Things are getting worse

Folks say that quite a bit, "things are getting worse." My mom says it every time the media reports a tragedy with the delicacy of flinging paint. She says when she was a kid, such and such awful thing didn't happen. I then have to remind her that when she was a child, the holocaust was going on, American Japanese were in internment camps and the atomic bomb was dropped over Nagasaki. That leads her to the days of Camelot, when the Kennedys were in the White House. Things were "great" then, magical even. "Yes, mom. So charming that black people got to have their very own water fountains! The President was having affairs, the Cold War was good and hot, Cuba had missiles pointed at us..." Around then, she generally interrupts and calls me a know-it-all.

I don't fault my mom. We tend to remember what's bright and shiny about the past. I can't tell you how many times I've tried to watch an old 80s movie with my kids and have had to turn it off because I had forgotten how foul (Grease) or terrifying (Gremlins) it was. And, there's nothing wrong with focusing on what was good. It's healthy even...so long as it doesn't blind you to what is still good.

As a Christian, I do see that my voice isn't deemed worthy unless it is contradictory to what the world deems fit. And then, it's worthy only to criticize. Others may speak openly against my Savior, criticize my faith in Him and His word. In fact, the condemnation is often praised for its boldness and bravery. That wouldn't have happened fifty years ago. I will say that. But, is that because things are getting worse? I don't think so.

Fellow family of faith, I think we need to be careful in looking too fondly at the past and declaring the decline of righteousness in the United States. In fact, I think our freedom is greater now more than ever. Why else would Satan challenge it so? Was there really a need to challenge it so vehemently decades ago when social media didn't exist and the Word was only preached, literally, only by word. No. Now, however, our voices carry. So, Satan has to change his tactics. Of course he wants to publicly denounce us and shame us. We are more public than ever. Praise God.

Am I saying that we should just go quietly and lie down in a dark corner? No. But, if we just wag our heads and claim things are so tough on us these days, we are much more likely to become discouraged and discouragement breeds despair: the opposite of joy. I Peter 3:15 reads that we need to be prepared to tell others about the hope within us. Folks, nobody is going to do that if hope is abundant. They will only ask about it when it is in short supply.

God uses the dark to show the abundance of light. During the reign of Antiochus our fore bearers, the Jews, were hung on poles and lit on fire to light the streets. Later, in that same dark city, the light of another slain Jew brought on the baptism of more than 3,000 people most of which were Jews, the direct descents of the people who burned to death as torch lights. Is it any wonder that God chose that to be the place to publicly proclaim the birth of Christians? And, you do know that was a disparaging name to begin with, right? We were being made fun of with that name, and now, it is our identity. What was dark, became a light of hope.

So, brothers and sisters in faith, please don't shake your heads and bring more attention to the darkness. Instead, look at this world as a place ready for light. Things aren't getting worse. We aren't being thrown to the lions for entertainment, set on fire so that folks can better see the streets. We aren't hunted or in fear for our lives. Not, in the United States. Elsewhere, yes. But, not here. Don't let our lack of persecution turn us into whining babies that pout because the life God promised wouldn't be comfy is indeed not comfy. Did we think He was joking about that?

If things really are getting worse, we have two choices: we can bemoan the fact or we can look at it as even more opportunity to share Jesus. Can we do it as freely as we once did? Nope. So, what? We just don't do it? How about we just get creative? How about we start letting our kindness, our work ethic, our willingness to reach out, our love of sinners (which we are, by the way), our grace, our compassion, our ability to act as a unit be the thing that preaches. Can't outlaw that, can they? And, if they do? Well, then we'll just have to figure out something else.

Today is a great time to be a Christian. Don't let your memory of the past blind you to the light that is. And speaking of bright light, Gremlins is a freakishly scary movie. Don't watch it with eight year olds!