Day 2946 of the 7 day Bible verse challenge.

Amos 5:10 NIV

We talk a lot about the current condition of our culture in these posts. And I'm fully aware that many of said discussions have likely been seen as offensive or obtrusive. And I know that there's an inherent risk in speaking or sharing such messages that fail utterly in appeasing mankind or the society in which we exist for the moment. And while it's not necessarily something that any of us should seek to do, offending the world is simply bound to happen.

At this point, I don't really know that it's in any way possible anymore to actually not be seen as offensive to someone or some group somewhere. In fact, seems with each passing day there is some new socially standardized practice or preference that we're supposed to simply agree with or risk being labeled and ostracized as a bigot or racist or some sort of assorted 'phobe.

It's gotten to the point where it almost takes a certain level of insanity to actually share a message that in any way goes against the shamefully low standards that have been accepted by our world today. And when I say insanity, I mean courage, tenacity, high moral fortitude, a high degree of personal investment in the betterment of those around you and a willingness to be labeled by all manner of mankind's maniacal missives, monikers and markers.

We live in a society that sells itself as entirely inclusive and willing to remain entirely unlimited and unhindered by things like morality or even common decency in the process of making sure everyone feels welcomed and loved and embraced and seen and heard and appreciated. It's basically one big happy hippy fest down here anymore, and just as the flower-children of the late 60's enjoyed, we too have a certain distaste for things like rules and requirements and restraints.

Instead, our society has basically embraced the 'anything goes' mentality, and folks are running with it. Problem is that as society runs headlong into a kind of darkness and disgrace not seen nor likely even imagined in the history of our species, we're finding that the dividing lines between those with morals and those who make fun of those with morals is only deepening and widening.

What we're seeing is that if you have the audacity to speak against the raucous revelry in which society is engaging, you're suddenly among the few who are no longer welcomed at the table. Instead, if you speak something based on truth, and by truth I mean an authoritative and foundational reality not in any way built on or constructed around the arrogance or sinful preferences of man, then you're basically just a monster who apparently only exists to make people feel bad about the clearly bad, destructive, indecent and simply immoral things that they're used to enjoying.

If you dare to speak against something that this world is doing and applauding and celebrating, well then you must simply hate the world and everyone in it because down here we've managed to advance to the point where pleasure and enjoyment are the pinnacles of personal achievement, and things like growth and repentance and humility are just silly attributes prioritized by those who remain willfully ignorant, indifferent and unenlightened by the advancements being made by a society where everything is fluid and constantly changing.

We've arrived at the apex of human potential, and who would have known that all it really was is basically akin to moral decay and nigh anarchy? When I was a kid, we imagined things like flying cars and spaceships. But hey, dudes dressing like women and kids being given the choice to pick their preferred names and favorite bathrooms is definitely a fair bit more impressive.

All sarcasm aside, my point is that you're not supposed to say things like that anymore. We're not supposed to say anything is wrong because if we say something is wrong, well then everyone who disagrees will simply shun us from society and we'll get to live the rest of our lives existing outside of the new normal that mankind is seeking to create. What a horrible and tragic turn of events. To not be invited to partake of the sinful party the world is throwing? I shudder to imagine that kind of exclusion.

Guess I wasn't quite done with the sarcasm after all. I am now. Promise. Moving on.

We are living in a world more evil than I think any of us readily understand. Sure, we see things on the news, hear about them from our friends and scroll past them on social media, but the depth of the depravity being unrolled all around us is something truly remarkable. It's creating a world in which truth and justice and even personal responsibility are all afterthoughts as they're simply no longer welcome, or even considered.

Instead, we've become and are becoming a civilization that literally despises the very truth by which we'll all be judged. This ongoing attempt by society to disassociate itself with moral consideration is able to perhaps grant folks a momentary reprieve from the consequences of our actions, but it in no way renders those consequences void. While we apparently think we have the right and the authority and the power to completely decimate God's design and reject His truth and deny His very existence, there's a big problem that I think is being overlooked:

We're wrong.

Now I know that human arrogance is capable of some truly impressive feats, but dethroning God isn't among them. We cannot contend with the One who created us. We cannot argue our case based on our opinions and actually emerge victorious in the court of eternity. We'll fail to prove able to overturn God's righteous judgement, which is based on His truth, with a bunch of foolishness based only upon our preferences.

