I'm Mad

 

Image courtesy of sumetho / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

 

 

I’m mad.  Is that wrong?  I’m mad at the government.  I’m mad at our so-called leaders.  I’m mad at President Obama.  And I’m mad at every cotton-picking person in this country. 

Okay, maybe that’s taking it a bit too far.  But I am pretty ticked off at the world right now.  Why is it that the world has seemed to have gone crazy? 

Oh, I know.  I’m not supposed to get mad, be disrespectful, or voice my opinion because I’m a Christian.  Or something like that.

The truth is there are probably certain things I’m saying right now that I shouldn’t.  I shouldn’t even be thinking them.  But I’m human.  Flesh and blood.  Christians have feelings and emotions just like anyone else.  The mature ones, the ones that are walking closely to God, live under the control of the Holy Spirit.  I think I would do good to be controlled by the Holy Spirit than my crazy thoughts.

I just can’t understand why right seems wrong and wrong seems right to so many people.  Somehow under the guise of political correctness things have been turned upside down.  I guess it’s like when the Bible states how every man does what seems right in his own eyes.  It’s utter chaos.

We have a president that seems to care nothing about anything other than his own agenda.  If it doesn’t fit within the scope of his plans then the media and his faithful minions group together to squash his detractors.

Take the Affordable Care Act for example.  Despite not having the full support of the American people and knowing how unpopular this law was and is, President Obama and his minions had to use some form of political maneuvering to get the thing passed.  It wouldn’t have gotten passed had it not been for some unethical procedural moves.  The thing is is that this law should have been under heavier scrutiny.  It should had been more difficult for it to have been passed.  It affects something like a fifth of the economy!  And even beyond the financial implications are several spiritual ones as well.  Abortion is the first thing that comes to mind.  But despite all this, the liberals forced it down our throats and now we’re having to “find out what’s in the bill” a little bit over time.

It makes me mad to think that we have a runaway government that does whatever it seems to please.  We have a president that pretends he is a Christian talking about Jesus being his Lord and Savior and even promoting the idea of dignity of every human being.  Then in the same token, before a different crowd, he asks God to bless Planned Parenthood, the consistent killer of unborn children.  Where’s the dignity in that?  There’s no accountability and not enough people to care to turn this monstrosity around.

No, unfortunately we live in a world that would rather live in its own vomit.  So to speak of course.  The Bible mentions this in the same way a man returns to his folly.  People are quite content with the sin in their lives and would rather not give it up.  Some make jokes about this saying things like they’ll be partying in hell with their friends.  If only these people truly understood hell.  It’s not like any of us do, mind you.  But the Bible does give us a glimpse of what it’ll be like and it’s not good. 

Perhaps the most distressing thing about hell is the absence of God.  And what is God?  Or rather what are the characteristics and attributes of God that will be missing?  Love, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, patience, longsuffering, and God’s grace are only a few.  What people fail to realize is that God’s presence is felt every day in this world.  God has not removed Himself but His presence is everywhere, for saints and sinners alike.  God is still holding the balance of the universe together.  He is being patient, He is being faithful, He is being loving every day. 

Some might think that there is no God because there is so much bad in the world.  People hurt, suffer, and die.  Many people go through unbearable pain.  There is a lot that can’t be explained away even with Judeo Christian theology.  I think that stuff like this happens to draw us closer to God.  It’s through the sorrow and the misery that gets us to realize our utter dependency upon God.  No matter what we think about the bad in the world, the reality is that we brought this upon ourselves through our sinful natures. 

What we should really ask ourselves is why should God show good to us?  Why should we have the opportunity to find peace, love, and joy?  We have sinned against our Creator!  We deserve what we deserve.  The Bible says that the wages of sin is death.  So if we’re to be mad at God, we should probably first look at ourselves, our own misguided thoughts and behavior, in the mirror.  If anything, we should wonder why God would lavish His love on such an unlovable people?  Why would God send His one and only Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for our sins to save us?

We’re such an ungrateful people.  Instead of opening our eyes and realizing the extent to which God has gone to love us and restore us so we can have a relationship with Him, we push God aside.  We say no thank you and decide instead to wallow in our sin.  Some joke about hell and think that will be such a fun place to be with no rules or restrictions.  Heaven, of course, is some boring place where angels just sit on clouds playing the harp.  Who cares about that?

