When I look out into the world today, it’s hard to understand how so many things that were never even a question in the past are now the only things people talk about. Events like mass shootings didn’t exist, and assassinations were extremely rare. Since guns have not changed and we have more laws than ever, I have to lay the blame on us. We have changed.
In the 60s and 70s, the question always seemed to be, “Who am I?” But the answer never materialized because people persistently looked inside themselves for the answer. Nevertheless, these existential questions remained, as did the insistence on finding the answer within. This obviously self-referential approach to discovering an objective answer is, of course, as self-defeating as it is self-referential. But the questions continued.
Now, the questions have changed. We are not only asking “who am I,” but “what am I?” Using nothing but our feelings as a reference, we get some strange, even bizarre, answers. Our feelings are highly variable; many things can alter them, which makes them useless as a compass. Today, we have made our feelings god; our feelings determine right and wrong. Our only goal is to be and do what we want—but without negative consequences. Sin never changes. Sin always begins with something we hold as more important than our relationship to the true God.
For a while now, I have been amazed and confused by how many people have accepted the notion that you can change the reality of biology by simply saying, “That’s not me, that’s not the way I feel.” This phenomenon was baffling to me. However, as I thought about what was under it, I realized the expressions may be new, but the motivation is ancient.
Two thousand years ago, the apostle Paul made observations that could have been made this morning. Consider this:
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. Romans 1:18-25 [ESV]
Paul describes this downward slide in five major steps in this passage.
Step 1: Suppress the truth
They do this by refusing to recognize God's work in creation, though the evidence for many of His divine attributes is clearly visible to all who will honestly look.
Step 2: Refuse to acknowledge God
The obvious outcome of refusing to see the evidence for God in creation is refusing to acknowledge God entirely. Leaving only humanity to play the role of God.
Step 3: Follow gods of our own making
Having rejected the true God, we decide what we will devote ourselves to. As we continue to play God, our overinflated egos lie to us, making us think we can define ourselves right down to our gender, genders, or the lack thereof. We lie to ourselves, imagining that only we can define what we will and will not be and what we will devote ourselves to.
Step 4: Pursue their various lusts
Having created an imaginary world where we alone make the rules, we are now free to engage in any desire or lust that comes to mind. And since we have deluded ourselves entirely at this point into thinking we are our own final authority, and really, the only authority, we resent anyone who says otherwise.
Step 5: Worship the creature rather than the Creator
We abandon God to worship ourselves and the things we have made. God allows us to do this because love can’t be forced or coerced. We have abandoned Him to follow every whim of our overstimulated desires, and as we continue reading what Paul describes next, we find a tragic progression that leads to depravity and ultimately judgment and destruction. Why? Because we are not God. Our desires will destroy us like they have destroyed every nation and empire before us.
The lie the serpent told Adam and Eve is that by breaking free of God’s rule, they could become as gods themselves.1 The human heart has not changed, nor have the lies we believe.
The Way Forward
There is a way out, but we must abandon our current self-centered path, repent, and turn to Jesus. The way of Jesus is the way of God—the true God. I am not who I feel I am; I am who God says I am. I am what God says I am.
God is our creator. He does not ask us to repent and turn to Him; He requires it. And He has been doing this for thousands of years. Many nations and empires have fallen before us; we will not be an exception.
We need to begin with personal repentance. We must abandon our way to walk the way of Jesus, no matter the cost. But we also need to own the sins of our nation and culture. We can’t smuggly snort in their general direction and say, “At least I’m not like them!”
When Daniel prayed over the sins2 of his nation, he did not talk about “their sins” to God; he confessed “our sins” to God. For the believers in this country, or anyone reading this, the sins of our people are our sins. We need to pray for mercy and grace for ourselves and for our nation.
We do not live in a vacuum. We live in a culture, and we are responsible to be all that God made us to be in our culture, regardless of the outcome. This is why I admire Charlie Kirk. While everyone wants to talk about his politics, his politics were not nearly as important as the proclamation of his faith. He knew the risk of standing for Jesus, but continued to stand nonetheless. He was abused, slandered, and ultimately murdered, but he stood offering the hope of Jesus in places many Christians have abandoned. He remained faithful in the face of threats, slander, and hatred. Many grieved his murder, but many cheered. People have not changed. The same crowd that cheered the death of Jesus and mocked while he suffered, cheered the death of Charlie. We need to repent.
Daniel never experienced the salvation he foresaw, but he was an important part of God’s plan to bring it about. We need to follow Daniel’s example, pray for our nation, stand in the truth, and walk the way of Jesus in a broken world. The joy of Jesus is found in His presence, and we are in His presence as we follow Him into this fallen world with good news of a better kingdom. The King is coming soon.
Have a great week!
Times like these make us ask questions about the future. If you have wondered about what the Bible says about these troubled times and what the fully realized kingdom of God looks like, consider this reader’s guide to Revelation.
It was written to help people who struggle to understand these trying times find encouragement in this beautiful but often misunderstood book.
Genesis 3
Daniel 9:1-19
