'Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth, as it is in heaven...'"
-Jesus
I see it almost every day. From postings on Facebook to stories in the news to predictions by Christian leaders.
"The President is trying to destroy America. It's like what's in Revelation!"
"The world is falling apart. These are the end-times!"
"The one-world government is forming."
"The last great war is coming."
*Insert whatever you've heard here*
People are getting scared by what they're seeing on TV or reading in the news. Every bad story seems to be yet another confirmation that the end is near. I mean, that's what Jesus warned us about right? There will be wars and rumors of wars, nations against nations, famines and earthquakes, and then persecutions (Matthew 24).
Yikes. Check, check, check and check!
But there's a problem here. The problem is that ALL of those could be checked off for the entire history of life since Christ said those words. That's not a misconception, it's a fact. Anyone who has studied history for more than five minutes can see that.
So why does it seem so much worse now? Yes, the rise of ISIS and the War on Terror can be scary things. They are definitely terrible things.
But compared to the Nazis and Japanese in World War II they are small-time.
Christians and other faiths are being killed for their beliefs by these terrorists. They are also being killed in India and China and other countries that don't believe in religious freedom.
But there was a time when no one lived in religious freedom. Especially not Christians. (Anyone ever heard of Nero?)
Ebola is killing thousands of people in Africa and now has come to America. Sure it hasn't killed any Americans yet, but it might.
But the Black Plague killed 1/3 of Europe, well over 20 million people. In 1918-19 a flu pandemic killed nearly 30 million people worldwide, including 700,000 Americans.
And yes, America as we know it is struggling. We are having a tough time getting our economy back on track and our government doesn't seem to be helping.
But have you ever heard about the Great Depression? Or how about the Civil War? America has survived FAR worst times in our history. This current struggle is a relative blip on the radar.
The astounding truth is that the world has been getting better for humanity for centuries now. The only thing which makes it seems worse is the fact that now we are inundated with 24-hour news cycles of bad news. Here's a news flash: Bad news SELLS. And it is EVERYWHERE. When once we didn't know much more beyond what one local paper reported on, we now have worldwide reports streaming in instantly. The world is better, but our access to information makes it SEEM worse.
Try turning off the news for a month, then notice how much better life seems.
Don't believe me? Let's look at some statistics.
In the last 80 years alone, life expectancy has risen by nearly 20 years (59.7 to 78.7) for the average American.
While the poverty rate has remained consistent for the past 50 years, the state of what poverty means has not. In America, most poor people have private shelter (home or apartment), television, a vehicle, easy access to food, and air conditioning.
In most of the western world, including America, crime rates have been plummeting for 30 years straight.
This is in America, but the rest of the world is seeing improvements as well. You just have to do the research.
This isn't to discount the issues we do face. The facts are that people are still starving, even in America. We have plenty of problems to face and much of the world is not as blessed as we are.
But does that mean the world is ending? I can't find any evidence that supports that. Through all the atrocity in the world, through all the darkness, the truth is that there is still more light out there than there has ever been. We need to recognize this so that we can see that the battle is being won. Even though sometimes the improvements come slow, painfully slow even, and that they face setbacks, overall the improvements ARE coming.
Christians, we are some of the worst about this. We need to stop looking for reasons to expect the end and start living to improve what is before us. We also need to realize that we do make a difference when we work towards it.
And while some of us might still "yearn" for the "good ol days" of the past, we need to be honest and recognize that those times, even if they were "better" for us personally, might not have been better for the rest of the world. We need to celebrate instead that the world is, in fact, getting better, and do our part to make sure that trend continues.
I do believe that there will be an end to life as we know it here someday. But life is too short and the prophecies about that time too mysterious for us to dwell on trying to figure them out. Jesus was clear that not only He knew the time, only the Father. So why do we think we can figure it out? In the meantime, Jesus came to improve our lives and I believe that also means the world. If things are going to get worse before the end, well then we can tell that it's certainly not happening right now. But even it if was, it's not our place to worry about it.
Jesus was clear that we were to be ready, and by that He meant to be ready in our hearts and how we live. He never said to cry "wolf!" at every sign of bad news, provoking fear in the hearts of everyone in our path. That was never the intent of the Gospel. The Gospel is Good News, not focused on what was wrong with the world but instead focused on the solutions for the human heart.
So next time you hear someone proclaiming the end, just move on. Next time you hear that the world is falling apart, remember how much more blessed you are to live today than during a World War or under a time period where you'd be killed for believing the wrong thing. When problems become known, pray and think about how you can help instead of ringing the fear alarm, and trust that God will give the willing a solution. He's been doing it for millennia, He won't stop now.
