Growing up, I regularly watched shows from the 1940s and 1950s known as the Golden Age of Television.
A show which glued me to the screen was “The Twilight Zone”, the brainchild of the legendary storyteller, the late Rod Serling. From its first episode in 1959 to its finale in 1964, Serling employed fantasy and science fiction as vehicles for social commentary to go around studio executives’ penchant for escapist programming.
One of the best installments of the series is from its third season entitled “Four ‘O Clock.” It centers on Oliver Crangle, an introverted, middle-aged man consumed by his obsession to rid the world of evil people. He subscribes to and promotes conspiracy theories so wild and outlandish, he gets a visit from the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI).
Crangle keeps meticulous files on his targets and concocts strategies for their demise. After a moment of “revelation”, he declares at four o’clock that afternoon, every wrongdoer will shrink to two feet tall. Will Crangle see his prophecy come to pass? I’ll chime in later with what happens (spoilers ahead).
In Crangle’s worldview, everyone is corrupt except himself. I propose within us all lives an Oliver Crangle. We vilify others for their mistakes and excuse ourselves. Jesus compares it to “straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel (Matthew 23:24).”
Within Christian circles, often heard is a broad rallying cry for revival, specifically, spiritual revival. Revival is defined as the act or an instance of bringing something back to life, public attention, or vigorous activity. Revival can only occur where there was once life.
When coming to Jesus, we become truly alive. We now have a spiritual connection with God. The Apostle Paul writes in Romans 8:2 says, “And because you belong to Him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.” Verse 16 of the same chapter states, “For His Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children.”
As a consequence of our bond with Christ, we’re now capable of fulfilling His purpose. Paul pens in Ephesians 3:16 “from His glorious, unlimited resources He will empower you with inner strength through His Spirit.”
Oddly enough, we — the church — expect righteous behavior from those who don’t share a bond with the Lord. A verse frequently leveled toward the world is 2 Chronicles 7:14, “Then if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.” However, God is more precise about where revival must occur. It’s among His people.
When the world sees us — the members of the body of Christ — absorbed with the gain, wielding, and retention of power at any cost, there’s a need for revival. When they see us look to people instead of God for deliverance, there’s a need for revival. When Christian brothers and sisters talk to each other with the goal of humiliation and condescension instead of connection and redemption, there’s a need for revival.
As I promised, it’s time to revive Oliver Crangle’s story. The moment of reckoning finally arrives. It’s 4 p.m. He shouts to his parakeet, “You hear that, Pete? It’s finally happening! It’s happening right now! Everyone, all the evil ones, they’re all turning into tiny little gnomes! Certainly, Peter, this is kind of a celebration!” But Crangle’s bask in the revelry of sweeping judgement is short-lived because he himself shrunk.
Serling narrated the beginning and end of every episode. Here he concludes about Oliver Crangle, “At four o’clock, an evil man made his bed and lay in it. A pot called a kettle black. A stone-thrower broke the windows of his glasshouse. You look for this one under ‘F’ for fanatic and ‘J’ for justice in the Twilight Zone.”
My spiritual father said those who point the finger at other people have four fingers pointing back at them. Therefore, a constant request I make of God is from Psalms 139:24-24, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends You, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.”
No matter how strong our desire is for righteousness in our nation, we can’t force others to change. We can serve as mere planters of the seed that change is possible because of Christ. The Apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 3:7, “It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow.”
The time for us to change, the time for me to change is right now.
