Articles
Unheeded Warnings
In a recent TED talk a speaker bemoaned the fact that humans have a pretty dismal track record of ignoring warnings while there is still time to avert disaster. His main topic was the U.S. power grid and how it can easily be compromised. He said that preventative solutions are available and affordable and wondered why, given the horrendous consequences of a prolonged national power outage, officials have been reluctant to heed such warnings and implement changes before a crisis hits.
He makes a valid point, not about the power grid (although he may be right on that ), but about human nature. Scripture catalogs multiple examples of this phenomenon. How often did God warn mankind in general, specifically Israel, only to be ignored? Eden, the flood, Pharaoh, Achan, Balaam, prosperity in Canaan, the destructiveness of idolatry, the pitfalls of having a king, the folly of international alliances, the expulsion of Israel/ Judah from their homeland – just to name a few.
But the deeper question here is, why? Why do we ignore timely, sensible, well-founded warnings to change course, protect ourselves, make a backup plan or, failing all those, just run for cover? What is it that keeps us on the path of destruction instead of proactively making contingency plans?
Other warnings didn’t pan out. Weather forecasters face this skepticism when hurricanes approach. Perhaps they have previously exaggerated threats of widespread destruction only to have a hurricane change course, or peter out or fail to deliver the wallop they warned about. Thus the populace becomes jaded and cavalier with the next potentially deadly hurricane.
In the past God has issued general warnings but graciously given people time to amend their lives. Instead of doing so, the people just accused God of indifference and denied the warnings even when they became more specific and imminent. Thus Jeremiah complained to God: “Indeed they say to me, ‘Where is the word of the Lord? Let it come now!’” (17:15). Amos cites repeated lesser warnings sent to Israel – famine, drought, disease and war – each followed by the refrain, “‘Yet you have not returned to Me,’ says the Lord” (4:6-11). This is followed by words of impending doom: “‘Therefore thus will I do to you, O Israel; and because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel!’” (4:12). We can turn a deaf ear to God for only so long, but eventually He will drop the hammer.
We don’t want to believe the worst will happen. Again, the leaders of Judah were incensed when Jeremiah openly prophesied the nation’s downfall: “‘Why have you prophesied in the name of the Lord, saying, “This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate, without an inhabitant?”’ And all the people were gathered together against Jeremiah in the house of the Lord” (Jer 26:9). Even after Judah had begun to fall to the Babylonians and captives were taken, the message of the prophets was denied: “Son of man, look, the house of Israel is saying, ‘The vision that he sees is for many days from now, and he prophesies of times far off’” (Ezk 12:27).
The comforts of the present insulate us from the possibility of disaster. We ignore the warnings because we don’t want to believe that we will ever sail into dire straits. Speaking of sailing …
Overconfidence in our ability to avert disaster. The wreckage of the Titanic lies scattered 12,500 feet deep at the bottom of the North Atlantic. 125 tons of scrap from the space shuttle Challenger are buried in a missile silo at Cape Canaveral. What do these tragedies have in common? Disaster befell both because of overconfidence leading to unheeded warnings. Ironically, both related to the hazards of cold weather.
Past successes may convince us that no situation will arise that we cannot handle. Such arrogance ignores reality. We are not the masters of our own destiny; we are not as smart, resilient, resourceful and creative as we imagine ourselves to be. Every year people die at sea, on mountains, in hang gliders, on hikes, while taking selfies … all because they have ignored warnings and foolishly forged ahead anyway.
“Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor 10:12). That is not said about avoiding accidents; it was a warning to the Corinthians about their dalliance with idolatry. They were in danger of making the same mistake that Israel repeatedly made throughout history: thinking they could associate with idolaters and not be lured in by them. So it is with sin in general. We overestimate our spiritual strength, let down our guard and place ourselves in danger all the while thinking, “I can handle it.” And then we plow into the iceberg.
We are blinded by conflicting desires. Wisdom warns the would-be adulterer that his passions will bring him to grief: “Can a man take fire to his bosom, and his clothes not be burned? … Whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding; he who does so destroys his own soul. Wounds and dishonor he will get, and his reproach will not be wiped away. For jealousy is a husband’s fury … he will not spare him in the day of vengeance … Say to wisdom, ‘You are my sister,’ and call understanding your nearest kin, that they may keep you from the … seductress who flatters with her words” (Pr 6:27, 32-34; 7:4-5).
How often in history are these warnings proven valid, yet married men (and women) continually fail to heed them and pay the price. Just this week an online article documented the adultery of the wife of baseball star Ben Zobrist with her church pastor. All of the tawdry details are out there for the world to see, and Zobrist is suing the pastor for $6 million.
We listen to those who tells us what we want to hear. When the news is bad or the warning is unpleasant, it is tempting to just ignore it and listen to those we agree with: Ahab listened to false prophets instead of Michaiah (2 Chr 18); Judah listened to Hananiah and other false prophets instead of Jeremiah (Jer 28; cf. Jer 23); the centurion listened to the helmsman and ship’s owner instead of Paul (Ac 27:9-11). But if warnings have validity, it is foolish and irresponsible to ignore them and listen to false narratives in the hope that the day of reckoning will never come.
The evidence is abundant; the warnings are clear for all to see. Now, do we have the good sense and self-control to listen?
