The devastating dust storms of the Dust Bowl era of U.S. history were caused, in large part, by the mechanized plowing of vast ranges of prairie grass on semi-arid land in the Midwest. That region experienced above-average rainfall in the 1920s and thus bumper crops of wheat, which led to even more plowing. But the 1930s brought below-average rainfall and the expansion of the Depression. The stock market crash eventually affected farmers in plummeting wheat prices. Their response was to increase plowing and production to try to make up the loss, but that strategy only resulted in the collapse of prices and in large piles of wheat sitting in fields to rot.

A failure to understand and respond to the big picture brought catastrophe and misery and bankruptcy and death.

This week the city council in Pittsburgh, Pa., is entertaining a bill brought by one of its members that no city contract be awarded to a company that does not give benefits to same-sex couples. Such measures are not limited to governments. Google will no longer give employee matching grants to any organization that does not endorse same-sex marriage policies. The Christian school of which I’m a board member, for example, is no longer eligible to receive the grants that it has received for a number of years. Application of biblical doctrine is now considered a violation of civil rights.

This is the tip of a very large iceberg. Perhaps we have built spacious igloos on the iceberg tip and have carved out a beautiful life for ourselves, all the while ignorant of and unprepared for the catastrophe that lurks just below the water. Are we as congregations and RP denominations also missing a big picture as we plot our five-year plans for outreach and growth and financial stability? Do our plans assume no increase in persecution, no government restrictions on our preaching, no decrease in the tax advantages that churches enjoy? I would submit that a plan that doesn’t at least consider such possibilities is a Dust Bowl scenario.

There are answers to these challenges. And the gospel marches on, worldwide, despite threats and persecution. But we, as stewards, are to understand the times and make wise use of our resources and our days. We are to consider future generations.

Very practically speaking, that’s one reason I support strengthening ties with denominations around the world who uphold strong Reformed doctrine as we do. I have no big concern or interest in merging lots of denominations. But I believe that in times of persecution we will need our friends that we have thus far been able to take for granted. And they will need us.