The parallels between our present times and the ''last days'' make sober reading, writes Ivan Grindlay.
If there ever was a build-up to an election that was a vexation of spirit, it is that which carries us along at present! It is more akin to a game called ''Find the flaw''.
We are very adept at exposing the sins of others, being only too aware of those flaws in ourselves.
Sharing guilt always makes us feel better, but it doesn't address the problem - it only confirms it.
Setting ourselves up as judge and jury, at the cost of another, has the effect of amplifying what the Bible has already made clear - that we are sinful by nature (Romans 3:23) ... and we are experts at that which we do naturally, and well.
At the heart of human sinfulness is the denial of God, and our innate capacity to elevate ourselves in His place.
That was the devil's mistake, as it was Eve's when she exercised her God-given right to make up her own mind.
It was the flaw in the thinking of those who conceived Babel - ''make a name for ourselves''. But denying our accountability doesn't make God go away.
It only increases our guilt and indebtedness - a debt that one day soon the judge of all the Earth will call in.
We vote for our politicians, naively thinking they will fix the ailments of society. Then we sit back and hope for some sort of utopia that fits ''the gospel according to me''.
They tinker with our laws only to find our capacity to break or circumvent them is greater.
As fast as we create laws to make society better, we find the system leaks elsewhere. ''When will we ever learn? When will we e-ver learn?''
We allow rich criminals to immigrate in the hope they will contribute to our political cause or improve our economy. Where did that warped thinking come from?
But then we scurry for cover when we discover their capacity to make money at other's expense comes home to roost.
We espouse the benefits of ultra-fast broadband which spawns a social media that has become an albatross - a rod for our own backs that only amplifies the very worst in our psyche.
We spread innuendo, wound with intent, provoke anger and foster hatred that eventually becomes generational and blinds us to anything that is positive.
It has little to do with morality, education, the environment, law and order, or social justice.
We have undermined the family, disempowered parents, sanctioned unnatural relationships, demeaned the fairer sex, unionised education at the cost of the student, opened our borders to undesirables, treated the voter with contempt and produced a political system that spawns unholy alliances just to score a point against the powers that be.
How short-sighted have we become? Actually, it is a generic condition called blindness - having eyes that cannot see.
It is warped thinking that produces unelected list MPs who push unwanted policies behind closed doors which confuse the real issues to the point where we say ''good is bad and bad is good''.
Long ago, God warned an idolatrous and rebellious nation which was rejecting Him as its king what the implications would be (1 Samuel 8:4-21).
They wanted a leader like the nations around them. In our superior wisdom we are repeating history, gloating over our originality.
We reap the fruit of politics that pursues ''what is right in our own eyes''.
When we vote only for what we get out of it, we are reaching the point where we are beyond help. We will reap politicians who are not leaders at all, but pawns in a chaotic constituency.
Actually, they can listen to what voters want, but since the people can never agree, politicians rule over the lowest common denominator and bedlam reigns.
God ... defend New Zealand! Occasionally, we are blessed by an honourable member of Parliament who shows a capacity to rise above the gutter politics we have created with MMP - that scramble to get a foot in Parliament and participate in the indecision of fractious alliances.
If we do manage to elect one or two to ''grace'' the chamber with some dignity and integrity, we immediately set about to reduce their standing and oversee their demise.
We just can't tolerate a higher standard of conduct that highlights the corruption of the rest.
There have been some low points in recent weeks that bring despair of where we (who were once a God-fearing nation) are heading.
The Bible graphically spells out the nature of godlessness in the last days (2 Timothy 3:1-5) and the parallels make sober reading. (cf. Jeremiah 17:9-10).
Consider your ways and return to the Lord, your maker, who has your best interests at heart? (Isaiah 55:6-8)
-Ivan Grindlay is an elder at Caversham Community Church
