Connect the Dots

Nothing surpasses a fixed, precise destination in guiding a ship across the open seas. The target point dictates the ships heading, maneuverings, and minute calculations. Pilots process hundreds of critical factors along the way, but their purposeful move toward the destination firmly governs every decision.

In order to arrive at the right destination, sea captains pinpoint locations on navigational maps as they chart their courses. They measure ocean depths, current strength, wind velocity, speed and many other factors. With data from soundings, compasses and electronic devices, they connect the dots to plot safe passageways. But, even the most sophisticated equipment will yield meaningless results unless the pilot keeps his focus on his destination. If he forgets where he is going, all incoming facts become trivial.

Nothing guides the church more surely than a sense of divine purpose as it negotiates the open seas of cultural and spiritual turmoil. Whether it’s the soft winds of prosperity that gently push the church off course, or the swift undercurrent of devilish doctrines that tries to pull it out to sea, the purposeful focus on the ultimate goal soon restores its bearing. Purpose, visible only by faithfully navigating through the dots on the map, guarantees the success of the journey.

It is no wonder, therefore, that a satanically controlled society seeks to obliterate the church’s overarching sense of purpose. Without purpose to guide it, the church may not discern between critical data and meaningless facts. Today, in fact, rules and laws have been reduced to insignificance. Neither the sacred nor the profane, the good nor the bad, the beautiful nor the ugly, the right nor the wrong matters anymore.

Nihilism rules. Nihilism stands for the total rejection of social mores, especially of morality and religion; the belief that nothing is worthwhile: that life is pointless and human values are worthless; d isbelief in objective truth ; and the belief in destruction of authority: that all established authority is corrupt and must be destroyed in order to rebuild a just society. (Encarta.) The bywords of this philosophy are, “Who cares?” and “it doesn’t make any difference.” Its effective tools are music, art, television and education. Lest the unsuspecting think it’s “just music”, or only “harmless fun”, go ahead and connect the dots.

The MTV generation pulsates with nihilistic lyrics and music. Its rock and screen stars, writers and producers viciously attack traditional values by exalting sex, crime, demon possession and drugs to the point of worship. Writer Jon Podhoretz, says “The 1968 Broadway musical ‘Hair’ was an important turning point in American culture in very interesting and unexpected ways…“’Hair’ was originally billed as the ‘tribal love-rock musical’…The fact that ‘Hair’ had no plot and was merely a series of vignettes and drug-induced hallucinations experienced by sketchy characters who are all members of a hippie clique living in the East Village was seen as a great leap forward.” (National Review Online, 5-4-01 .) One of Hip Hop music’s big names, Puff Daddy, (now P. Diddy) screams lyrics that cannot be quoted in a decent magazine. A Puff Daddy hit, “Angels With Dirty Faces”, suggests enough filth by its title alone, without revealing the actual words to the song. The entertainment rationale for their agenda, if it ever existed, fell by the wayside long ago. It now intends to trash every boundary, every tenet of faith, every sacred icon and every time-honored virtue. The point is now is not even to shock or insult, but to destroy society as we know it and replace it with one of absolute fleshly freedom and affirmation of everything. If you wonder how we, as a society, got to where we are now, connect the dots on the devil’s navigational map. For this world, the purpose of God has been usurped by the politics of societal destruction.

Bizarre events and sick characters dot the cultural landscape today. We often survey the passing scene, amused and nonplussed, but lacking genuine concern. When we begin to connect the dots, however, the true picture takes shape. As the church, however, our job is to establish strong and emphatic points from scripture that will lead us to our destination. “And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.” II Peter 1:5-7. An unaltered course, based on uncompromised truths, guided by an unchanging sense of purpose will take us to our final destination. Connect the dots.