A mocker resents correction. He will not consult the wise. ~Proverbs 15:12
The discerning heart seeks knowledge, but the mouth of the wicked feeds on folly. ~Proverbs 15:14.
The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal creator for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served created things rather than the creator, who is forever praised. Amen! Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, He gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them. ~Romans 1:18-23; 25-26; 28; 32
The time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. ~2 Timothy 4:3-5
While it might be tempting to write a devotional full of pointing fingers and “Us versus Them,” hand wringing, today, I am moved more with grief and pity because of the knowledge of what may lie ahead for all of us. I remember a quote from, I believe, Dylan Thomas that says: “There is none so blind as those who will not see.” Does that describe our present age and culture?
Sadly, though things may seem worse now, this is nothing new. In Ecclesiastes, Solomon laments: “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again. There is nothing new under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9) We may not be in as much of a “New Age,” as we think. While we deal with our present distress, let us thank God that there are Biblical resources to help us respond, even as with godly sorrow we lament that the resources are there because God has had repeatedly to respond to human failure.
“A mocker resents correction; he will not consult the wise.” “The discerning heart seeks knowledge, but the mouth of the wicked feeds on folly.” That describes so many today. God’s signature is all around, but so many refuse to acknowledge it. Why? Well, I suppose that there are some, as we discussed yesterday who prefer hanging on to their willful, sinful thoughts and behaviors, rather than go through the pain of letting go of them and walking in the truth.
I am compelled today, however, to think about the Church and wonder how we have lost the ability to communicate with them and attract them to the path of truth at all. I’m thinking about the fact that the more we lose our voice, the more our culture will drift, pulling all of us along in that drift, no matter how much we, as individuals try to stay true. When the Church and its message become irrelevant, we’re all in trouble.
I grieve for those who are lost. I grieve for those who prefer the lie to the truth. What is that saying, “Be careful what you wish for.” If they are wishing that the lie is true, even when we know that it is not, if we have no voice, we too will suffer the consequences of a degrading, demoralized society, along with those who do not know. But is it their fault for being human? Or does the Church bear much responsibility for not making and keeping mature disciples? The Church was supposed to keep growing, like leaven in a pile of dough, until it worked its way through it all and changed everything.
We may all pay a price for the Church’s distractedness. We may all pay a price for the Church’s fortress mentality. We may all pay the price for the Church not being the Church, on mission, through every age because the truth is, the world has always needed the Church and it’s gospel message even though the world has not known that that’s what it needs.
The Church has done a great disservice to the world by allowing itself to become trendy, fearful and self-protective. God may hand people over to their depraved minds, but the Church may have to answer the question, “Why didn’t you care more to hold them back?” There may be much for us to grieve over here, as the Church, for being part of the problem more than the solution.
I am often amazed when I read the prayers of the Old Testament prophets such as Ezra, Nehemiah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Daniel when they pray for Israel. When they pray concerning Israel’s sins, they pray as if they too were part of the problem, as if they had committed the sins that Israel is guilty of. When I read their prayers, I start to think, but you didn’t do those things, personally. You’re not guilty of those evils. You shouldn’t be saying “we did so and so,” you should be saying, “They did so and so and it’s their fault that we’re in this mess.”
But the prophets, though personally innocent, always help to shoulder the guilt of their people. Consider a few lines of this prayer of Daniel’s to explain what I mean. “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant of love with all who love Him and obey His commands, we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and rebelled. We have turned away from Your commands and laws. We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your Name to our kings, our princes and our fathers, and to all the people of the land…All Israel has transgressed Your law and turned away, refusing to obey You…We do not make requests of You because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For Your sake, O my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people bear Your Name.” (Daniel 9:4-6; 11-19)
How much of that do you think Daniel was really, personally responsible for? None of it. He wasn’t even in Israel while Israel had kings and he certainly lived a life close to God. Yet, he helped to shoulder the guilt of his people and prayed for God to move for their benefit. I think that needs to be our attitude as part of the Church today.
We may not be personally responsible for its withdrawal from culture, allowing culture to become more depraved. We may not be responsible for the Church losing its voice. We may not be personally responsible for promoting a form of Jesus that is untrue, or that the world rejects. However, as much as we are responsible, we need to repent, and then pray, as Daniel did, owning our contribution to the problem, if there is that to bear. Then we should help to shoulder the rest to pray for God’s mercy, as Daniel set the example.
Prayer: O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant of love with all who love Him and obey His commands, we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and rebelled. We have turned away from Your commands and laws. We have not obeyed Your Will in Christ. We have not listened to Your servants the pastors, who spoke in Your Name to us and to our governmental leaders, and to all the people of the land. Your Church O Lord has become lukewarm despite Your warning about that in Rev. 3:16. Your Church has forgotten its true mission and turned away, refusing to obey You. But now Lord, not because we are good, but because of your great mercy. O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O, Lord, hear and act! For Your sake, O my God, do not delay, because Your Church and Your people bear Your Name. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Song: Hear Us from Heaven
The discerning heart seeks knowledge, but the mouth of the wicked feeds on folly. ~Proverbs 15:14.
