The Overwhelmed Generation

Each generation gets a label. At least it has been this way the last few generations. Starting with the "Baby Boomers" and continuing with Generation X and Y, we find labels that not only describe when a group of people were born but what their beliefs and ideas are. For instance, "Baby Boomers" were born between the years of 1946 and 1964 and are known for their relaxation regarding social and religious ethics that were previously in place.

Dr. R.C. Sproul pointed out in church this past Sunday that during the 1960s and 1970s when these boomers were now growing up, the social etiquette and fear of disapproval were tossed out the window, rationalized away, to make room for the "sexual revolution". The hippies and rallies have dissolved away. However, now we who are growing up in this generation of the "digital revolution" have it as bad if not worse than the boomers did in the '60s.

The ideas that took place in those decades were merely that, ideas. They professed them in lecture halls, screamed them in the streets, and flaunted them for all to see. Now those ideas are the very substance on which we thrive. The digital revolution has taken the ideas of the rebellious '60s and turned them into marketing tools. Every billboard, every clothing store, every Hollywood movie, every magazine, every newspaper, every commercial, every television show take the ideas and sell them to us.

For girls if we aren't skinny and pretty and fun, well then you're just an "ugly Betty". If guys aren't handsome and buff and trendy, than they are "Napoleon Dynamites". Pretty women and handsome dudes sell everything from "cars to Eskimo pies" as Dr. Sproul put it. And it is everywhere.

Ubiquitously, I am fed the message that being thin and having immaculate, revealing clothes and styled hair is the only valuable things worth having. Only when I climb into bed and turn out the light or when I am reading my Bible is there some respite from the constant noise of our society.

My dad asked one day on the way home from work how my faith was doing and if I had any questions about Scripture or theology. I told him that it was so hard to live in faith when all around godlessness is being broadcasted, not merely as palatable but as the best fudge sundae you have ever had! What is even harder is many Christians have latched onto these ideas to be "culturally relevant" and in the process, have lost the distinction between what is of God and what is of man.

When Jesus came, he had to differentiate between what the Pharisees and the Sadducees were teaching everybody and what he, the God of the Universe, really meant. His Sermon on the Mount is the message that corrects the faulty thinking of a wayward generation: "You have heard it said...But I say."

Now, right now, Christians are being told that it is acceptable and even required to look, act, sound, and think like the world around us. Churches are now rock concerts with a few feel good messages thrown in just so that we can label it a "church service". Call me harsh, but this is the world we live in. We are an overwhelmed generation, overwhelmed by the self-gratifying messages of the culture and now the church. We as Christians are called to be set aside, a holy people (1 Peter 2:9, 10). We are to be different than the rest of the world, living our lives as an pleasing aroma to our Heavenly Father. "But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God" (1 Corinthians 6:11). God said it, so that settles it.

--HM

The Next Step

Traditional wedding vows run along the lines of: “I, _______, take you, _______, for my wife/husband to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part.” However, as society has “progressed” the last phrase of the vow, actually the entire marriage vow itself, has been disregarded.


Staring down those who would strive “to have and to hold” until death are forces to be reckoned with. Divorce rates are on the move with about 41% of marriages ending in the termination of nuptial vows (1.). Along with the rates is the alarming fact that Christian divorces are higher than other religious groups (2.). Moreover, one of the largest areas of influence, entertainment media, is promoting non-commitment to millions of viewers. Brad Pitt announced that he would not marry Angelina Jolie until there was marital freedom for everyone. Oprah Winfrey and her boyfriend of 20 years decided to take the “next step” and move in together. Countless others are pairing up and then breaking up (Jennifer and Vince anyone?).


Yet the world goes on and no one shouts out to them, “That’s just not right!” Why? Why is it that 40 years ago it was inappropriate and looked down upon to “live together”? How can a society 40 years later make room for such nonsense?


The answer is one that, as a Christian, you must always come back to: the problem of sin. However, nonchalantly stating it’s a sin problem is a bit too vague. What specifically about the problem of sin affects this area of life?


“Reason is always reasonable,” wrote G.K. Chesterton. God himself is at the very highest pinnacle, the zenith of the entire universe. From him, reason becomes reasonable. From him comes the very source of reason. Yet from the Fall of man, human beings have desperately strained to replace God with any sort of miscellaneous creations. “For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles…They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.” (Romans 1:21-23, 25).


