Go Along to Get Along?

A Biblical Response Charles & Inna Areson September 2011 Bukuru/Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria In todays society the concept of go along to get along is the accepted way of life. Here in Nigeria graft and corruption permeate virtually all aspects of life. The Organized Christian Church in many ways is just like all other facets of the society. But what should surprise us about that? Are we not the salt and light to the world in which we live? You are salt for the Land. But if salt becomes tasteless, how can it be made sal ty again? It is no longer good for anything except being thrown out for people t o trample on. In the same way, let your light shine before people, so that they may see the good things you do and praise your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:13, 1 6 Should we be surprised that society is as it is since in most ways it just refle cts the attitudes and actions within the Organized Church? Do we see biblical attitude towards money and power among the religious leaders? Do not store up for yourselves wealth here on earth, where moths and rust destro y, and burglars break in and steal. Instead, store up for yourselves wealth in h eaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and burglars do not break in or ste al. For where your wealth is, there your heart will be also. No one can be slave to two masters; for he will either hate the first and love the second, or scorn the second and be loyal to the first. You cant be a slave to both God and money. Matthew 6:19-21, 24 In many government offices one is expected to present extra cash along with any re quest to perform a normal and required service. Government workers and businessmen often require a cash incentive prior to issuing a contract for goods or services. Do not pervert justice or show partiality. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe bl inds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous. Follow justice and justice alone, so that you may live and possess the land the LORD your God i s giving you. Deuteronomy 16:19-20 Many times contracts are awarded knowing that the designated service or supplies will be substandard or not even supplied at all. Both federal and state legislators often require an incentive to pass even the mos t important legislation. Frequently government officials demand that banks, into which government funds a re to be deposited, give them personally special cash interest, a percentage of th e funds to be deposited for a given time. Banks line up and compete with each o ther over who will get these deposits. In this way individuals often become qui te rich with money that should be helping meet the needs of the people and cover required government expenses. In reality they are stealing from the government and in the end - the people of the state and nation. Your leaders are rebels, friends of thieves. They all love bribes and run after gifts. They give no justice to orphans, the widows complaint doesnt catch their at tention. Isaiah 1:23 Contracts are given to middle men who then contact a contractor or supplier to fur nish the designated supplies or services, often at an inflated price and even re quiring a kickback of a percentage of the amount of the contract. This is the rul e rather than the exception. Widespread theft, fraud and corruption within the petroleum sector and its overs

ight agencies are beyond imagination. Most, if not all, of this type of activity is also a criminal act under the laws of Nigeria. Does that make a difference? Many law enforcement and security personnel are also often involved in extortion and other even more serious criminal activity including murder! For among my people there are wicked men, who, like fowlers, lie in wait and set traps to catch their fellow human beings. Their houses are as full of fraud as a cage full of birds. They grow rich and great, sleek and bloated; they excel in acts of wickedness but do not plead on behalf of the orphan, thus enabling his c ause to succeed; nor do they judge in favor of the poor. Should I not punish for this? asks ADONAI. Should I not be avenged on a nation like this? A shocking and horrifying thing ha s happened in the land: The prophets prophesy lies, the cohanim (priests) obey t he prophets, and my people love it that way. But what will you do at the end of it all? Jeremiah 5:26-31 Often leaders in government, business and society, including those leaders who c all themselves Christian, are fully aware of this type of activity but they keep s ilent. Sometimes it is because they are personally involved or their friends an d/or family members may be profiting and they are unwilling to cause trouble. Their mottos are: Go along to get along! and This is the way it is here and we can do nothing to change it. Have nothing to do with the deeds produced by darkness, but instead expo se them, for it is shameful even to speak of the things these people do in secr et. Ephesians 5:11 To fail to expose these sinful works of darkness in our society is to actually b ecome a part of their continuation! For a leader to knowingly allow these types of things and do nothing to expose or stop them is to stand as guilty as those w ho commit them! You adulterous people, dont you know that friendship with the world is hatred tow ards God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God . Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to liv e in us envies intensely? James 4:4-5 Paying a bribe is to encourage evil that will not only destroy those who receive the bribe but will also threaten the very society as well! Giving in to extortion only encourages its continued and expanded activity! All members of a society have the responsibility to take an active stance agains t these evils, no matter what others may do! Some say If I expose them I may suffer severe and painful consequences from those who are directly involved or from those who are supporting them. This may be tr ue, but whom do you fear more, God or Man? And can we not trust the LORD God the keep us if we choose to stand in righteousness? For what shall it profit a man , if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Whoever aims at preserving his own life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will stay alive. Luke 17:33 Radical Islam is threatening to destroy the fabric of this nation. Fraud and cor ruption are ruining the economic foundations of both government and some private industry. Why do Islamic extremists and forces of evil have so much power and s uccess? Because within the organized Church the very presence of Christ Jesus i s virtually absent. (1) We must have biblical revival. (2) Those who claim the Name of Christ Jesus must take a fearless stand for righ tness, regardless of the consequences.

If we are not willing to do so the nations destruction is assured and we will sta nd forth GUILTY in the eyes of a holy God in our time of judgment! Indeed, if they have once escaped the pollutions of the world through knowing ou r Lord and Deliverer, Yeshua the Messiah, and then have again become entangled a nd defeated by them, their latter condition has become worse than their former. It would have been better for them not to have known the Way of righteousness th an, fully knowing, to turn from the holy command delivered to them. 2Peter 2:2021 Say that ADONAI ELOHIM says, City that sheds blood within yourself, thus speeding your own doom, and that makes idols for yourself that defile you: you are guilty because of the blood you have shed, you are defiled by your idols that you have made. You have shortened your days, you have completed your years ; therefore I have made you an object of scorn for the nations and a laughingsto ck for every country. Those close by and those far off will taunt you, you who have such a defiled rep utation and such great disorder. The leaders of Isra el in you all use their power in order to shed blood. In you, they make light of fathers and mothers, they oppress foreigners, they wrong orp hans and widows. You treat my holy things with contempt, you profane my Sabbaths . In you, people gossip to the point of inciting bloodshed; in you are those who g o to eat on the mountains; in you, they commit lewd acts; in you, they commit incest; in you, they force themselves on women during their menstrual impurity. In you, one commits an abomination with his neighbor s wife; another commits som e lewd act defiling his daughterinlaw; still another humbles his sister, his own f ather s daughter. In you, people take bribes to shed blood; you demand and accept interest on loan s; in greed you make profits off your neighbors by extorting them; and you have forgotten me, says ADONAI ELOHIM. Therefore, I am clapping my hands together because of your illgotten gains and the blood shed in you. Can your courage last, can your strength continue during the days when I deal wi th you? I, ADONAI, have spoken it; and I will do it. Ezekiel 22:3-14 Hear and obey the Word of God which is spoken to you or prepare to experience dire consequences! Other Scripture references: Exodus 23:8-9 Deuteronomy 27:25-26 Psalm 15:1-5 Proverbs 17:23 Proverbs 21:14-15 Proverbs 28:5-9 Ecclesiastes 7:7 Isaiah 5:22-24 Jeremiah 7:24 Ezekiel 22:12-13 Micah 3:11-12 Micah 7:2-3 Matthew 23:25

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Corinthians 6:9-10 Timothy 2:15 Timothy 3:1-17 Peter 2:1-22