A massive gathering on the final day of worship and prayer, preaching the gospel with healing, and a commissioning to send thousands of youth to carry the gospel and complete the Great Commission!
Our Evolution?
A very different event is planned on the Mall afterward. This one features the installation of a 45-foot statue of a nude woman (see United Press International). The organizers are raising $90,000 to transport and erect the statue, where it will stand near the Washington Monument, lit up at night in lavender lights for four months. Ostensibly, the sculptor wanted to make a statement about the abused status of women, showing how a woman feeling completely safe would look. Its placement facing the White House, though, gives it a not-so-subtle political message.
The statue was first installed at the Burning Man Festival in the Nevada desert, an annual orgy of radical self-expression where people wear outlandish costumes (or nothing at all), in unrestrained activities often with pagan overtones. What’s most telling about the occasion, though, is not just the nudity of the art (since nude statues are not that uncommon in city parks and art galleries, even around Washington). Some who honor the Bible might, after all, celebrate the intelligent design of God’s creation of the human form in a manner reminiscent of Eden. The statue shows the woman just standing – nothing more. In those respects they might tolerate the event in spite of its in-your-face, larger-than-life dominance of this national public space.
No, what is most telling about the project is the name the artist gave to it: R-EVOLUTION. This can be read as either ‘Revolution’ or ‘Our Evolution’ in contrast to the “re-” words in the Christian event (repentance, revival, renewal). The Catharsis on the Mall project page makes it very clear that the organizers are cultural radicals who want a revolution for evolution:
In bringing R-Evolution to the National Mall, Catharsis organizers hope to inspire dialogue among women, and people, of all bodies, ages, races, religions, genders, abilities, and sexual orientations about the role of art and community in nurturing the heart and healing, and in turn creating lasting social change.
It’s difficult to see, though, how this artistic statement will help women by saying that they don’t exist. For explanation, see essay by Dr Everett Piper, president of Oklahoma Wesleyan University.
As it was in the days of Elijah, so it is now. We have God-fearing people on one side, and Baal worshipers on the other. God-fearing people humble themselves in obedience to their Creator, but Baal-worshipers follow after their own lusts. Today, Baal is known by the name Darwin. How long will you halt between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him. If Darwin is god, follow him (I Kings 18). Just don’t be lukewarm about your commitment (Revelation 3:14-20).
