One thing that Western Christians find it hard to grasp - and typically deny - is that they are surrounded on all sides by enemies...
Together with an admixture of those who are either indifferent or too feebly-motivated to intervene when it is in any way inexpedient.
The reason I say that Christians find this hard to grasp, is twofold:
1. The insatiable appetite, on a daily or hourly basis, for outraging over over Yet Further Evidence that Christians (and indeed anyone capable of common sense and learning from personal experience) are surrounded by enemies.
People never seem to tire of seeking and experiencing this kind of outrage, without ever getting any further or drawing general conclusions about the nature of reality, the nature of the world: and the motivations of those who control our world.
Outrage and outrage, yet without realizing that Of Course such things happen All The Time! Happen quite naturally and inevitably; because the entirety of the major cultural institutions are now (and for many years have been) net corrupted; they have adopted significant value-inversion: they have taken the side of evil in the spiritual war of this mortal world...
Which is presumably why outrage-generating events are produced and publicized in such abundance.
2. The tireless search for harbingers of positive change among the mainstream leadership class of politicians, journalists, Chief Executives and the like.
There is clearly a deep-rooted expectation that the trend towards evil will - some time, soon - be turned-around by Someone from among those with power, wealth and high status.
So - the words and actions of the rich/ famous and influential are fine-tooth-combed for any slightest evidence of common sense, realism, decency, honesty - and, when any such is found, hopes of an Establishment Saviour well-up yet again, for the hundredth, the thousandth time...
The expectation of the return pendulum swing, the tidal reverse, the reaction against excess, the first signs of awakening from hypnotic sleep...
It is astonishing how difficult it is for people to recognize the obvious:
(Apart from a few family, and maybe a handful of personal friends - if we are lucky...)
We are surrounded on all sides by evil-motivated and evil-obedient enemies.
7 comments:
I have a strange intuition that a 'great turning' will indeed occur, and probably very soon. There are many signs already. Morality, Justice, even Holiness, will seem to thrive. What will not be there is Love and Personality. It will be a hollow reenactment. It will be, in its essence, a lie - 'to deceive if possible even the elect' - because it will be a rejection of the whole point of the Incarnation and Resurrection, it will bring us back, not forward. I see the trad push for 'civilizational christianity' as a big part of this very deception, which will be nothing less than the reign of antichrist.
Your post and the conditions in the world make me think of Samuel the Lamanite excoriating the wicked Nephites, telling them they've brought upon themselves the evil influences that beset them:
Helaman 13:37
Behold, we are surrounded by demons;
yea, we are encircled about by the angels of him
who hath sought to destroy our souls.
Your point about evil-obedient enemies warrants reflection. Many on the side of evil are not motivated by it, merely obedient to it, but contrary to conventional "rationalizing" opinion, such obedience does not deserve or earn a "pass" -- at least not in my book.
It does seem like a trap. Like a bad entertainment product or addiction. Certainly the perpetual state of outrage is not the path to God, but a way to distract.
@Jashon - Yes. It seems characteristic of those who invite evil, follow it, and suffer from it; that they will not recognize the cause of their sufferings - because of the evil in themselves.
@Frank - Anyone who has taken a (small) step across the line of political correctness, pretty soon finds out how many people serve the interests of evil, how few will defend basic honesty.
@MA - I wish the outragers would stop and take on board the situation as it is (and has been so, for a long time), draw conclusions, then move-on from there.
“People never seem to tire of seeking and experiencing this kind of outrage...” So FAITH in the Lord Jesus Christ is displaced by an endless cycle of rage over whatever thing our enemies choose to fling in our faces - always in manners and at times of THEIR choosing.
@Avro - Yes, that's the problem. Lots of people make a living from this kind of outrage - only because too many people want to consume it.
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