God's Cure for the Post-Christian Syndrome

By James Tarter

A Christianity with little of Christ for generations causes a nation to become like Judah in Malachi of the Bible. This includes the U.S. Many people here have hearts hardened against the true God and His words to us. Malachi shows that God is preparing His faithful people, so that at the right time He will release them mightily as He did Jesus in Judea. This will heal the hardened hearts of many people who have not yet really tasted God's goodness in Jesus. God has made a way in Christ to rescue the U.S. from heading toward certain destruction into becoming Jesus’ national disciple. For the U.S. or other nation that is like Judah, Malachi helps us to see God’s work in His people while the nation keeps corrupting itself. Then God’s sudden release of His prepared people with great power and healing changes everything! (A note: readers not in the U.S. might prefer the book with the same title and a subtitle “Western Europe”).

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Apr 11, 2011
• ISBN: 9781257549924

Book preview

God's Cure for the Post-Christian Syndrome

God’s Cure for the Post-Christian Syndrome

Insights from Malachi into Its Cause and Cure

Dr. James M. Tarter

Copyright Page

23rd Edition

ISBN 978-1-257-54992-4

Copyright 2009, 2018 by James M. Tarter.  All rights reserved.  Permission granted to make copies for purposes consistent with furthering the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God.

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE® (1995 Updated Edition): 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation.  Used by permission.  (www.Lockman.org)

I call the New American Standard Bible the NAS.  I add boldface or underline to specific words and phrases in Scriptures to add my emphasis for discussion.

Introduction: Our National Wilderness and God’s Cure

In the Bible Malachi shows the spiritual wilderness found in a land like the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, or in Western Europe in especially the past few decades.  The healthiest part of each nation’s foundation is broken, which leaves the land moving into an awful curse that cannot be avoided by natural means or strength.

Malachi shows how the wilderness was produced and reveals that God is preparing its cure, which comes through believers in Jesus who continue to let God prepare them in their dry land.  We shall see how God inspired Malachi to speak to his situation so that God says exactly what He wants to say to believers in these nations today.

Any of these nations is often called Post-Christian because its popular culture strongly rejects Christianity now after being open to it for generations.  Most of these nations formed a state Church (Apx. 6), which caused Mal. 1-3 differently from what Chapters 1-2 show for the U.S. (a West European version of this book is also at Lulu).  I use the U.S. to illustrate points in Malachi – often calling it our land or our nation.  A believer in another nation to which Malachi applies (a land of Malachi) can easily find illustrations for that land.

The spiritually barren wilderness in a land can aptly be called a syndrome: a group of symptoms of an illness with a poorly seen cause.  We first observe symptoms of this wilderness.  Then we can appreciate God’s revelation of its cause and His cure through His people.  Believers in these lands can be awed by the enormity of our problem, but also greatly encouraged by seeing more truth: God is preparing believers who continue with Him to provide a great cure for the land – even helping it to join itself to Jesus as His national disciple.

The 5 chapters about Malachi form this book, and a reader can conveniently add any appendix for its relevant insights.

Chapter 1: Prosperity, But a Wilderness

Each nation’s economy has had ups and downs, but compared to all nations at all times, people in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Western Europe have lived in great prosperity since shortly after World War II.  Advances in research and communication have allowed an explosive access to information.  This has produced advances in technology, transportation, and material prosperity that go far beyond any standard in past generations.  Extremely rich people of 100 years ago could not buy the entertainment that is continually available to most people in these nations today.

Despite all this, it is hard to live well in these nations.  Widespread treacherous betrayal and a loss of unselfish love cause a great lack of peace and joy.  Widespread self-seeking causes many to feel unloved.  More lying with less integrity and character produce bad fruit and crime with its afflictions.  All of these factors create the conditions of a barren wilderness in the midst of great prosperity.

This book will show the causes and God’s cure for this wilderness in especially the U.S. (which I call we, us, or our).  A similar book subtitled Western Europe shows one different cause for most other lands of Malachi.  Apx. 6 in your book shows the gist of that cause.