God is not, nor has ever been, nor will ever be persuaded by or proven incorrect by the ego of man. His Word will stand, and even should mankind unleash a verbal onslaught of words we've created or approved of in order to overwhelm His Word with ours, we'll have achieved nothing but wasting our breath and ruining our eternity. Because God is God and we are not. And while we live down here like we can make our own truth and choose our own identity and develop our own definition of what's acceptable, we'll one day find out otherwise.

And those of us who are among the hated and ridiculed and rejected because we hold to the truth by which we'll be judged, well, we'll have hopefully managed to inspire someone somewhere to seek more than selfish satisfaction. Though we carry labels through this world given to us by those who claim to be kind and loving and willing to be accepting, we'll shed those undeserved titles as we step into the home in which we always lived to one day arrive.

And on that day, all the petty judgement levied against us by our fellow man, all the hatred launched in our direction, all the misunderstandings and misgivings caused by our mission, and all the people who tried so tirelessly to undermine said mission will find themselves upon their knees confessing that this truth we tried to share with them was in fact the one and only truth that ever actually existed.

My point in all this is that while yes, we do live in a similar type of situation described in this verse wherein we are surrounded by those who hate those who uphold justice and detest those who speak God's truth over the lies humanity prefers, we cannot change what it is that we've been called to do. We can't seek to soften the blow of Scripture because if it doesn't harm then it cannot heal. We can't live to avoid the persecution and pushback, because we'll only show our faith to be weak if we do.

And we cannot concern ourselves with what the world wants us to be, because it's blatantly obvious that all this world wants is evil. And while it's not popular or common or normal or accepted to speak such 'hateful' words in this place, it is not this place that we live to please. It is not a humanity no different than we that we live to please. It is not a world running from God that we live to please.

We live for God and God alone, and even if nobody else in this evil world gets it or appreciates it or approves of it, it is now simply who we are and who we wish to remain. And if it's not welcome here, well that's fine. Because we don't plan on staying here forever.

Calling anything evil in a world that clearly loves evil will assure our dismissal. It will ensure our rejection. It will guarantee our invitation to go away. All because this world that's so loving and welcoming and inclusive is only willing to love and welcome and include only the evil that it already loves, welcomes and includes in its every choice and every priority.

To be in this world but no longer of this world is both a great opportunity and a tremendous challenge. So much benefit is found in falling in line, doing as you're told, repeating the lines and approving of all that the world is applauding. But those benefits expire. They end. They cease to exist when we cease to exist. Because, while we can gain the whole world, we can't take any of it with us. And in the end, even the praise and approval of mankind will mean nothing.

So let us not live to gain those temporary benefits, but rather to pursue the promises of eternal life, peace, joy and rest from this trying life we've been entrusted to undertake.

It might not be fun. May not be comfy or cozy. Likely won't find us a horde of faithful friends or followers. But our goal is not to be liked nor loved by the world we're only in for a short while yet, but to seek to be like the One who loves us and gave Himself up for us and now calls us to do the same for whomever we might have the chance to help Him reach.

It's not about us anymore. In truth, never was. But now that we've had those selfish blinders removed, we can now see that there's so much more on the line than simply a short life filled with a bit of worldly acceptance. We've a chance at being welcomed into the eternal joy that exists only in Heaven. And if we have to be hated in order to get there, then please hear me clearly when I say this:

PLEASE BRING THE HATE! If being hated by the world means being welcomed into Heaven, then let's have it! Because if Heaven's peace lasts forever, then why should we worry about a bit of heat that we know is gonna end pretty soon? If we have unending joy in which to rest coming soon, then why fear a bit of turmoil along the road there? If we truly believe that Christ has gone to prepare a place for us, well then, I reckon we don’t need one down here anymore.

Truth, justice, morality, honor, decency, self-control and self-respect are all things that aren't necessarily held in high regard by this society in which we live. But, we can be certain that they all still mean something to God. And if they matter to Him, they ought to matter to us. Because while they’re rare and seen as unnecessary to much of the world, it’s not the world that has the final say.

And that’s a fact we’d all do very well to keep in mind.

#LeaveNoSoulUntold