When you’re hit with heart-rendering footage and accounts of two horrific murders that are the main topic of our nation’s news and conversations—two individuals on the opposite ends of fame—let us be as clear as possible: much more is going on than political differences. This is far deeper than national or civic divides. This is, at its core, a spiritual, dare I say supernatural, conflict between evil and righteousness.
We are not the first to be in it, nor will we be the last. But we are in it. And to act like it’s something other than what it really is comes with devastating consequences. It seems the days are gone when we all wanted the same end result, but we disagreed on the way to get there; we’ve left the station of a unified ‘what’ but a debated ‘how.’ Our country, it appears, swings perilously between two vastly different and opposing goals and cultures.
I am personally convinced we are mirroring the same consequential moment Moses described when he laid out the situation to the people he was leading. He said the fundamental decision they were facing was between life and death. He called God’s people twice to this reality— “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil” (Deut. 30:15), and “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live” (Deut. 30:19).
Admittedly, this is textually and specifically a covenantal promise of blessing to Old Testament Israel, where “life” and “good” meant long life in the land, prosperity, and God’s presence. “Death and evil” meant the curse of destruction, judgment, exile, and loss of generational inheritance.
But principally, the situation Moses described to them is the same situation we are facing now. More and more we see two very divergent pathways laid out before us that never cross or meet again at some general destination with which we all agree. It’s increasingly quite the opposite. One call is for obedience to God; the other call blatantly denies God. As Paul said in 1 Corinthians, the things in the Old Testament “took place as examples for us” (10:4). “Now” is no different principally than “then.”
That means we are (and have been for a while) facing something darker and deeper than a political divide or a national difference. We are nostril deep in a spiritual battle for life; a soul-saving moment of choice between two stark alternatives: obedience to God and his Word, or disobedience to it. Submission to God’s design and created order, or rebellion to it. One leads to life; the other to death.
You can see these moments across recent decades in so many situations. Legalizing the murder of our own offspring through elective abortion, declaring a new definition of marriage, denying biology, and celebrating depraved sexual practices as normative are just a few that are obvious. My God, what stiffnecked pride and spiritual arrogance by voices, parties, and organizations who think they can rewrite God’s fundamentally natural laws that govern our very existence.
But one that is more recent, yet often overlooked, is the attempt to vacate the basic role of government. Defunding the police, decriminalizing vices, and not punishing evil doers is a rebellious wave of the fist at the very heart of God’s Word in Romans 13. When that occurs, the murderous violence and death we’ve witnessed this week will become even more prominent. We can’t remove and erase God’s agents of civic order without a great cost to the very people in the civilization.
The central, core responsibility of government, according to God, is to protect those who do good and punish those who do evil. When you do the opposite, pushing the perspective that evil doers are actually victims, not criminals, you put law abiding people at risk. Evil is fueled when justice is absent or weak. You wind up with a society filled with continuous, rising evil, a culture where every person is “doing that which is right in his own eyes” (Judges 17:6 and 21:25). It’s a dead-end road where the journey is littered with an increasing amount of death to the innocent. That’s what played out this week, and in recent months, in many of the murderous and violent incidents across our nation.
That’s just more evidence that leads me to believe and be personally convinced we are facing a Moses moment—a spiritually significant time regarding our very survival as a society—where our decisions are actually between life and death. Obedience to God or rebellion to God. Humble submission to his Word or raging pride against it. The “two ways” framework highlights the seriousness of our decisions and brings into focus the reality that our future literally hinges on choosing obedience to God and his Word. That’s why this more than a physical or national or political dilemma. This is a spiritual, supernatural moment when we must heed the need for surrender to God, not opposition to him. Obedience to his Word, not resistance to it. To choose what is biblically and morally right, and refuse what is biblically and morally wrong. To convictionally side with life, not death.
Yes, we are at that crossroads; we are standing on that precipice. We are continuously facing that challenge. These consequential times always call for a Moses. A Joshua, A Deborah. A Daniel. An Ezra. A Nehemiah. A John the Baptist. A Paul. Someone willing to see through the surface politics to the deep and true issue—obedience to God—and call a country and a church to that posture.
Pastors, speak biblically. Preach boldly. Proclaim clearly. Lead with humble bravery and compassionate courage, starting on your knees in prayer and intercession. Call for repentence and revival among your flock. Whatever you do, don’t bend or blend. Stand and deliver.
Christians, live obediently. Own your gospel identity. Stand strong for your Savior. Endure faithfully. Support righteousness and don’t be swayed by evil, lured by the approval of culture, or ensnared by the deceitfulness of riches.
Fellow citizens, trust God. Turn to Jesus. Embrace historical and logical realities that are proof of God’s love and care for people. Support laws that promote the flourishing of civilization. Reject fear and vote for policies that bring distinction and clarity between righteousness and evil. Our very life as a people, and the lives of people, hinge on our willingness to follow God’s ways.
To all of us in both the church and the country, now, like at other pivotal moments, is the time to live and lead with spiritual courage, biblical clarity, and godly conviction regardless of the cost.
Moses knew that. Charlie knew that.
May more of us know that as well.