What's the world coming to???

 

“Things fall apart; The center cannot hold;

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.” William Butler Yeats

 

  There’s a difference between being educated and inundated. There’s a difference between being informed and intimidated. Because much of the news today conflicts with a biblical worldview, personally, I think that we are wise to limit our news and media intake. 

  This may surprise you, but I even limit my intake of Christian media. Too many Christian television and radio shows, blogs, and podcasts perpetuate a gloom and doom, “What’s the world coming to?” attitude.

  Not only do they paint a bleak picture of our world, but they’re “Debbie Downers” or perhaps Christianized “Karens.” They stand on soapboxes to announce to all who will listen how bad it is and it’s getting worse.  Well, “Duh!” Isn’t that what Scripture prophesied? Isn’t that what we find in Matthew 24, 2 Timothy 3, and the book of Revelation? I’ve found that two things are typically true of these prophets of doom and gloom. 

  They’ve idealized the past. They tip their hand with phrases like, “when I was growing up” or “in the good old days.” But you can’t go back far enough to find those “good old days,” unless you go all the way back to the Garden of Eden. Though it may have been in a more infantile form, the same evil we face today was there then. Jews in Germany during the mid-1900s didn’t think that those were the “good days.” Ecclesiastes 7:10 warns us, “Say not, ‘Why were the former days better than these?’” 

  They’ve idolized politics. On September 30, 1938, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain returned from meeting with Hitler and declared to the world, “Peace for our time” and then the Nazis goose-stepped over Europe. History was repeating itself. Sixty years earlier another Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli, upon returning from the Congress of Berlin stated, “I have returned from Germany with peace for our time.” It was the beginning of the end for Russia, followed by World War I. 

  During my lifetime leaders have declared war on poverty, drugs, terrorism, etc., and we haven’t won a single one. It’s foolish to place our hope in politics or government. The Jews made that blunder prior to the exile before the Babylonian invasion. They looked to Egypt to rescue them. 

  As Christians, our hope is not in this world. We’re not to be handwringers or just survive. God has called us to thrive even in a morally decaying world. This isn’t thriving in temporal world values. It’s so much better and greater! God empowers us to thrive in the spiritual and eternal. All that this world considers thriving will be gone in 100 years, if not less. We thrive not because we have it so good but because our God is so awesome! 

  Jesus isn’t wringing His hands about what’s happening at the United Nations or D.C., or the debauchery of Hollywood. He will build His church and absolutely nothing can stop Him. We’re to live for something that matters, that has eternal significance. It begins with an attitude: Are we going to interpret and respond to our current circumstances through the lens of faith or are we going to interpret our God through the lens of our current reality?   What will it take for us to thrive? 

  Knowing and Obeying God’s Word. The Bible prepares us for this spiritual onslaught but you have to know the strategy. In the middle of a firefight, there’s no time for hesitation or discussion. The time for preparation is today so that we’re prepared for whatever comes tomorrow…and it will come. Obedience doesn’t come naturally though. It must be learned. It’s learned as we dig in deep into Scripture. We prepare for whatever may come tomorrow by being people of the Word today! 

  An Eternal Perspective. Without perspective, things are blown out of proportion. We catastrophize. Any encroachment on privilege becomes persecution. Opposition becomes hatred. Political setbacks become a cause for anguish and despair. In short, we evaluate and extrapolate without putting God into the equation. Seeing life from God’s perspective changes everything. Marines who retire and enter the workforce seldom complain about office politics, workplace inequities, or the things that send others for a loop. They’ve developed a bigger perspective. 

  Endurance. You will never thrive without it. You’ll miss out on God’s rewards if you lack staying power. Scripture continually admonishes us to stick to the stuff, to not throw in the towel when stressed or pushed to the limits (James 1:12). The ones who cross the finish line win, not the ones who bailed and quit halfway. 

  Confidence and Courage. “The righteous are as bold as a lion” (Proverbs 28:1). The dictionary defines courage as “the ability to face and deal with a dangerous or difficult situation.” One of my favorite quotes is that “Courage is fear that has said its prayers.” Or as, General George Patton defined it, “Courage is fear that holds on for one more minute.” 

  Confidence and courage that comes from God is what we need for the trials of this life. It’s the needed power for a family dealing with terminal cancer, or a single parent, struggling to raise their family. It’s the needed power for a widow or widower facing the last years of life without a beloved spouse. It’s the needed power for a child of divorce, struggling to win over doubt, anger and feelings of rejection. It’s the needed power for someone who moves into a high crime, urban area to be light in a dark place. It’s the needed power for an employee who sees evil, greed or corruption, and has the courage to blow the whistle. It’s the needed power for the student who’s unintimidated and asks questions from a biblical worldview when Scripture is being ridiculed in the classroom. 

  Confidence and courage are bravery in the face of danger. Steadfastness in the face of opposition. Action in the face of resistance and optimism in the face of despair. The first says I won’t be afraid. The second says I won’t give up. The third says I won’t be intimidated and the fourth says I won’t lose heart. God’s faithful ones throughout the ages weren’t handwringers. They’ve been Josephs and Daniels and Esthers. They chose by God’s grace to thrive not merely survive. They’re the contemporary Corrie ten Booms and the Richard Wurmbrands. They’re the many Christians sharing Jesus in Iran, China, and North Korea. They all know that it’s not look what the world is coming to. It’s look WHO  is coming to the world! “Even so come Lord Jesus!” (Rev. 22:20).

Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address.