PRINGLE: The arrogance of human utopias — rejecting Biblical wisdom built a century of slaughter

Dante said, “The darkest place in hell is reserved for those that do nothing in times of moral crisis.”One of the most well-known sayings across the planet is the famous saying that gained worldwide popularity in the early 1990s: WWJD.That is “What Would Jesus Do?”The modern version of the acronym WWJD burst on the scene around 1989 when youth leader Janie Tinklenberg (at Calvary Reformed Church in Holland, Michigan) decided to place WWJD on bracelets for her youth group to remind themselves of this most important question constantly.The longer phrase itself has an exceptional history dating back over 125 years. Charles M. Sheldon’s 1896 novel In His Steps: What Would Jesus Do? sold millions of copies; estimates range from 30 million up to as much as 50 million copies.This book had a tremendous impact in its day, and also had a profound impact on me when I first read it. I highly encourage you to pick it up.WWJD just might be one of the single most important questions we should be asking ourselves now. We have many voices clamouring for attention, pronouncing all their wonderful “expertise” as to how we fix the problems that we face right now in our nation.Many of the problems we face are the result of human beings insisting there are new versions of reality..The ancient saying is “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”The arrogance of humanity is always trying to fix things God made well.Many of these so-called experts will claim that God has no place in the administration of the government of nations.You can find God’s response to this arrogant idea in Romans 1:22: “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.”The most infamous attempt to fix what wasn’t broken is communism. Republics aren’t perfect, but they have provided the most freedom to the most people in world history.Communism has never worked in any nation it has been tried.The totally committed communist will claim “the failure is because communism has never been done right.”The actual truth is that communism produces famine, misery, and death because this is exactly what communism is designed to achieve..Many people mistakenly believe Karl Marx was an atheist.In his writings, he expresses his anger that he could not be God. His goal was to replace God.Does it sound like Lucifer?Communist governments always promise “comrade Utopia” only to spend decades slaughtering the people they claim to care about.The most quoted number of people murdered by “utopian communism” across all nations is 100 million. Other researchers claim as high as 500 million. If we were to include the estimated 300–400 million babies murdered in China since the 1960s, we would arrive near the 500 million mark.After 70 years of being fools, the Chinese government quietly abandoned the one-child policy, due to their economy being on the verge of demographic and economic collapse.If they had not purposefully dismissed the Bible as a source of wisdom, they might have read this verse and been saved from this disaster of their own making.Proverbs 14:28 warns us, “A large population is a king’s splendour, but a shortage of people is a ruler’s devastation.”.What Would Jesus Do?The Bible tells us. In Romans 13:9 we read: “For the commandments say, you must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not covet.” These — and other such commandments — are summed up in this one commandment: “Love your neighbour as yourself.”In case we are tempted to misunderstand, this truth is repeated in Galatians 5:14: “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”Did God reduce all the laws to a single law, so religious church leaders would lose their timeless excuse?The excuse for doing nothing in the time of moral crisis?“I’m putting God first?”God’s rebuke to us is that we are not loving God unless we love our neighbour.In his book, The Rape of the Mind, author Joost Merloo observes:“Totalitarianism is built upon and sustained by delusions. Only deluded men and women regress to the obedient and submissive subjects and hand over complete control of their lives to politicians and bureaucrats; and only a deluded ruling class will believe only they possess the knowledge, wisdom, and acumen to completely control society in a top-down manner.”WWJD? The Bible tells us in Amos 5:21: “I hate all your show and pretense — the hypocrisy of your religious festivals and solemn assemblies.”Amos 5:24 reads: “Instead, I want to see a mighty flood of justice, an endless river of righteous living.”That is what Jesus would do — will the church?

PRINGLE: The arrogance of human utopias — rejecting Biblical wisdom built a century of slaughter

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