And they shall TEACH my people the difference between the holy and the common, and cause them to DISCERN between the unclean and the clean.

Ezekiel 44:23

SUNKEN "SUB" OF SOCIETY
BY SCOTT MACLEOD

There recently was a dreadful tragedy that captured the attention of the entire world. With a real-life drama that sounded more like a Hollywood fabrication, it sent shock waves, sympathy and prayers through those who took a moment to ponder the horror of this catastrophe. On Saturday, August 12, a Russian nuclear-powered submarine, the Kursk, failed to make radio contact during naval exercises. Later it was revealed that the Kursk, carrying 118 sailors, sank to the bottom of the Barents Sea, 355 ft down.

The first reports that the submarine may have collided with a foreign vessel were later played down by officials who talked of an explosion on board. In either case, it was clear that the Russian Navy had a serious problem on its hands -- 118 lives trapped on the bottom of the cold ocean in a severely damaged sub which now had no power, no radio contact and a limited amount of air -- an estimated three to five days worth. Right from the beginning there were contradicting reports and much confusion regarding the actual condition of the Kursk and its crew.

By Monday 1:00 p.m. Russian Navy vessels had been rushed to the scene of the crippled Sub to begin observation and rescue operations. All evidences told that the situation was extremely precarious. On Monday night -- Britain offers to help Russia save the crew -- Norway and the United States say that they are also prepared to help.

On Tuesday at 9:00 a.m. the Navy says it has heard the crew tapping and concludes that at least some of the sailors are alive, but a raging storm soon hampers their rescue efforts. While waiting for the storms to die down before linking a rescue effort to the Kursk, the Navy says, "it can handle the situation without foreign help." A Navy spokesman reports that "Kursk's oxygen is running low."

By Tuesday 9:00 p.m. the first rescue capsule is sent down, but a fierce storm forces abandonment of efforts within an hour. Within a few hours the multiple rescue efforts resume, but to no avail. The Russians declare that the escape hatch is severely damaged and could not be accessed. It is now apparent that time is running out for the imprisoned sailors. President Vladimir Putin, on holiday in southern Russia, describes the situation as "critical."

Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. Russia finally says it will use British aid to rescue the crew and will accept all foreign aid offered. Russia formally asks Britain and Norway for help.

On Thursday the British sub arrives and begins rescue attempts, but again to no avail; they declare that they are in need of help. The Norwegians respond, and on Sunday around 11:00 a.m. the first Norwegian diver goes down to the bottom of the Barents Sea to examine the sub. The divers find signs that some of the 118 crewmen may have tried to get out but were unable to open the escape hatch.

And at this point most of you who are familiar with the story remember the tragic outcome -- nine days after the accident occurred, the Norwegian divers finally opened the escape hatches to find no survivors and the Sub completely flooded.

Russian officials have been widely criticized for the way they handled this crisis, especially for their reluctance to accept outside help in the first hours and days. The Norwegian mission complained of "excessive Russian bureaucracy" (politics) and a Russian politician accused the Northern Fleet of "not properly assessing the disaster." Whatever or whomever is to blame, there is certainly much to be learned from this tragedy.

A PARALLEL OF TRUTHS

Now I would like to discuss with you a dramatic spiritual parallel that I believe the Lord has impressed upon me and has compelled me to share with you. There are some real answers and shiny nuggets of truth in this tragic story of the Russian submarine that directly speak to the perpetual injustice that has continued between the wealthy American Church and the poor, the lost, and the perishing. This Russian sub disaster is a prophetic picture of the church (as Russia) and its faulty and insufficient rescue attempts to save the lives of the poor and the lost (the Kursk Submarine) in our society. The lack of allied effort within the Body of Christ has left many of our rescue attempts feeble and our results often tragic. Just look around you at the center of every city and see the destruction.

As I pondered this tragedy the Lord said to me, "Don't you dare be like the Russians." By God's grace we will not make the same mistake as the Russian's … we are calling for help immediately. We got a lot of people dying down here! (For those who don't know, I lead a "rescue team" -- an inner city ministry called "Provision" -- working in the heart of downtown Nashville, TN.) You see, the inner city, much like the sunken Submarine, is without a radio (a voice), they have a silent cry that few are hearing, and they have no power. They are rapidly running out of air, time and life! The Lord has told me to sound the trumpet! To boldly speak up for the poor and the perishing! "Open your mouth for those who cannot speak for themselves, In the cause of all who are appointed to die. Open your mouth, judge righteously, And plead the cause of the poor and needy." (Prov. 31:8,9)

Before you dismiss this writing as another poor charity work asking for help, I challenge you in the name of Jesus and I appeal to the righteousness in you as Believer in Him, to read on … Because, "The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern."(Prov. 29:7)

THE INNER CITY — THE SUNKEN "SUB" OF OUR SOCIETY!

