As I was praying in the shower last night, something began to stir on my heart that has often been a subject of reflection for me. With what is unfolding around us (both in our nation and abroad), I feel that this phenomenon is a matter of increasing urgemcy and importance for the church. It is the rise of what I’m calling the “False Justice Movement” – and hidden inside it is something evil and insidious.
Hypocrites?
It seems to me that right now, in our current climate, “hypocrite” has become one of culture’s favorite words. Men and woman of small character love to hurl that word at others. More often than not, in my opinion, it’s just an attempt to justify controversial opinions (at best), or to ease their own guilty conscience (at worst). The reality is, we’re ALL hypocrites, at least according to the working definition by which this insult is being exchanged. Unlike God, we have a limited capacity. We CAN’T carry a burden for every form of injustice in equal and simultaneous measure, or fight them all with equal passion. That doesn’t make us hypocrites, though. It makes us finite.
Diversity Generates Growth
It’s interesting to me how the church in our culture loves to divide itself into groups. We have “youth” group, “college” group, “singles” group, “young adult” group, “men’s” group, “women’s” group, so on and so forth. I’m not saying this is wrong, and I know it provides certain benefits. However, I think when that becomes our primary context, it really robs us of something. I believe that diversity provides the greatest context for growth. While it feels the most comfortable to be with others like us, those who can “commiserate” and closely relate with us in our season of life, we actually will experience the greatest forward momentum when fellowshipping with those across many different seasons of life. If you want to be called higher, find those who have lived through your season of life, steady in the Lord. If you want to regain something that the cares of life have choked out, find those who are young and vibrant, and allow yourself to be provoked. Again, this isn’t intended to speak out against having these groups across the board, as I know they have some value – just to remind us that there’s a real danger of inhibiting our growth if that becomes our primary fellowship environment.
Opposing the Tide of Moral Relativism
A steady bearing I see is the rising dominance of the philosophy, now increasing with each successive generation, which gives supreme significance to emotion, to the sentimental exhibition and outward appearance of good – while steadily diminishing the priority and importance of firm, unyielding values, absolute truth, and substance of character. Alarming. The church, which ought to be the bulwark standing firm against this tide of relativism, is rather participating whole-heartedly in this steady reversal of proper order. We applaud those who elevate humanity, who appeal to our emotion – without rightly testing the substance of their words and character against THE Word of God. Shame on us. We must pay heed, lest we are actually endorsing the spirit of the age (the anti-christ spirit), which above all things seeks to deceive by tempting our sentiment rather than our judgement. We are called to endorse a Kingdom which is yet to come – the values of which stand in such stark contrast to those of the world, that they are certain to incite anger and hate in those who are un-renewed.