I recently heard John Stonestreet, the main speaker/writer at the Colson Center for Christian Worldview, exhort a group of college students to change their engagement with their phones and with the news. His problem (and mine) is the expectation of instant anger at whatever news we hear.
He was addressing the immediate assumption that any police shooting is the fault of the police and probably racist. In most cases, we find out weeks later that the shooting was really justified, but the immediate anger at the police remains, for most of the populace.
As an aside, some of the media outlets we Christians consume, those most friendly to our world view, cultivate this anger in us very deliberately, too. They seek out news stories they know will incense their audience, over the transgression of our values in the culture.
On both fronts, this is a bad development. It distorts our assessment of where our culture is (on the left, and the right). It fosters anger at our neighbor, instead of love for our neighbor, the second-greatest commandment. It is fundamentally reactive cultural engagement.
My point here is to apply all that to our spiritual lives.
The Pentecost season is beginning, when we focus on our growth and sanctification by the Spirit.
So, first, do you define your spiritual life by your cultural and political opinions? That should be a small factor in assessing your spiritual condition, although aligning our values with God's Word is essential. But what about the way you treat your spouse and children? How you interact (or don't) with your fellow church members? Can we carry on a cordial and helpful Christian relationship with brothers and sisters who have a different view of the covid vaccine, mask mandates, foreign policy, January 6 incident, etc.?
Second, and my main point today. As with bad news in the world, do NOT assess your spiritual condition only in reaction to your sins or failings. The hope of the gospel is that God's grace overcomes our failings. Even our "systemic" ones! The lie of the 1619 Project is that our country was founded on slavery. In a similar way, we can believe the Satanic lie that, because we personally sin so much, there's not much hope for us. Or for our children! It is just not true. God's work in Christ will overwhelm all the sin you see in your children, or in yourself, from day to day. Eden will be restored - even improved!
We need to 'fess up fully to our sins, personally and as a nation. But do not react in anger to your or your family's sin, thinking that that anger will fix it. The solution is not a radically new social project of equality. And the solution is also not some personal resolution of yours, founded in anger, to radically restructure your OWN life. Our strength is not found in anger at a leftist agenda. It is found in the joy of the Lord!
We have to start at the cross, trusting God to help us. We walk in step with the Spirit, who is with us. Restoration is possible with God, not with a particular political agenda. (I say this acknowledging there are right and wrong answers in politics, according to the Bible!)
Return to the Gospel daily. It is our ballast on the ship in a raging storm of cultural, political, and personal turmoil.
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