An overwhelming number of poor, helpless and hopeless people can be found in the center of every American city ... in a "submerged" place that is called the "inner city." It is a sunken place, a whole "sub"culture -- a place plagued with drugs, violence, murders, prostitution, abuse, fatherless children, teen moms and almost completely destroyed family units. It has mostly been an ignored and despised part of town, and yet it is home (or should I say prison) to thousands and thousands of precious lives -- ones for whom Christ died. For too long we as evangelical and charismatic churches have despised the very place and people that desperately need our help most!

For decades now churches have moved out of inner cities to the suburbs and have catered to the rich. We have abandoned the heart of our cities and moved out to greener pastures, and therefore our cities are rotting from the inside out. But the rot of the inside has now come to the outside. For many years multitudes of inner city youth have died and it has hardly caught the attention or care of our society, let alone the church; but now there is a shocked outcry sweeping across the land because the "teen murders" have hit the suburbs! We must remember that what we sow we really do reap.

The God of Justice has declared, "If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered." (Prov. 21:13) Because we have not helped the perishing "Sub"society (the low places), now even the affluent places are falling into the same violence and immorality that in the past primarily plagued inner city communities. The "untouchable" suburbs are becoming fast sinking "Sub"urbs!

The damaged Kursk is a good picture of any inner city neighborhood. Many people are trapped down there who are absolutely destined to die if things are allowed to continue uninterrupted as they are. I see it all the time with my own eyes -- people are literally dying both in the natural and the spiritual. A whole generation of young people is plummeting down a demonic dead-end street. One thing is for certain … if there is not an "all-out rescue effort" to pull them out of their doomed predicament, there will be a tragic loss of multiple lives.

Let this be known to everyone, the vast majority of people in the inner city are trapped ... and they cannot open "the escape hatch" without help from the outside. Stop for a moment, if you will, and think -- how does this make you feel? For too long so many of us have grown cold to the plight of those entombed like the Kursk in the icy water.

SOME REVEALING QUOTES FROM TRAGEDY!

What I hope to do is take a few actual quotes from people's responses to the way things were handled in the Russian crisis and bring a few reflections and interpretations that hopefully will be beneficial in spurring us all on towards our great and noble mission of saving souls!

1. President Vladimir Putin has also been slammed for "inaction" in the first days of the crisis. He made his first comments two days after it happened when he was on holiday.

As the leadership goes, so goes the church! Whether for good or bad -- it's always a leadership issue! God wants to raise up a leadership within his churches that are a people of bold "Jesus action" who are not on "holiday" from their God-given duties.

Like President Putin, we as the American church have been on vacation, "enjoying the pleasures of this world" long enough! And we have been far too slow to respond to the tragedies all around us. We as the church, especially leadership, must not vacate our responsibility to go to the poor and the lost any longer. Believe me, or at least believe the Word, not one of us can afford this holiday! For there will come a day in which "He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.' Then they will go away to eternal punishment" (Mt.25:45,46)

The real reason the church drags its feet when it comes to saving souls is because that is what much of the leadership has done. Sheep follow Shepherds! - There is much talk in the church, but talk is cheap! Anyone can wag the old tongue, but God is tired of the "lip service" and He desires to see "real service." The critical issue here is what leadership models; its priorities, its sense of urgency, its actions are mostly what people follow. Our action (or inaction) always speaks much louder than our words. We as leadership have been found "missing in action!"

Jesus, the ultimate Leader, led people by decisive action and uncompromising truth. Stop and think for just a moment -- where would the Man (Jesus), who was accused of being a "friend of sinners", and of being a "drunkard and a glutton", and who was acquainted with money swindlers and prostitutes be found ministering in our day? By looking at Jesus and His exemplary life we can clearly see what God Himself would do if He walked this earth - which He did! Jesus told us, "if you have seen me you have seen the Father." We can examine how Jesus spent his time and his energy, and we can see the strategy of the ultimate "Fisher of men."

