Send in the Clowns

I always
loved to go to the circus. There was an excitement in
the pageantry "under the big top." The action was
daring and quick, designed to keep you on the edge of your seat.
From the acrobats, to the animals, the circus was a perfect
respite from the pressures of life.

The three-ring circus was the best. It was orchestrated with
three different areas of action so that the patrons could move
from one exciting show to another without missing a beat. While
the scenery in one ring was being rigged, our focus bounced to
another stage where the performers quickly collected our
attention. It was a fast moving, highly captivating
experience.

And what would a circus be without the clowns? The purpose of
the clowns was to distract the viewer from the rapidly-changing
scenery. If, perchance, an animal were to attack his trainer, or
the man on the flying trapeze were to miss his grip, the
ringmaster would "send in the clowns." The job of the
clowns was to direct your attention away from the tragedy that
was unfolding.

Life in America is becoming a circus. Tragedy is everywhere.
And in a time when we need some serious answers, they are sending
us the clowns. Like a room full of elementary- school boys, our
leaders are praying that we all have ADHD. Send in the clowns.
Watch and listen as they do their antics and distract us from all
directions.

We will grow weary, they know, of asking for answers.
Everything will be fine, our television tells us. The clowns are
in control. Why is it that we are no longer laughing?

Where are America’s leaders? No, not the ones you are
thinking of, the ones being force-fed to you by the alphabet
networks. They are the clowns, or at least part of the travelling
troupe: Jackson, Sharpton, Newt, Giuliani, Obama, Hillary,
Hannity, O’Reilly, Limbaugh, Pelosi, and Bush, are just a
few of the jesters sent to distract us from the main event. From
Natalie Holloway to Imus, Anna Nicole to Britney, they distract
us from the real problems that we face.

My wife and I have a daughter who is a freshman in college. I
can’t imagine the grief the parents of the Virginia Tech
victims must be enduring. As can be expected the hue and cry for
answers will cascade over the airwaves as the clowns are paraded
before us to distract us from the real answers. And what will the
clowns tell us?

"We need gun control. More tolerance. Fire the
president. More metal detectors"...ad infinitum.

Like Hans Brinker, the clowns dance around and suggest ways to
stick our thumbs in the dike, holding back the deluge until
America springs another leak, at which time they will direct us
to another hole in need of another thumb. All the while the dam
is ready to burst. What a perfect time for the church to be the
church. But let’s be honest. Our church leadership are the
ones with the biggest thumbs.

America doesn’t need more gun control, we need moral
control. Please Lord, send us men who will say that! Instead we
get the clowns. Those who will direct us away from the real
problem facing society, sin, to a false solution of purpose and
prosperity. America is soul sick, and our leaders refuse to call
for radical surgery on the heart.

I was reading a story yesterday about the slaughter in
Virginia and I was struck by one small throw-away sentence so
common in stories like this. "School officials say
counsellors and ministers will be available to aid the
grieving." Here come the thumbs. Send in the clowns. I
always find it ironic that when tragedy strikes, our schools
"officials" are quick to call upon the
"ministers" - those with large thumbs - to come and
help deal with the aftermath of the carnage. Those same
"ministers" who were not allowed in school to prevent
the death, are now invited to school to explain the death.

And what is the message the "officials" send? That
religion is only important AFTER one is dead. Thirtytwo children
are dead, killed not by a gun, but by a young man with rot in his
soul. On what can we blame his blatant intolerance?

"To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to
educate a menace to society." -Teddy Roosevelt.

"Let the children...be carefully instructed in the
principles and obligations of the Christian religion. This is the
most essential part of education. The great enemy of the
salvation of man, in my opinion, never invented a more effectual
means of extirpating [removing] Christianity from the world than
by persuading mankind that it was improper to read the Bible at
schools." - Benjamin Rush

Proverbs 23:7 "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is
he:"

Education is a heart issue. We have made it a head issue. Here
is a simple thought. Wasn’t America a better place when we
taught Christian values to all of our children? In 1962 the
courts stripped God from education. In 1963 they removed His
Word. We have been plugging leaks in America ever since. How many
more children will die, how many more parents will weep, how many
more laws will we pass in an attempt to control the heart of a
man?

Let’s face it. America is immersed in a culture of
death. No amount of legislation or education will change that.
The dam is about to break. 2 Chronicles 7:19-22 "But if
ye turn away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments, which
I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods, and
worship them; Then will I pluck them up by the roots out of my
land which I have given them; and this house, which I have
sanctified for my name, will I cast out of my sight, and will
make it to be a proverb and a byword among all
nations. And this house, which is high, shall be an
astonishment to every one that passeth by it; so that he shall
say, Why hath the LORD done thus unto this land, and unto this
house? And it shall be answered, Because they forsook the LORD
God of their fathers, which brought them forth out of the land of
Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and worshipped them, and
served them: therefore hath he brought all this evil upon
them."

America is looking for answers. The Gospel is our only chance.
We must teach it to our young. Why won’t somebody say it?
Don’t we love our children?

Pay no attention to the man behind the
curtain… I’m tired of the clowns. All they do
is make my thumbs sore. Send in the King!