The question is is hell that great a place?  Is hell some place where anyone wants to be?  Think about that.  Hell is going to be a complete surprise to so many people.  Unfortunately, by saying no to God, they’re actually saying yes to hell.  We may not have all the facts about hell, but God does give us an idea of what hell is like through science.  What is cold?  Isn’t cold the absence of heat?  What is darkness?  Isn’t darkness the absence of light?  In the same sense, there is something significant that happens when God is removed from a place.  If God is all the things that was described above like love, kindness, and goodness, what happens when these attributes are removed?  Think about the worst nightmare you’ve ever had.  Amplify that experience a thousand fold.  I think that’s what hell is going to be like.

It sounds scary.  And it should.  It should cause us to think about our situation and where we are in relation to God.  In fact, it should cause us to fear God, who in turn controls not only the destination of our body, but our soul and spirit as well.  The Bible says that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.

Again, I can already hear the laughter and the mocking regarding hell.  Statements about who needs God and who cares about heaven anyway because it’s going to be so boring.  However, if God isn’t present it’s going to be about the worst place anyone could imagine.  The Bible says it’s a place where there’ll be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 

I guess these are the reasons I am mad.  I’m mad at a world that refuses to grow up.  In fact, it seems like it’s very much the opposite.  More and more it seems like we live in a world where adults are acting more like children.  And the children?  Well, it’s getting so bad with them that the word entitlement is becoming more common by the day.

People are turning away from God.  The world is going down the cesspool of sin and despair.  Doesn’t anybody else see this?  Of course I know some do.  There are actually quite a few godly men and women who are devoting their lives to making a difference in others.  But more and more it seems that the rest of the world doesn’t care.  Maybe that’s just the United States.  To be fair, I shouldn’t make such a blanket statement for the whole world because I generally only see the depravity taking place here.  I see the news on TV of course and read many blogs and articles about the depravity in other parts of the world but I experience it here in the United States.

So why do I go from talking about the government and its corruption to talking about sin, hell, and depravity?  It goes to the state of our culture.  It’s what we as a people tolerate.  We elect people who represent our ideals and how we view the world.  We basically get what we deserve.  You may think that these elected officials in no way represent you and what you believe but why do we then tolerate them?  These people would not be consistently reelected to office if we weren’t okay with how they’re representing us.  No, I think that they represent what is going on in our culture.  We tolerate them like we tolerate sin.  And sin in turn takes every advantage and destroys everything good in our lives.

But it isn’t just the government that makes me mad.  Hollywood and the main stream media make me mad as well.  They promote homosexual lifestyles as being the norm.  They produce films and TV shows that pull at people’s heartstrings to sympathize with the plight of the homosexual’s mores.  And of course the sexual depravity began with the open onslaught against Biblical principles regarding heterosexual lifestyles.  They promote casual sex, adultery, pornography, the sex slave trade, and sympathy for the child molesters.  You say you don’t believe any of this?  Then you’re not paying attention.  Look at how they’re defending Woody Allen.  How much attention is given to the sex trafficking taking place at the Super Bowl?

To be fair, not all Christians have responded to sin appropriately either.  There seems to be for some a deep hatred toward those with sinful lifestyles.  These people don’t correctly reflect the attitude that Christians should have toward our culture.  The Christian church has enough to deal with when it comes to judging people within its own community, which is appropriate.  The goal there is to restore and train those within the church toward godliness.  But the goal toward those outside the church is to reflect God’s love and draw people into a relationship with the Savior Jesus Christ.

I believe many in the culture look at Christians as being hateful and self-righteous.  There may be some truth to that view and that is to the shame of the Church.  Not to provide excuses but many Christians are still in the growing process themselves.  Many are infants spiritually speaking.  It would do us well if the leaders in the Church would take appropriate measures to reign in hateful and ungodly behavior when engaging our culture.  Some local churches do this very well.  Many do not.

I am mad, that is true.  Maybe I’m mad because I know things will progressively get worse.  The pursuit of righteousness will seem to go by the wayside.  People will continue to love evil more than good.  People’s hearts will grow cold and their thoughts will be far from God.  The Book of Revelations shows us what that will be like.

I am mad.  There’s a Biblical reference to having an anger that is righteous.  It involves a perspective toward sinful attitudes such as hating sin.  I think the issue is not not being mad.  The issue is one not sinning in that anger.

But then again, maybe I shouldn’t be mad.  I know who the ultimate Victor is in the end.  I know that God is patient and not willing that any should perish but come to repentance.  That’s where I should direct my energy.  I can’t do much to change the nature of sin and how people seem to be drawn to it.  But I can commit myself to living for Christ and making much of Jesus.  Only Jesus can change a person’s heart.  If I live to introduce others to Jesus then I can have hope that the culture, government, and people can change, albeit one person at a time.