How did we get into such a mess

 

1 Peter 1:14-16

How often do you wonder, “How did we get into such a mess,” and are we void of understanding that with freedom comes responsibility?  My dad had a tattoo on his arm and I remember he often told my brother and I that he did that when he was running with some young men that he should not have been hanging out with.  The tattoo on dads arm was a reminder of a time in his life when he was not being obedient.  But in our culture it is the in thing, not on your arm, but all over the body, we’ve come a long way baby!  We are no longer under the influence of the past, in fact, we have gone so far as to rename most things that our parents would have referred to as sin and have become so enlightened that we call good evil and evil good, we’ve come a long way baby.

Or have we, how is all this enlightenment working?  Are we as a society, as a nation, and as a people more patient and kind, or have we moved to being envious and arrogant, even rude?  As a society, have we moved to seeking our on way, and is it acceptable to be irritable and resentful?  Have we as a people moved from the search for truth to exalting wrong?  If you are only a casual observer with any understanding of history about this nation, you must say that as a society, nation, and people, the above is on target.

Is it also on the spot, when it comes to us who claim the name of Christ, and who claim that we have been changed by His act of love, by the shedding of His blood and the offering of His body to be broken for our sins?  Yes, with exception of a few who have prepared their minds for action, and being sober-minded have set their hopes fully on the grace that is theirs in Christ Jesus.  Peter would call them obedient children: “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

We are told in the Bible that God sent His Spirit on His church, and the church, (not a building, nor a denomination) was to be light in a dark world.  It is not government, or schools, that are to blame for our upside down culture, it is the church, it is people who are in rebellion against the authority of Scripture who call themselves Christians.  Christians are to be light at home, and yet it is clear that they have not trained or been trained in obedience to God’s authority, nor have they taught it to their children.  Christians are to be light in the work place, but they are often not the solution but the problem, and that brings shame on the name of Christ.  The light has not gone out, but it is so weak that many have tried to generate a false light and many a church is trying to do much like our government when it comes to Islam.  Yes, the church is looking to the false lights of the world to draw people, and forgetting that only Jesus Christ can change a person from death to life, from darkness to light.

“Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.”  (1 Corinthians 13:7)  In the second paragraph I asked many questions; and all of them are tied to a Christian who is void of love, who has not obeyed the command to prepare their minds in God’s commands and on Jesus, but are living independently of His authority.  This writer was such a person, but life by any standard other than what we are given in the Bible is void of hope and void of life.  Jesus spoke these words to a group of Scribes and Pharisees who were very religious, very full of self, “And Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12) Only if the Church awakes do we have a chance!  It will not be found in the Republicans, Democrats, or the Tea Party, our only chance is Christians being the light of life.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice