In the old days – about which I have firsthand experience! – the seasons were in sync with the school calendar. Classes reconvened the day after Labor Day; they ended at/about Flag Day. Summer was the period in-between. Summer was the calendar zone for family vacations and a daytrip to the state or county fair. Funnel cakes and 4-H animal auctions brought the community together. Last week, the opposite happened on the last day of the Wisconsin State Fair…

            As Townhall reported on Tuesday: “Chaos erupted on the last night of the Wisconsin State Fair, after mobs attempted to storm the fences, overwhelmed the park’s midway, started multiple fights, and assaulted police officers. The problems spilled into the surrounding neighborhood, too, where at least one person was shot.” What happened to the ferris wheel and caramel corn?

            Here’s a short primer on the erosion that is underway around us.

            Law is a system of rules created and enforced by a government or community to control human behavior, keep order, and settle disputes.

            Lawless means being without rules, not controlled by laws, or acting against the law. It describes a place with no order or people who break rules and do not obey authority.

            Lawlessness is a state or condition of being without laws, or a general disregard and defiance of established laws and authority. It describes a society, place, or behavior plagued by crime, disorder, and a lack of control or restraint by law enforcement.

            In the Bible, lawlessness – often translated as iniquity or transgression – means “living in active rebellion against God’s moral authority and divine commands.” It is defined directly in 1 John 3:4 as sin itself: “Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.” Rather than just breaking a rule, it is a deliberate rejection of God as the ultimate ruler.

            There is a contrast between statistics and polls. Statistics are cognitive; polls are emotive. It’s the contrast between “trust the data” and “trust your gut.”

            Today, the conditions that fertilize the weeds of lawlessness are widely held: declining confidence in government; distrust of elections; hostility toward police or prosecutors; illegal immigration; political intimidation; protests that become violent; threats against public officials; selective enforcement of laws; contempt for court decisions; citizens believing that politically connected people are treated differently; political opponents describing one another as illegitimate.

            It’s one thing to see lawlessness producing youthful rioting at the state fair; it’s even more troubling when it becomes a mobilizing cry for political candidates and party platforms that are gaining traction amidst the emerging generations.

            There is a powerful demonstration of spiritual darkness that underlies these frightening trends. Paul wrote about today’s headlines, 2000 years ago: “For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness” (2 Thessalonians 2:7-12).

            If you’re looking for indications that we may be experiencing the Last Days that will precede the Second Coming, you need look no further than today’s headlines.

 — Bob Shank