By now you have seen countless images of the damage produced by Hurricane Katrina. The press has vigorously sought out the extreme view of all the pain and anguish and broadcast it to the world. It is time to shift away from the visible devastation and consider the spiritual dynamics. Here are a few embryonic considerations of things God might want us to see.
1) This was fundamentally different
America is no stranger to violence or judgment. There are times when the dysfunction of our society overflows in destructive actions, such as the spate of school shootings a few years ago. There are other times when God uses nature to discipline us, such as the Northridge earthquake which hit the center of child pornography in California.
The assault on New Orleans and the surrounding area falls into a dramatically different category. God warns us in Leviticus 18:28 that the land itself has limited tolerance for iniquity. "And if you defile the land, it will vomit you out as it vomited out the nations that were before you."
I believe this is what is happening in Louisiana. Listen to the people who are leaving. There is a consistent theme of people just wanting to get out and not come back. This is a staggering response considering how deeply rooted people are in Louisiana. It is not nearly the transient society we have in California. Families have lived in a small geographic area for generations, and suddenly, there is no love for their native land at all.
Although they have no place to go, no future, no plan, they know one thing - they want out. I believe that it is because in their spirit, they know that the land is inhospitable spiritually, as well as physically.
Contrast this with other great disasters. When the earthquake and fire destroyed San Francisco in 1906, the overwhelming response was to rebuild. When the tsunami hit Alaska in 1964, the overwhelming response was to rebuild. When Hurricane Hugo hit South Carolina in 1989, the overwhelming response was to rebuild. When the Twin Towers were hit in 2001, the overwhelming response was to rebuild.
While New Orleans will certainly be rebuilt, the overwhelming response at this moment is to flee and never look back.
This is different. A specific discipline from God or the natural consequences of a dysfunctional society do not bring this response. People are responding to the land which has vomited them out.
2) There is a spiritual virus released
Louisiana has been known for decades as a place of civil lawlessness. The anti-social behavior of the last week is a minor issue compared to the history of governmental abuse of power and ordinary criminality in the streets. Additionally, the city is famed for moral and spiritual lawlessness. The very term "Big Easy" announces to all that gratification is readily available on all levels.
Louisiana also has a very strong spirit of rights vs. responsibility. It was remarkable to track the differences in response among the people who were interviewed. People from Louisiana frequently lashed out because their needs were not met in the manner they expected. People from Mississippi were more often quoted as expressing gratitude for whatever help they did get, when they got it.
America as a nation is certainly predisposed to lawlessness and to focusing on their own rights, not their responsibilities. What will it look like when these two spiritual viruses from New Orleans are disseminated across the nation in a massive fashion, cross pollinating with negative spiritual dynamics already in the communities?
3) The Christian response
The book of Obadiah is God's judgment of extermination on the nation of Edom. Their sin? Hurting Jews when God was punishing them. Even though the Babylonian assault was ordained by God, and even though the sins of the nation of Judah compelled this judgment from God, Edom should not have helped inflict pain on Judah at the time when they were being broken by God.
This is a crucial principle for the Body of Christ and the nation at large. Regardless of the nature and degree of the sins God is dealing with, Louisiana and the surrounding region is part of our nation. They are kinfolk, therefore God is holding us responsible to reach out to them, not to condemn them or add to their pain.
4) The potential
We use the term The Edomite Curse to describe normal human relationships that turn adversarial. It encompasses abortion, child molestation and abandonment, divorce, racism, domestic violence, murder, rape and all other forms of fractured relationships. While every redemptive gift has its own form of sin, the redemptive gift of Prophet tends to default to the Edomite Curse, leaving a trail of broken relationships behind it.
Thus, the United States with its redemptive gift of Prophet has created vast brokenness within our own nation, as well as in the community of nations around the world. Texas, a Prophet state, is also somewhat tenuous in their commitment to community. Their slogan "Lone Star State" continually reaffirms that their commitment to the community of the nation is second to their commitment to themselves.
Now consider this principle: If we honor those whom God sends us, He will send us those whom He honors.
The Church has been praying vigorously for revival. There is a passionate desire to have more than a visitation from the King. We long to have Him dwell among us.
This is a righteous desire.
But is it possible that we are facing a test? Is the earnestly desired move of God contingent on our response to this situation? Is it possible that in the face of decades of rampant, unrepentant empowering of the Edomite Curse, God is offering this nation one last opportunity to love our brother?
When you think about it, the financial, emotional and spiritual cost of restoring the tens of thousands of evacuees is microscopic when measured against the travesty of the past generations' indulgence in destroying life and community.
Is it possible that if we respond rightly to this, God will come with mercy, but if we turn our back on our brothers and sisters, God will turn His back on us?
I don't know. I don't have to know whether the stakes are that high or not, because I do know that the right thing to do is to invest in those who have fled Louisiana - just because it is right.
5) The Fruit
If we consistently do what is right, because it is right, sooner or later we will do a right thing that gives us results that are hugely disproportionate to the action.
For the last ten years sundry teams have been deeply vested in dealing with the iniquity on the land in Texas. Hundreds of events have been held in public and in private, seeking to properly deal with past sin, rebellion and iniquity.
Today, Texas is leading the nation in being honorable toward those who are in deep need. From the man in the street to Governor Perry, Texans have stepped up magnificently, extending radical mercy to all who are in need, with no reservations.
Is today's series of radically right choices in Texas the result of purifying the spiritual dynamics of the state over the last ten years? And will today's right choices regarding the evacuees leverage the nation away from the edge of the precipice we have been walking on?
I don't know for sure. I just know they are doing the right thing in a big way, and it will go far to crush the power of the spirit of Edom that has reigned in Texas for a long time.
Will we do the same for our nation?
Arthur Burk
Sept. 6, 2005
