Here I am over halfway through a year that has shaken me to my core. At the beginning of all this I felt as if the Lord were leading me to keep my mouth closed and just see how events unfolded. Verses were recalled to mind such as, “But we urge you, brothers, to excel more and more and to aspire to live quietly, to attend to your own matters, and to work with your own hands, as we instructed you.” (1 Thessalonians 4:10a-11) and “Be silent, all flesh, before the LORD, for He is aroused from His holy habitation!” (Zechariah 2:13) Who could have guessed where this all would lead? Enough opinions were being sprayed everywhere- no one needed my words thrown into the mix. Now, however, I have this deep urgency to speak. I pray that when I do, the words are not my own, not from my prideful, judgmental heart, but are instead from the loving Father above warning His children to turn to Him.
Frightening events are unfolding almost daily. I want to ignore them, enjoy my time with my family, pretend I am far enough removed from it all that my life may get back to normal. Deep down I know that is impossible. The Bible gives very clear “If… then…” promises, and it seems that even we Christians are playing Russian roulette with them. We are engaging in evil as much as is socially acceptable, worrying only what others think of us and not considering whether God is approving of our actions. Sure we proclaim the name of God. We go to church, listen to worship songs, and even share Christian messages on Facebook. We do our best to be kind when others hurt us, and we are adamant about loving others. We wear shirts with verses on them and put up signs in our home declaring God’s promises. Everyone knows our political stance. We may even email or write our government officials about something with which we disagree. We will definitely be voting since “we can’t really do anything else to fix the problems.” These are all wonderful things, but they are only the visible part of the battle.
What about those “little” things? What are we doing in our homes? We can look at the latest decisions from Disney, Netflix, and a whole host of other companies to find that answer. The very things we are complaining about in our society are the very things we are allowing to be displayed on the screens in our home and spoken over the speakers in our ears. (“It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret” Ephesians 5:12) I’m not even speaking of what we allow our children to see and hear. We all know that’s important. But the same rules should apply to me as an adult. Am I allowing curse words, provocative scenes, and graphic violence in my home? Or is my soul so stirred when these things happen that I cannot comfortably sit still and watch it in peace? Do I make the decision to turn it off? This is so very hard for me. It’s extremely difficult to judge how much questionable material is too much. This is why we have no streaming services. The temptation is simply too great, and the risk of being subjected to filth is too high. My tendency to condone “just one little scene” is too strong for me to repeatedly put myself in that position. (“But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness.” 1 Timothy 6:11)
This decline did not happen overnight. We allowed this. I was appalled when I read of the new series Netflix is releasing. But honestly I was not shocked. Grieved yes, but definitely not shocked. All signs have pointed to this coming. Numerous programs with foul mouthed kids provocatively dressed and disobedient to authority have been quite popular on cable TV. Now Netflix is stating that if one is offended he/she need not watch the program. But when do they stop receiving our money? When do we stop showing support with our actions and not just our mouths?
This is the fight! We’ve memorized those verses in the Bible about fighting evil, but maybe we thought it would come in the form of a person or that it would be a bit more obvious. Maybe we thought it would do more harm in the very beginning rather than slowly filtering into our homes before showing the mass ruin it produces. I’m not sure, but the fact is evil is here. It is staring us in the face every single day, and we are opening our doors to it. We don’t recognize it as a battle. We listen to the enemy whispering lies to us: “Everyone else is inviting it into their homes, and they’re good people.” The destruction that it causes is here. We see that part of it. Unfortunately, we are still not recognizing the source- our inability to say no to little, tiny decisions we have faced our entire lives.
This is why we need the church in its truest and simplest form- the gathering of believers who hold each other accountable for wrongdoing and encourage each other to make the tough decisions with which no one else seems to be concerned. Through all this I have seen that I don’t need the church to entertain me or provide me with the greatest worship experience. I don’t need a cushy seat with beautiful items around me. I don’t need to be puffed up with compliments or niceties from others. I just need to be instructed in the Word, to join with friends in worshiping God, and to help keep my feet going in the right direction. I want to be lovingly confronted when I’m wrong but also to feel the comraderie of others facing similar situations.
I pray the events of this year serve to ignite my passion for standing against evil in my own home. If sin is not fought in our homes first, then evil will continue to permeate our churches, then our communities, and flow to our government/ country.
Oh Father, how I pray You would open the eyes of Your people. Give us the wisdom to know what You want us to do and the integrity to do it. When we are faced with temptation, help us to flee. Enable us to guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus that we may shun evil and be powerful forces in this dark and gloomy world. May we run the race with perseverance. And when we make a wrong decision, as we will do, then turn our hearts toward repentance. God, strengthen our churches to be what You intend us to be that we may be found faithful at Your return. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.
“Blessed are the undefiled in the way,
Who walk in the law of the Lord!
Blessed are those who keep His testimonies,
Who seek Him with the whole heart!
They also do no iniquity;
They walk in His ways.
You have commanded us
To keep Your precepts diligently.
Oh, that my ways were directed
To keep Your statutes!
Then I would not be ashamed,
When I look into all Your commandments.” Psalm 119:1-6
“Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Matthew 26:41
“The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness. Therefore take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness. If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, the whole body will be full of light, as when the bright shining of a lamp gives you light.” Luke 11:34-36
“Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” Ephesians 6:11-13