Yesterday I mentioned that there are some sad ironies in our land that stem from, or at least go along with, what I perceive to be unreasonable thinking. I guess the one that is most obvious to me is the disdain that our nation has developed for the church (by 'the church' I mean all Christians).
For centuries the church has been doing good things like building and operating schools, universities, hospitals, orphanages, nursing homes, soup kitchens, rehabilitation centers, food pantries, etc. Christians have long served this country as statesmen and in the military. I will readily admit that the church does not always do good, as with the inquisition, and blowing up abortion clinics, and heckling at the funerals of honorable soldiers who gave their lives for our country, etc. These things are wrong and stupid. However, reason has become so clouded by fear and prejudice that we see only the bad, not the good. We can't see the forest for the trees and now, in a sadly ironic twist, the church has become the enemy of many.
Isn't it also sadly ironic that our intellectual pride has allowed us to cast off the traditional values of our nation. We have reasoned that the Bible is just great literature rather than God's word to be obeyed. And as mentioned yesterday we have reasoned away the concept of sin so that now the worst thing someone can do is to speak out against sin (unless you are speaking out against someone speaking out against sin). The country is going to Hell and people are mad at Christians for it. We've returned to the days of Judges when each one did what was right in his own eyes (Judges 17:6). We deserve the judgement of God as much as any nation has.
The most sadly ironic thing may be that even though we deserve the judgement of God, Jesus Christ, the God-man, has taken this judgement upon himself for us, yet we have written him off as a mere teacher or prophet. We have reasoned away the Savior.
1 comment:
Your very last sentence is hauntingly heartbreaking. I cannot fully understand the devastation and pain that Jesus endured to become our Savior. From what I do understand, it truly breaks my heart to think that it was because of me... and for each one of us. For anyone to "reason" Him away is to absolutely walk away from any hope whatsoever. Reason? You're right... it's UNreasonable. Reason doesn't exist with this choice... but it's still a choice.
To suffer the fear from others which leads to disdain is but a small spec of what Jesus endured while here on this earth. It helps to know that this is mostly ignorance on their (the others) part. And if it's worse than ignorance, then I'm thankful that Jesus knows exactly what we are feeling and going through. We have been called to stop the ignorance. I just hope that I don't make those "wrong and stupid" choices that cause Christians pain and suffering, or the others to continue on their path to Hell.
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