We replaced God’s truth for a lie and thereby banished from us the standard of reason. With this removed, living together in marriage relationship but never marrying makes perfect sense! With the standard removed, announcing that you will never marry until there is marriage freedom for all is wisdom! With this removed, we not only continue doing these very things, but also approve those who practice them (Romans 1:32b).


However, we, as Christians, are “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God” (1 Peter 2:9a). We are not to reflect the world around us but Christ Jesus. Sadly, Christians are behaving more and more like the world as seen in the divorce rates, teen pregnancies, etc.


With this knowledge, how should we then live? We are urged by Paul “to live a life worthy of the calling you have received” (Ephesians 4:1), with “not even a hint of sexual immorality” (Ephesians 5: 3), worthy of Jesus Christ and his sacrifice. We are chosen so that we “may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9b).


With this knowledge, what is the “next step” for Christians? The glory is that the “next step” has already been taken for us by Christ on the cross. We, then, are to be imitators of God, taking up our cross daily and following after Him. Here and now as Christians let us glance neither to the left nor to the right but, “let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2a).



--HM


1. http://www.divorcerate.org/


2. http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_dira.htm

Grace

A few years ago an incident occurred after we had recently moved into our house here in Florida. I had just woken up and was exiting my room. My brother hurried past my doorway and I suppose (since this was some time ago and the exact details escape me) that his attitude communicated something was amiss. Following him, came my mother who also was frustrated. When I asked what was the matter, I received the reply from my mom that my brother had "done something" already that morning which was wrong.

Hoping not to add to the tense atmosphere, I hastly retreated to my room. There I mused as I made my bed how Scripture promises God's "mercies are new every morning" (Lamentations 3:22-24). Yet this very morning as I had barely stepped from my bed, tension, frustration and disobedience seemed to have marred our day's beginnings. "What are we to do, Lord, when we seem to have blown it right away?"I asked. What is to be done when the promise of new mercies is swept aside by our own sin?

Do you know what He said? "My grace is sufficient for thee" (2 Corinthians 2:19). Even though we may have seem to gotten off on the wrong foot or up on the wrong side of the bed, God is faithful and will supply all our needs. What a loving Father!

--HM

Sovereignty

In recent weeks, I have seen a need in my life to rely on God's sovereignty. Last week I took an exam that I have been preparing for, for almost a month. It wasn't an easy task and the test itself was a challenge. I prepared through studying and talking with my college adviser regarding it. To the best of my ability, I exercised my brain powers to retain the information. Nevertheless, I went into the test with full knowledge that not only did God know whether I would pass the test or not but He also foreordained whether I would passed or not.

Many argue that if God controls all things then we are no more than robots, programmed to do whatever He pleases. But I would ask this question, "Is it wrong for the author to know the book's ending before he even picks up the pen to write?" I believe it was screenwriter Brian Godawa who pointed out this truth on a podcast from St. Anne's Public House. The author knows the outcome and the author determined the outcome yet we the readers have no issue with this fact. We trust that the writer will lead us along the story's path and bring us safely to the ending. The characters though unique and interesting derive their characteristics, actions, and thoughts from the author. They in many senses have inherent qualities or behaviors that the author himself has. Can there be any doubt that the quick wit of Elizabeth Bennett was due to the fast tongue of her creator, Jane Austen?

From the prophesies of the old testament to the visions of the Apostle John in Revelation, God has revealed that He is very much guiding and controlling the events of history. "God is not all-knowing simply because he has applied His superior intellect to a sober study of the universe and all its contents. Rather, God knows all because He created all and He has willed all. As sovereign Ruler of the universe, God controls the universe. Though some theologians have tried to separate the two, it is impossible for God to know all without controlling all, and it is impossible for Him to control all without knowing all. Like all attributes of God, they are codependent, two necessary parts of the whole" (Essential truths of the Christian Faith by Dr. R.C. Sproul, p. 46).

Thus, I had no reason to be anxious about my test (though I greatly was!) nor do people need to worry about who will win the presidential election or what will happen in Iraq or Iran. God knows and the outcome will be what brings Him glory and honor. For Christians, this is the best place to be.