Tuesday, September 12, 2017

DESENSITIZE

Here's just a reality:  The Christian life is full of obstacles and opposition.  It's the narrow road - the road less travelled.  The 2017 world we live in is not always a favorable place to be a follower of Christ.

But these obstacles aren't new.  There has been opposition to Christ-followers from the time of Jesus and before.

The apostle Paul faced consistent obstacles.  In his own words, he was imprisoned, flogged, stoned, exposed to death, 39 lashes, shipwrecked, hungry, thirsty, cold, naked.

Boy.  You didn't want to be a traveling partner with that guy.

Most of us in 21st century America haven't been flogged or shipwrecked, but the cultural opposition is still daunting.  Traditional marriage is under attack.  Abortion has been legal for decades.  Porn and human trafficking are multi-billion dollar a year businesses.  Divorce is completely normal and altogether accepted.

We're in a culture war.  And frankly, we're getting killed.  And let's be clear.  It won't get any easier.

Drive safely.  Have a nice day.

There are a variety of ways Christ-followers have responded to such opposition.  One way is that many have become desensitized to the world.  Over time they've grown weary and began to give in to the culture.  They have lowered their standards and dimmed their lights.  They began well but the world slowly wore them down.  Before long the things God spoke about became negotiable.

It's so much easier to ordain homosexuals into ministry than to preach that the practice of it is sin.

It's so much easier to shrug off that couples live together so causally than to hold high the standard of God for marriage.

It's so much easier to say it doesn't matter what you believe as long as you're sincere than to say there's only one way to God thru Jesus.

Don't become desensitized to the culture and begin to buy in to what the world buys in to.  Stand your ground, sir.

And be blessed.

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