On what side of town do you think Jesus might do most of His fishing? I can guarantee you that the God Man who compassionately touched the despised lepers of his day would be found touching the despised inner city and the broken people of our day. That is where the good Kingdom fishing is! The inner city has been a forsaken place, but it is certainly not a God-forsaken place. Remember Jesus told us how it works, "I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you." (Mt.21:31) and "Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor" ... "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick… For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." (Mt. 9:12,13) "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God." (Luke 6:20) etc. etc.!

2. "This is a complete tragedy,'' said Grigory Avaliani, a port worker. "Help was summoned too late.'' Yekaterina Dyachkova, a retiree, said, "They have killed the boys, that's all… They should have called for help immediately, but they waited for so many days."

What are we waiting for? Our hesitancy (or yours) will do nothing except literally "kill the boys" (and girls) of the young generation. We must do all that we can to heroically save lives; we must work expending all necessary energy and resources while there is still time! Jesus said, "As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work." (Jn.9:4)

If we are not actively saving the lives of others, then we are busy saving our own lives -- and that means we are in danger of losing our own lives. (Mt.10:39)

3. It took four days for Russia to accept aid, but only 36 hours for the Norwegians to enter the submarine.

One thing is for certain, we can only win this war for the salvation of souls as allied forces! There is exponential power and efficiency released when we unite together in our God-given mission. We can continue on in our individual efforts, but we will at best only win a battle and never win the war. There will be no victory over Satan's dark domain without a "joint" effort within the Body of Christ. "From him [Christ] the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work." (Eph.4:16) We desperately need each other! -- as much as a human body needs all its parts!

4. The head of the Norwegian rescue mission, Skorgen, criticized "Russian bureaucracy for holding up decision-making."

When people are dying you have to be able to move quickly! Politics within the church is one of our worst enemies! We have been politically paralyzed by power struggles, competition, jealousy, territorialism, independence and pride slowing our progress and dismantling our most powerful weapon ... unity! When the politics of selfish ambition prevails, we are always defeated from within. Jesus made it real clear: "A house divided against itself cannot stand." (Mk.3:25) Because of our continued division we have been unable to adequately stand against evil in our day and liberate the souls from the clutches of the evil one. Our political kingdom must go in order for His perfect Kingdom to come!

Many lives have needlessly perished for decades while much of the Church, like the Russian authorities, have been hampered by self-centered agendas. We have launched only half-hearted rescue efforts -- which never really work. We cannot change the past, but we can repent of it; and we can certainly change the future!

5. A Russian parliamentary member, Andrey Kokosin, said a delay in asking for outside help stemmed from ''inadequate reporting'' from the very beginning by the Northern Fleet. "It took time to understand the real depths of the problem and the real danger to the lives of the people."

With this article I am hoping to remedy any "inadequate reporting," because we are much like the Northern fleet -- we're daily on the scene of the tragedy. And I will tell you what the situation is -- it is urgent, lives are at stake, we need your help now! We need more workers and more money and better equipment. The harvest is great but the workers are still few! The Russian army is known to be poorly manned, consisting of low morale, and massively under funded. Much of its equipment is inadequate, out of date and in desperate need of repair. This, sadly, is also a picture of many inner city and charity works that are struggling to save lives. This is not right!

6. Natasha Furs, a Russian student says, ''Human life is not worth much here. Look at the history of our country, it is always better for someone to die than a secret to get out.... Our president is responsible for this.''

A disconcerting thought is that this quote, I believe, is applicable to the American church because of our of cold-hearted inaction toward those who are clearly perishing. Let me rewrite it in a way that you will see ... ''Human life is not worth much here (We love things more than we love people -- materialism). Look at the history of our country (church), it is always better for someone to die than a secret to get out (many are dying while we keep the gospel a secret) ... Our president (leadership) is responsible for this.'' Has this not been true of us?

Natasha goes on to say, "The fog that was built up around this tragedy must be dissolved ... Society should know the answer to the one question that still stands before people: was everything done to save people?"

I believe we will all stand before the Lord Jesus himself some day and He will ask us this same question -- and we will all have to answer for ourselves... "Was everything done to save people?" Jesus came to "seek and save the lost" and we, his disciples, are sent into the world in the very same way he was sent. What kind of job are we really doing?