I see it almost every day. From postings on Facebook to stories in the news to predictions by Christian leaders.
"The President is trying to destroy America. It's like what's in Revelation!"
"The world is falling apart. These are the end-times!"
"The one-world government is forming."
"The last great war is coming."
*Insert whatever you've heard here*
People are getting scared by what they're seeing on TV or reading in the news. Every bad story seems to be yet another confirmation that the end is near. I mean, that's what Jesus warned us about right? There will be wars and rumors of wars, nations against nations, famines and earthquakes, and then persecutions (Matthew 24).
Yikes. Check, check, check and check!
But there's a problem here. The problem is that ALL of those could be checked off for the entire history of life since Christ said those words. That's not a misconception, it's a fact. Anyone who has studied history for more than five minutes can see that.
So why does it seem so much worse now? Yes, the rise of ISIS and the War on Terror can be scary things. They are definitely terrible things.
But compared to the Nazis and Japanese in World War II they are small-time.
Christians and other faiths are being killed for their beliefs by these terrorists. They are also being killed in India and China and other countries that don't believe in religious freedom.
But there was a time when no one lived in religious freedom. Especially not Christians. (Anyone ever heard of Nero?)
Ebola is killing thousands of people in Africa and now has come to America. Sure it hasn't killed any Americans yet, but it might.
But the Black Plague killed 1/3 of Europe, well over 20 million people. In 1918-19 a flu pandemic killed nearly 30 million people worldwide, including 700,000 Americans.
And yes, America as we know it is struggling. We are having a tough time getting our economy back on track and our government doesn't seem to be helping.
But have you ever heard about the Great Depression? Or how about the Civil War? America has survived FAR worst times in our history. This current struggle is a relative blip on the radar.
The astounding truth is that the world has been getting better for humanity for centuries now. The only thing which makes it seems worse is the fact that now we are inundated with 24-hour news cycles of bad news. Here's a news flash: Bad news SELLS. And it is EVERYWHERE. When once we didn't know much more beyond what one local paper reported on, we now have worldwide reports streaming in instantly. The world is better, but our access to information makes it SEEM worse.
Try turning off the news for a month, then notice how much better life seems.
Don't believe me? Let's look at some statistics.
In the last 80 years alone, life expectancy has risen by nearly 20 years (59.7 to 78.7) for the average American.
While the poverty rate has remained consistent for the past 50 years, the state of what poverty means has not. In America, most poor people have private shelter (home or apartment), television, a vehicle, easy access to food, and air conditioning.
In most of the western world, including America, crime rates have been plummeting for 30 years straight.
This is in America, but the rest of the world is seeing improvements as well. You just have to do the research.
This isn't to discount the issues we do face. The facts are that people are still starving, even in America. We have plenty of problems to face and much of the world is not as blessed as we are.
But does that mean the world is ending? I can't find any evidence that supports that. Through all the atrocity in the world, through all the darkness, the truth is that there is still more light out there than there has ever been. We need to recognize this so that we can see that the battle is being won. Even though sometimes the improvements come slow, painfully slow even, and that they face setbacks, overall the improvements ARE coming.
Christians, we are some of the worst about this. We need to stop looking for reasons to expect the end and start living to improve what is before us. We also need to realize that we do make a difference when we work towards it.
And while some of us might still "yearn" for the "good ol days" of the past, we need to be honest and recognize that those times, even if they were "better" for us personally, might not have been better for the rest of the world. We need to celebrate instead that the world is, in fact, getting better, and do our part to make sure that trend continues.
I do believe that there will be an end to life as we know it here someday. But life is too short and the prophecies about that time too mysterious for us to dwell on trying to figure them out. Jesus was clear that not only He knew the time, only the Father. So why do we think we can figure it out? In the meantime, Jesus came to improve our lives and I believe that also means the world. If things are going to get worse before the end, well then we can tell that it's certainly not happening right now. But even it if was, it's not our place to worry about it.
Jesus was clear that we were to be ready, and by that He meant to be ready in our hearts and how we live. He never said to cry "wolf!" at every sign of bad news, provoking fear in the hearts of everyone in our path. That was never the intent of the Gospel. The Gospel is Good News, not focused on what was wrong with the world but instead focused on the solutions for the human heart.
So next time you hear someone proclaiming the end, just move on. Next time you hear that the world is falling apart, remember how much more blessed you are to live today than during a World War or under a time period where you'd be killed for believing the wrong thing. When problems become known, pray and think about how you can help instead of ringing the fear alarm, and trust that God will give the willing a solution. He's been doing it for millennia, He won't stop now.
No comments:
Post a Comment