The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal creator for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served created things rather than the creator, who is forever praised. Amen! Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, He gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them. ~Romans 1:18-23; 25-26; 28; 32
The time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. ~2 Timothy 4:3-5
While it might be tempting to write a devotional full of pointing fingers and “Us versus Them,” hand wringing, today, I am moved more with grief and pity because of the knowledge of what may lie ahead for all of us. I remember a quote from, I believe, Dylan Thomas that says: “There is none so blind as those who will not see.” Does that describe our present age and culture?
Sadly, though things may seem worse now, this is nothing new. In Ecclesiastes, Solomon laments: “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again. There is nothing new under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9) We may not be in as much of a “New Age,” as we think. While we deal with our present distress, let us thank God that there are Biblical resources to help us respond, even as with godly sorrow we lament that the resources are there because God has had repeatedly to respond to human failure.
“A mocker resents correction; he will not consult the wise.” “The discerning heart seeks knowledge, but the mouth of the wicked feeds on folly.” That describes so many today. God’s signature is all around, but so many refuse to acknowledge it. Why? Well, I suppose that there are some, as we discussed yesterday who prefer hanging on to their willful, sinful thoughts and behaviors, rather than go through the pain of letting go of them and walking in the truth.
I am compelled today, however, to think about the Church and wonder how we have lost the ability to communicate with them and attract them to the path of truth at all. I’m thinking about the fact that the more we lose our voice, the more our culture will drift, pulling all of us along in that drift, no matter how much we, as individuals try to stay true. When the Church and its message become irrelevant, we’re all in trouble.
I grieve for those who are lost. I grieve for those who prefer the lie to the truth. What is that saying, “Be careful what you wish for.” If they are wishing that the lie is true, even when we know that it is not, if we have no voice, we too will suffer the consequences of a degrading, demoralized society, along with those who do not know. But is it their fault for being human? Or does the Church bear much responsibility for not making and keeping mature disciples? The Church was supposed to keep growing, like leaven in a pile of dough, until it worked its way through it all and changed everything.
We may all pay a price for the Church’s distractedness. We may all pay a price for the Church’s fortress mentality. We may all pay the price for the Church not being the Church, on mission, through every age because the truth is, the world has always needed the Church and it’s gospel message even though the world has not known that that’s what it needs.
The Church has done a great disservice to the world by allowing itself to become trendy, fearful and self-protective. God may hand people over to their depraved minds, but the Church may have to answer the question, “Why didn’t you care more to hold them back?” There may be much for us to grieve over here, as the Church, for being part of the problem more than the solution.
I am often amazed when I read the prayers of the Old Testament prophets such as Ezra, Nehemiah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Daniel when they pray for Israel. When they pray concerning Israel’s sins, they pray as if they too were part of the problem, as if they had committed the sins that Israel is guilty of. When I read their prayers, I start to think, but you didn’t do those things, personally. You’re not guilty of those evils. You shouldn’t be saying “we did so and so,” you should be saying, “They did so and so and it’s their fault that we’re in this mess.”
But the prophets, though personally innocent, always help to shoulder the guilt of their people. Consider a few lines of this prayer of Daniel’s to explain what I mean. “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant of love with all who love Him and obey His commands, we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and rebelled. We have turned away from Your commands and laws. We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your Name to our kings, our princes and our fathers, and to all the people of the land…All Israel has transgressed Your law and turned away, refusing to obey You…We do not make requests of You because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For Your sake, O my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people bear Your Name.” (Daniel 9:4-6; 11-19)
How much of that do you think Daniel was really, personally responsible for? None of it. He wasn’t even in Israel while Israel had kings and he certainly lived a life close to God. Yet, he helped to shoulder the guilt of his people and prayed for God to move for their benefit. I think that needs to be our attitude as part of the Church today.
We may not be personally responsible for its withdrawal from culture, allowing culture to become more depraved. We may not be responsible for the Church losing its voice. We may not be personally responsible for promoting a form of Jesus that is untrue, or that the world rejects. However, as much as we are responsible, we need to repent, and then pray, as Daniel did, owning our contribution to the problem, if there is that to bear. Then we should help to shoulder the rest to pray for God’s mercy, as Daniel set the example.
Prayer: O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant of love with all who love Him and obey His commands, we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and rebelled. We have turned away from Your commands and laws. We have not obeyed Your Will in Christ. We have not listened to Your servants the pastors, who spoke in Your Name to us and to our governmental leaders, and to all the people of the land. Your Church O Lord has become lukewarm despite Your warning about that in Rev. 3:16. Your Church has forgotten its true mission and turned away, refusing to obey You. But now Lord, not because we are good, but because of your great mercy. O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O, Lord, hear and act! For Your sake, O my God, do not delay, because Your Church and Your people bear Your Name. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Song: Hear Us from Heaven
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