Sunday, March 4, 2012

What is this World Coming To?

I don't know why I bother reading the news. All it does is upset me. Lately, it's been about children dying at the hands of the very adults that should be caring for them along with children killing children. Then I read the comments that are posted on the stories and I just have to say people can be very sick individuals.

One poster on one story asked if it seemed the world has gone more haywire than usual. She also indicated that Christians were the worst at spewing hate and vitriol. She asked where all this blood lust came from.  There's only one answer to that question and no, it had nothing to do with the human race.

I think the world has always been haywire. It's because we can now access news stories almost as soon as they happen thanks to the internet and the media hounds who use it to spread all the nastiness that people do. Nothing is off limits anymore.  If it can be recorded in some way, it hits the internet within seconds.  Do I really want to know what's going on halfway around the world at any given time?  Not really.  I have enough trouble reading about what's going on in my own backyard.

I also agree that Christians are the worst offenders when it comes to adding to the hate and vitriol that humans can put out.  As a Christian myself, it really saddens me to see that the people who should be the first on the scene with the kind of unconditional love that Jesus called for are the worst offenders at perpetuating the hate and violence against the human race.  Then those same people who hunger for the blood of their fellow man have the nerve to wonder why the world at large holds Christianity in such contempt.  Hmm.  Let's think about this one for a moment, shall we?

It's not the people of this world who are the horrid beasts they seem to be.  Oh, no.  It's the prince of this world, the dark one who gets such enjoyment out of humans abusing each other.  He's constantly on our backs, prodding us into thinking and even doing things that would horrify us otherwise.  Not everyone has the strength to resist and so the world spirals downward on a daily basis.  Even Christians are not immune to this prodding. We just have the means to resist - if we choose to use it.

Choices.  That's what this really all comes down to.

People do have a choice.  Trouble is, many people make the choice that only fuels the fires of hell on earth instead of choosing to follow the One who can make it all go away if we let Him.  But we don't and things just get worse and worse.  Jesus said they would.  In the 24th chapter of Matthew, He told us that these things must happen before the end comes.  He also said that those who hurt children and lead them astray should wish they had never been born - paraphrase but I think it's the gist of His words.

He also left us with a single command:  to love one another.  We can't even obey one tiny little command, can we?  At least, not entirely.  Oh, we can love those who are like ourselves easily enough.  It's the unlovable that we have a problem with.  Maybe that's why we have such a hard time loving ourselves.  I know I can be very unlovable at times.  And I sin.  Oh, yes, I do.  Perfection eludes me on a daily basis.  I cuss at people on the road.  I cuss at circumstances at work.  I spout my own kind of hate and violence and then wonder why I feel so lousy at the end of the day.

So, as Christians, should we hate those that commit atrocities?  Absolutely not.  Yes, by all means, hate the sin but never, under any circumstances should we hate the sinner.  After all, we are all sinners in the eyes of God.  Christians are no exception.  We just have the blood of Christ to cover our sins.  Not that we should just go on our merry way and sin as we see fit because our sin is hidden beneath the flood.  Even what's hidden will day be revealed.  I don't think that means just the sins we hide from the world, either.  I think everything we've ever done will one day be laid bare for all to see - Christians as well as non-Christians.  But for Christians, once Satan presents all the evidence against us, I believe that Jesus will rise from His seat at the right hand of God and quietly say, "I have already paid the price for those sins on their behalf."

That's all the defense we will need because His blood is enough to cover a multitude of sins because it was given in love.

So, even though the world has become a cesspool of hopelessness, we can have hope.  Yes, things will get worse - much worse - but we can take comfort in the fact that God is in control and Jesus is right there with us, providing the strength that we could never possess on our own.  We just have to accept His help and let Him work through us.

Only with His help can we survive this world.