The Legacy of 9/11

September 11, 2001 has forever been etched into the consciousness of the American mind. Nearly everyone alive at that time recalls where they were and what they were doing when the twin towers of the World Trade Center were attacked.

It was a very typical day at the office for me. We get breaking news reports via email at our office and one of my co-workers interrupted my concentration by announcing, "The news says that an airplane just hit one of the World Trade Center towers." Just that week there had been a story of a man in a hang glider that had gotten stuck and was hanging suspended from a skyscraper in Florida.

"That's a hoax," I announced. "That's typical of news networks. They like to be the first with a breaking story. They'll recall the story in a few minutes. It's definitely not an airplane. Air traffic controllers would never allow a private pilot to be flying that close to downtown New York City, and the commercial airliners know better."

After what seemed like just a few moments they announced again, "A second aircraft has his the other WTC tower." At that point we were all out of our seats clamoring to turn on the office television set. We sat glued to the set, realizing that this nation, and the rest of the civilized world, would never be the same.

I believe that 9/11 has provided a sociological turning point into a new era. It was, in my opinion, the beginning of post-Postmodernism. While I don't have space in this posting to discuss all that entails, I believe that we are on track towards the next natural and logical succession to a Postmodern culture. When a civilization is embodied by relativism and hedonism, history tells us that it falls apart from within. Francis Schaeffer told us that there are only two things that can keep a nation from sliding into the abyss of pleasure:

1. The gospel of Jesus Christ as preached by the true confessing church. The gospel exerts its restraining influence by means of the Holy Spirit working in someone's heart to convict them of sin, empowering them to live righteously. (i.e. Self-Government)

2. The arm of a totalitarian state. We can experience the assault of totalitarianism from within or the invasion of our nation from without. Neither one is very desirable.

We can be part of the solution by believing, living and proclaiming the unchanging truth of the gospel. As Schaeffer said in his excellent book, The Great Evangelical Disaster, "There must be confrontation. Loving confrontation, but confrontation nonetheless."