7. There is one incident that was viewed on international television that must be mentioned before I conclude. In a gathering of Russian officials, the relatives of the submerged sailors and the media, an amazingly shocking thing occurred that was broadcast on evening news and witnessed by the world. One woman, who was obviously a close relative or wife of one of the trapped sailors, was raising her voice and emphatically demanding answers and action. Then suddenly she was surrounded by a group of Russian officials, one of them moving in with a syringe in hand. The next thing observed was the person with the syringe going behind the yelling woman and several men gathering to catch her as she fell over -- she was obviously tranquilized by means of the syringe. They carried her from the room. There would be no more embarrassing questions or disruptions from her.

This is another picture of what has been happening in our American church far too long. There are some who see the danger, who see the urgency that things have to change dramatically in the church if we're going to save lives as we are commissioned and commanded to do. These are ones who are willing to speak up on behalf of people who are perishing, and demand action and answers for why we have fallen into such casual indifference and sluggish complacency regarding the salvation of the dying. They are not afraid to rock the boat. But tragically, instead of being heard, they have frequently been tranquilized and silenced by the powers that be.

Much of the church, I believe, has also been tranquilized and numbed by the deceitfulness of riches and pleasures. We have been lulled into a sluggish and selfish apathy that values things more than people. We will exert hours and energy to make money to live the American dream, to keep the god of materialism and wealth. It is apparent that the love of many has grown cold. Look at the inner core of every American City and see the evidence.

But the Lord spoke to me that He is raising up a people who will not be tranquilized or muzzled any longer because they will be inoculated against this cold-hearted, complacent, greed-smothered spirit. The way to be inoculated is by consistently digesting the word of God (the truth) and then immediately acting upon it.

8. We must say as commander Finny (sounding much like the great evangelist Charles Finny) of the British rescue team so rightly declared, "It was always going to be a challenge but as far as we are concerned we are still engaged in a rescue mission. We continue to maintain hope and we will do everything we can." The inner city challenge can seem to be an overwhelming challenge, but this is exactly what we as Christians are made for -- to face the challenge and "to preach the good news to the poor." And the good news is that no matter how many odds are stacked up against us, "we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us!" Through Christ we really can storm the gates of hell and we can set the captives free!

God is raising up heroes in this day. Authentic Christian faith is a heroic faith! A hero is one who risks his life to save another's. As Christians we are not only called to risk our lives for others, but to literally lay down our lives in order to save our perishing fellow man. This is the kind of rescue team God is looking for.

Each and every one of us who are in Jesus are commissioned to save souls at whatever cost. "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence." (1 Jn. 3:16-19)

It usually takes an emergency to create a sense of urgency! One major thing that we can learn from the Russian sub tragedy is that when people are really dying, all efforts and resources should be focused on saving those lives. When people are dying, those who are at the rescue scene, if they really care about the victims, become troublesomely urgent until they get the kind help they need. That is our duty as followers of Jesus Christ -- to make every effort to save lives for eternity through the Good News of Jesus Christ!

WHERE ARE THE HEROES TODAY?

God is looking for heroic faith-filled "life savers" to arise in our generation -- those who have a burning zeal to see people saved. They will quickly go out and aggressively snatch souls from the fires of eternal damnation because God is willing that no one should perish. They will bring in the poor and lost on the highways and byways of our culture. These are ones who will not pass by a brother lying wounded in the gutter, as did the religious leaders in the Good Samaritan story. These are peculiar people who have successfully dodged the lures and broken off the chains of our greed-saturated, self-indulgent society. They are consumed with love, the self-sacrificing love of Jesus. God will raise up a people who see others as God does -- who see the infinite value of one lost soul. He is also raising up a people who will joyfully pour out extravagant resources to support the divine rescue efforts of saving souls. They will not love their lives so much as to shrink back from death.

The Lord will soon be sending out numerous Holy Spirit empowered "rescue teams". Many of them will be young people who will boldly go to the "sunken places" and there hold out The Word of Life. They will selflessly unite with other teams and together open the escape hatches that are holding the prisoners in the vice of death.

The gospel of Jesus Christ will be again be boldly heralded across this great land, starting in gutters and ghettos. From the inner city and low places will come a great harvest and the fire of a radical Jesus Revolution that will spread to the outside of our cities! Jesus said, "First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean." (Mt. 23:26) This is a picture of what God wants to do in us as individuals and as cites - clean us from the inside out!

On behalf of all the Churches, inner city rescue missions, front-line ministries and all who are laying down their lives to save the lives of the poor and lost and the destitute, I say ... "May Day! May Day! We've got boys, girls, single moms, widows and men dying down here! They're running out of time. It is urgent! For GOD'S SAKE, PLEASE HELP!"