Revelation 6:4 And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.
Today we visited the "Killing Fields." The cruelty humanity is capable of is nothing new. The first brother in human history committed fratricide. Never-the-less, the chilling reality of who we really are sinks much more deeply when seeing the sights first hand, be they on American, European, Asian, or, I would imagine, African soil. Pol Pot's genocide is one of many stories that could be told, and need to be told, if we are to understand who we humans are beneath our veneer of PBS styled philanthropy.
I don't put much stock in dreams. They are easily influenced by Pizza and whatever we watched on T.V. before bed. But, I had a dream last night in which I was asked a brilliant question. I only mention it because the question was profound, regardless its source. In this dream a lady asked me, "are you trying to be a Christian?" That was her witty way of letting me know that she knew that Christianity is far from a simple vocalized profession. I answered, "yes, I am." She responded with a sincere, "why?" I told her something that became very real to me while working with skeptics in Germany (and then I woke up). That is, only the Christian story offers both an honest recognition of the evil in the world, and a plausible solution. Every other philosophy, world-view, religion, or whatever you want to call it deals with one or the other, but essential Christianity presents both. I am trying to be a Christian because Cambodia, Germany, Rwanda, Burma, and the U.S.A. need bold faced honesty about evil, and be offered a solution that is brazen enough to make a difference.
Which brings us to Revelation 6:4. I grew up under the teaching that Revelation, in its entirety, has yet to be fulfilled. Since then I have learned of other interpretations that allow for a partial fulfillment throughout human history. Any way you slice it, Revelation 6:4 has a lot to say about us. Notice, this second horse of the apocalypse did not kill anyone, or cause anyone to be killed. Rather, he "took peace from the earth." It is as if peace is a sustaining force for our good, a blanket that inhibits our natural, violent tendencies. Once that blanket is removed we humans do what is our natural instinct, post-fall, and we "slay one another." Pol Pot. Hitler. Burma. Rwanda. 9-11. The evening news. Every now and then the curtain is pulled back and our fangs come out. This is who we are.
Now, a generation after grass covered the graves of the Killing Fields, Cambodia leads the world in the pre-pubescent sex-trade. It is bad enough that Cambodians slaughtered Cambodians in the 70's under a psychopath's rule. Now Cambodians are selling their preschool sons and daughters to demented Westerners for a few bucks a night. The sustaining curtain of peace is pulled back. Fallen men rape, torture, and kill their fellow man. The red horse of the apocalypse marches on, while we sit at home, insulated from the horror much of the world wakes up to every morning.
But not everyone stays home. We spent our afternoon today at a mission that has taken this seriously. They have been brutally honest with themselves about the evil in our hearts and have decided to try to be Christians. They have left all and followed Jesus, and He led them to Cambodia. They are rescuing children and women from the sex-trade. They are helping pimps find more noble forms of employment. They are training parents how and why to value their children beyond the few dollars a night they can sell themselves for. They are working with authorities to prosecute the perverts who prey on the vulnerable. And they are doing it all in the name and the power of Jesus Christ.
Why am I trying to be a Christian? Because Jesus came and died because evil is real. Because, though there is more work to be done that what I can do alone, it is other followers of Jesus who are trying to do it. Because it takes a heart-change to convince a pimp to find other work, and Jesus is in heart-changing business. Because I've seen a whole lot of evil in the world, and only one solution beefy enough to make an actual difference. Why are you trying to be a Christian?
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