areas that are going to escape. 

And while we're at it, what does one small city in Pennsylvania have over countries full of Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists?  If judgment and disaster was based solely on being in an area that doesn't know God, I'd feel much safer in Dover, PA than I would in the middle of China where persecution of Christians is rampant.

My mother always told me that if I didn't have anything good to say, then I should just keep quiet.  Christian leaders have a responsibility to declare what the Bible says.  However, when they beyond that they do more harm then good.  And when that is the case, they should know enough by now that they should just keep their mouths shut.

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