The Widespread Treachery in the U.S. and Mal. 2:10-16

In the U.S., people increasingly respond to appearance instead of truth.  What is a major cause?  Hollywood, TV, or media thrive on appearance.  There the ability to act – to appear different from who he or she is – is a great virtue and the means to success.  The reasonable features of the Hollywood culture are evident in the whole population and our politics: judging by appearance more than by integrity or truth; forming opinions about government decisions like products in advertisements (deciding by a slogan, jingle, pleasing association, or repetition instead of a deeper examination); impulsiveness and short-term vision and values over long-term ones; much unfaithfulness and divorce with self-seeking treachery; and other features of the treacherous culture that is produced by valuing good acting and appearance over truth.  Too many are led by good actors.

Consider further the frequent treachery, which specifically means appearing good or faithful, but ready to fail or betray by nature, deceit, or disguise. To betray or break a commitment in order to provide better for oneself is treachery.  Self-seeking treachery causes divorce to be common.  Widespread unfaithfulness in marriage with or without a divorce shows that treachery is a major national problem.  This is so common in the U.S. now that many ignore getting that commitment.

Many people work by self-seeking treachery, and some bring it into the Church, which should handle it with the grace, truth, and power in Christ.  But too many congregations and ministries have lost their purpose in God by members using treachery to get what they want.

The widespread treachery does not stop with being against mere people.  Many also treat God treacherously as they cover self-seeking actions with His name – deceiving themselves and not God.

Malachi, the final book in the Minor Prophets and Old Testament of the Christian Bible, specifies the treachery in a spiritual wilderness:

Do we not all have one father? Has not one God created us?  Why do we deal treacherously each against his brother so as to profane the covenant of our fathers? [In a covenant all call on God to judge their faithfulness to their commitment] (Mal. 2:10)

Malachi spoke to Judah, the nation descended from Jacob.  But God inspired Malachi’s words so that God could also speak to people and situations that Malachi did not know.  We shall see abundant evidence in this book that they include believers in the U.S. and a few other nations today – lands of Malachi (I identify nearly all as Chapter 1 begins).  In applying Mal. 2:10 today, notice that Judah’s citizens were either direct or adopted descendants of Jacob: v. 10 was treachery against fellow citizens.  This application to all in a whole nation is reinforced by a second question that fits any nation: "Has not one God created us?"

Mal. 2:10 also describes treachery within the Church.  All who are in Christ are brothers and sisters: we have one Father – God – and we have a covenant by Jesus’ blood shed to forgive our sins.  Treacherous dealing with a brother or sister in Christ would profane our covenant.

V. 11 describes Judah’s treachery against God and His Church:

Judah has dealt treacherously, and an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the Lord which He loves and has married the daughter of a foreign god.  (Mal. 2:11)

Judah again is an example for a nation today with its Church, God’s sanctuary that He loves. Judah’s treachery profaned His sanctuary and affronted Him, and we shall see how treachery in the Church profanes it, affronts Him, and harms any land of Malachi today.

Mal. 2:14-16 describes the treachery that leads to increased divorce and wrong in marriage (this feature in the U.S. now was indicated earlier):

…the Lord has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant….Take heed then to your spirit, and let no one deal treacherously against the wife of your youth.  "For I hate divorce, says the Lord, the God of Israel, and him who covers his garment with wrong [sinful violence or abuse], says the Lord of hosts.  So take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously."  (Mal. 2:14-16)

What causes so much treachery?  Remember its meaning: to appear good or faithful, but ready to fail or betray by nature or deceit.  Treachery is a natural result of being unaware of God: forgetting, ignoring, or not knowing that He will hold all people accountable for all they do.  Then they create appearances to deceive others, thinking, If I can fool mere people, then I can get away with this.  In their hearts they think that if they can get people to think they are OK, then they will be OK.  If people are increasingly unaware of God’s full knowledge and eventual total justice to everyone, then treachery increases greatly: self-seeking people make sure that they appear to be good, faithful, and reliable, but really are unreliable and ready to betray.

Ignorantly Attacking God’s Justice from a Spiritual Hardness

Mal. 2:17 shows the widespread spiritual hardness in the U.S. now:

You have wearied the Lord with your words.  Yet you say, "How have we wearied Him?"  In that