Random Thoughts

Personal

Like it or not, we have to have a personal investment in our faith for it to ever be the personal relationship that it has to be. Unfortunately, I fear that all of have, at least in some way, grown very accustomed to the mannerisms of this world in which we live for this moment. I'm afraid that we're used to allowing every manner of external influence do our thinking for us. And while the concepts of things like peer-pressure and the new mindset bred by the ever-connected false reality of social media are nothing new to us, the damage they risk is something we've likely not given much consideration.

It's no longer simply the headlines or media outlets or entertainment industries that share these highly invasive theories and ideas and opinions. These days, we're so connected that we can't help but be barraged with a new mountain of external input every single day. And while it would be really nice if more of it were helpful and healthy, unfortunately the counter is undeniably evident. Much of the whirlwind spinning around us anymore is filled with hatred, darkness, foolish comparisons, and quite arguably more nice-sounding lies than ever before.

And we've gotten used to all that external input. We've gotten used to allowing others to tell us what's happening. We've become products of the messages and motives of a world obviously motivated by highly suspect prerogatives. We've slowly, almost the point of being unnoticeable, given away our responsibilities to make our own choices and live our own lives. Instead, we only believe what our friends say. We trust in only our favorite news outlets. And we glean our growth from the messages hidden in the latest catchy song that has taken radios by storm.

But what I want everyone to understand is that this is our souls we're talking about. This is your soul that's on the line. This is the diving line between eternal peace and eternal punishment. And simply put, knowing the limitless promises held by eternity, we ought to be putting far more emphasis on ensuring that what we're doing, watching, listening to and taking part in is propelling us in the right direction. As much as we'd prefer it some other way, we can't rely on anyone else to accept our gift of our salvation from our Savior.

We can't lean on a pastor to make sure we get home at the end of this. We can't toss out a bunch of witty lyrics we memorized during our time here. We can't simply fall back on this assumption that everyone is leading us right, because honestly, many simply are not. This world is truly filled with wolves in sheep's clothing, and we're only fooling ourselves by thinking otherwise.

The main issue is that we detest the idea of personal responsibility. And so we'll accept, believe, completely fall for whatever we can as long as it sounds good enough knowing that if it proves false, then we've got someone or something else to blame for our failures to make the better choices we should have made. If a singer hides a somewhat twisted ideology in their songs, well, that's on them for not respecting us enough to keep things upright and true. If a TV show displays some rather graphic scenes or obscene language, well, the writers should know better than put that out there for anyone and everyone to maybe stumble across.

If a preacher gets a sermon out of context, well, that's his fault. No, it's ours for not looking into Scripture for ourselves.

It's our fault for not listening or watching or reading or thinking or living with discernment. Friends, as I said above, this our eternal souls on the line. And while pastors and singers and entertainers and influencers can share messages that are hopefully laden with truth and aimed at encouraging us toward Christ, it is completely on us to ensure that we are walking the right direction and not allowing anything or anyone to keep yanking us backward.

In our faith, that personal connection is simply crucial. We have to build a relationship with Christ, not simply with a bunch of others who claim to be doing so. This has to be personal, because we find ourselves standing all alone before the judgement seat of the good Lord above, it will be very personal then. And if we failed or fell short, we'll have nobody to turn to when we're turned away from the promise that apparently didn't mean enough to warrant our full devotion and utmost care.