I overheard my wife having a conversation with my daughters the
other day and she finally said, "Everyone else is crazy. I'm the only sane
one!" Of course being a fantastic husband (and not being an idiot) I had
to agree. The context of their conversation was the current state of our
culture and what is considered 'normal'. My wife and I were born in the 70's,
raised in the 80's (best decade), graduated in the 90's which makes us Gen Xers
(and therefore cool by default). So Boomers still think we're kids and Millennials
think we're ancient. We’re not really old but we’re not really young either.
But we are old enough to remember a time where things were different. VERY
DIFFERENT.
So much of what we see today wasn’t even a thought 20 years ago. I
look at some of things my daughters are facing in school and realize that they
weren’t on the radar as recently as 5 years ago. The garbage that is so
prevalent on prime-time TV wouldn’t even have been allowed on late night, or
HBO for that matter, when I was growing up. As a matter of fact the current
trend is that what was ‘normal’ when I was a child is now considered abnormal
and closed-minded.
In the 17th chapter of John Jesus clearly teaches us
that we are, ‘not of this world.’ Maybe I’m just naïve but I still believe that
how we live our lives matters. The little choices we make do make a difference
both in our lives and in the lives of those around us. I don’t think that you
can effectively preach the Kingdom of God while practicing the kingdom of this
world. If I’ve learned anything from reading the Bible and form practical
experience it’s that the crowd rarely gets it right. It kills me when my young
daughter asks me to explain a vulgar T-shirt or bumper sticker and I just have
to say, ‘They’re just a moron sweetie.’ When did we lose respect for one
another? When did we quit caring about the innocence of our children? And when
did being vulgar become something to celebrate?
“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight.” – Isaiah 5:20-21 NIV
Please hear me. I am not speaking to society. I am talking to
Christians who are being lured down the same path in the name of ‘liberty’. So
here is the point I’m trying to make… If you are a follower of Jesus Christ DO
NOT let culture dictate your sense of right and wrong. Let the truth of God’s
Word and the voice of the Holy Spirit be your guide.
““Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.”” – Romans 3:4 NIV
