Our Perilous Times
In November
2012 both Colorado and Washington passed ballot measures allowing the sale of
marijuana for recreational use, against strong opposition from several
groups. Now the implementation is
underway with many issues and unanswered questions yet to be fully determined.
From a
strictly libertarian viewpoint it seems good to many to embrace and even
celebrate this, and other freedoms.
After all, surely we can agree, freedom is a good thing. It might be eye-opening to survey those who
have championed the legalization of marijuana, as a political cause, and find
out what other causes they have previously been involved with. My speculation is that most of them are
fairly one-dimensional when it comes to fighting for causes.
I would
invite you to take a step back from this specific issue of marijuana
legalization for a moment and look at the even bigger picture. The legalization of marijuana is just a tiny symptom
tied to a much broader problem. Paul
writes, with remarkable perspective in the first century, concerning the age
which was yet to come. Writing under the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit, addressing the young pastor Timothy in his second
letter to him he writes “But know this, that in the last days perilous times
will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters,
proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving,
unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good,
traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.” (2 Tim. 3:1-4) In the span of 3 verses (vs. 2-4) Paul lists
18 different characterizations descriptive of mankind and his behavior in, what
he calls in vs. 1, “the last days.”
Specifically, in these “last days” it is said “perilous” times will
come. The word “perilous” means “Involving
or full of grave risk; hazardous; dangerous.” (dictionary.com) Verse 1 then reads accurately each of
the following ways: “But know this, that in the last days, perilous times will come.”
“But know this that in the last days, hazardous times will come.”
But know this that in the last days dangerous
times will come.” “But know this,
that in the last days, days of grave risk
will come.” Paul is alerting the reader
to the fact that the “latter days” will be marked by unmistakable danger as men
focus upon themselves, first and fore-most, while simultaneously ignoring God
and hating all he represents, more than they have ever done previously in time.
The days in
which we currently live are days of “no holds barred” in the pursuit of
pleasure. It has often been repeated
that America has become a “hedonistic” society.
“Hedonism” is “The doctrine that pleasure or happiness is the highest
good.” (dictionary.com)
Further, it is “Devotion to pleasure as a way of life.” (dictionary.com) One of the mysteries of the ages has been
wonder and intrigue concerning the fall of ancient Rome. When you consider the splendor of that empire
you wonder how it could have crumbled as it did. Most historians conclude that Rome fell more from
within than from without. It is said
that latter Roman emperors were notorious for their hedonism. They withheld nothing from themselves that
held the promise of pleasure.
In America,
for decades now, the formerly taboo practice of sex outside marriage has been
chipped away little by little to the point most hardly even raise an eyebrow at
once denounced practices such as premarital sex, cohabitation, extramarital
sex, etc. When the push for acceptance
of homosexuality came along the nation had been creeping further and further
out on a limb, away from the base of the tree (the standard of God’s Word) for
several decades. Once you are out on
that limb it is easier to creep just a little further out than it is to turn
around and go back to the secure and stable trunk of the tree. Once people rejected God’s standard for
sexual relationships (1 man and 1 woman in a committed marital relationship)
and allowed their feelings and desires to fully guide them it was a very short
step to embracing the latest twist or turn in the quest for full sexual
hedonism.
In returning
to the specific issue of the legalization of marijuana for recreational use it
is easy to see that, although the issue is often cloaked in libertarian
rhetoric, it is really about plain old pursuit of pleasure. My purpose is to point out how this micro
issue fits within the bigger picture, particularly what God had to say about
the “last days” of the world he created.
Of the 18
words or phrases used in 2 Tim. 3:2-4 how many of them are applicable to the
push for, and ultimate legalization of marijuana for recreational purposes? Once again they are: lovers of self, lovers
of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful,
unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal,
despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure instead of
lovers of God. Think of the push to legalize
“gay” marriage. Consider that issue
through the grid of these 18 identifiers.
Think about the sexual revolution, in general, over the past 50-plus
years. Think about how even something as
the evil practice of abortion fits within the grid of these 18 characteristics
of the “last days.” The babies
themselves have no real voice, but the “already born” seekers of pleasure and
convenience, operating within these “perilous” times control the entire debate
and make decisions, almost exclusively, to their own benefit. Unborn babies don’t vote, they don’t protest,
they don’t lobby, and they don’t call for ballot initiatives. They are convenient political pawns.
Almost
everything in this present culture boils down to people’s love for money,
people’s love for pleasure, and people’s desire to avoid accountability to any
higher power or authority as they are pursuant of their pleasures. Two-thousand years ago, the New Testament, in
a number of places, predicts these days in which we now live with pinpoint
accuracy.
In Christ,
Dr. Allen Raynor, Pastor
