Cloudy With a Chance of Redemption

I was driving to work the other morning and it was extremely foggy. I could not see well at all. I noticed something as I was trying to get to my destination: the light coming from the headlights of passing cars and from streetlights were limited. You could not see the light until you got much closer to it. The scope of the light was very dull. It did not have the same impact as it would if it were clear outside. In the same way that fog impacts our ability to see as we drive in the early morning or at night, a spiritual fog has impacted our ability to see clearly the things of God and to walk accordingly in the “Light.”  In 2 Timothy 4:3, Paul warns Timothy, “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.” Can I share something with you that you may not be aware of? . . . . THAT TIME IS NOW!!! The Message version of this scripture says it this way: “people will have no stomach for solid teaching, but will fill up on spiritual junk food - catchy opinions that tickle their fancy.” When I read the information on any of the news websites, I feel like I am living in a parallel universe. I just want to climb to the highest mountain and scream, “What in the world is going on?” Everyone’s opinion is fact in their own existence. Life and death are relative to the eye of the beholder. Families and marriages are under attack. Everything is someone else’s fault. Society goes nuts if an animal is mistreated, but abortion is acceptable. What Paul talks about in 2 Timothy 4:2 when he speaks of correcting and rebuking, well, that might hurt someone’s feelings. We have no standard to go by anymore. The problem with that is that it starts affecting all aspects of life: work, school, etc. The result is a dumbed and watered down society.  Also, the place that we should feel loved and hear solid teaching from God’s Word (the church) has become everything but that in many cases. A fog has settled over the American church. Its members have a cloudy, distorted view of who Jesus is. Biblical principles are characterized as old fashion and outdated. Preachers and church leaders care more about public opinion than they do about God’s opinion. Don’t be fooled. We have got a mess on our hands. Society, many Christians included, have no stomach for the solid teachings from the word of God. We all just want to feel good. If you are a Christian and you feel the way that I do, you are in the minority. Remember: spiritual fog. So, what do we do? Paul tells us in Ephesians 6:13 to “put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.” I wish I had an easy answer or a quick fix. Our long and grueling task in our world is to stand. I am not talking about being stand-offish. I am talking about standing for Christ with love, compassion, and patience for those around us.  Dive into God’s Word and become more like Jesus everyday. Our standards will become God’s standards and nothing else will satisfy us. We will “raise the bar” in our churches instead of lower it. None of this happens without serious prayer and surrendering to Christ daily. I noticed something else about the fog as the day went on. A breeze came through and the fog disappeared. Everything was clearly visible again. We need a fresh breeze to blow through the pews of our churches in America. We desperately need to see God for who He is and not who we want Him to be.

 

He who forms the mountains, creates the wind, and reveals his thoughts to man, he who turns dawn to darkness, and treads the high places of the earth-- the LORD God Almighty is his name. – Amos 4:13

Finger on the pulse....

Todd Johnson