Sometimes as children of God, we almost have to live in the world with our eyes closed. Walking by faith and not by sight. Seeing is not always believing. We cannot always model what we see because what we see is what the world projects, not what is always the right thing. Our world, though vast and many portions of it are yet unchartered, physically and otherwise, is a place with limits. A limited environment which is not the extent of what actually is, but only what we are currently capable of experiencing. It is a hologram of sorts; a highly controlled environment with boundaries and limitations designed to train us to a temporary structure which can only be a sample of much greater.
God has called us to be in the world, & created us in His image to be ambassadors and representatives of him wherever we are. When God placed Adam in the garden of Eden, as much as it was a paradise, its surroundings were chaotic and unconquered. God placed man in a world where man should have taken authority over it and subdued it into the way after God’s heart. Not acquiesce to the will of supposed “nature” while sacrificing the supernatural; the supernatural which goes beyond our senses.
Over the years, the people of God, the church, “we”…have bent to our environment. Our adaptations have often become regressions because rather than being sure of what is truth, and calling those things which be not as though they are, (as directed by God), we’ve followed majority rule and political correctness; forgetting that “the majority” could be ignorant and the aim of “politics” is not eternal life.
Once upon a time, fornication and adultery was just plain wrong. The church knew it and should have upheld it; But now, it is acceptable, justifiable, and as a matter of fact, advisable in some settings
even to Christians because the majority don’t see what the “big deal” about it is.
Once upon a time, the issues which propagated divorce in Christian households were foreign and rare; but when Christians became engrossed in the things of earth, building treasures in the temporary, and allowing love to degrade into lust, we began competing with the world in statistics of failure in the first covenant relationship God instituted among us outside of Himself.
If i may cite one more example, once upon a time, worship through music was a great thing. An honorable levitical office that served God through glorifying his name; Now in a lot of settings, it is more of a time slot, an entertainment venture, and even a service relegated to those who are not only far from levitical, but either are said not to deserve compensation for their service, or are over-idealized and idolized. It becomes a performance for many viewers rather than a sacrifice to the ultimate audience of One who is God.
I hope i am not being preachy. It’s the last thing i want to be; neither am i exempt of the observations i’ve made and am explaining here. I am a part of the family and a sinner like the rest of us. Perhaps i am only the donkey God may use to refresh someone’s understanding today and incite change of some sort.
We are truly IN this world, but we were not intended to become OF it. Truth is never relative…there are no grey areas in fact. We are either right, or wrong when it comes to life and death, and if our job on this earth as children of God is to uphold a standard, that standard will become increasingly ineffective and not a standard at all if we continue to change its standard. Be an example. Be the pillar that doesn’t change or waver. Be the anchor that keeps the ship of people grounded in place through the innumerable vaccilations of the sea of life and morals over time. (I speak to myself as well.)
God bless you and i love you! 🙂
Tomi Favored
