I trust this finds you well in the midst of your daily living.
I’m just curious, and would love to hear your perspective on this. Is it just me or is there a lot of noise in the house? I’m referring specifically to the numerous voices shouting so many things within the body of Christ, the living temple. I mean, does any of the following sound familiar?
Are you also tired of the noise? How is it that we Christians have become so good at outrage, to the extent that social media must be making a ton of money off us (and I imagine our enemy is laughing about it too?). It’s somewhat embarrassing isn’t it? After all, Jesus our Lord made it clear that it was by our love for one another that the world would know we are His disciples. As we like to say in South Africa: Eish! It’s as if we could teach the world a thing or two on how to treat each other with suspicion and how to manipulate and guilt people into following our preferred narrative (but we’ll put it under the label of being discerning and standing for truth).
What do you think lies at the root of this suspicion and outrage? I think its fear. Fear has such an incredible ability to strengthen and morph a belief system into a reason to hate someone. It’s like a minister friend of mine put it when he shared what his mentor once said to him: there is nothing wrong with fundamentalist theology as such, but there is plenty wrong with fundamentalist psychology. I found that to be very insightful!
I find myself having to work very hard at not being too easily swayed. I don’t want to be a believer motivated by fear of how the enemy might deceive me; I want to be motivated by faith and trust in the ability of Jesus to lead me. It’s just scary how quickly fear can fracture faith.
Something else bothers me about all the stuff I see Christians saying. Obviously Christians believe that they are speaking the truth, but with so many contradictory things being said, we’re obviously not all listening to the same Spirit are we? And so I find myself asking the Lord to please help me discern His voice more and more, because I have this annoying capacity to confuse my opinion with His truth.
By the way, with all the armchair critics and perspectives on the Middle East conflict, look at this quote I came across from a response to the Middle East Crisis. It comes from the “Peace and Reconciliation Network of the Middle East and North Africa.” They wrote a response which utilised the cry of Habbakuk “How long, O Lord?” and it included the following which stirred my heart:
And the answer is: In the breach. With the broken. For the sake of peace. As followers of Christ, our loyalty is not to those who fight wars of pride and fear, but to the One who said, “Blessed are the peacemakers.”
When every side is wrong—driven by domination, ego, and survival instincts—our call is not to pick a lesser evil but to embody the greater good.
To resist hatred.
To proclaim that war and violence destroy the humanity of both the aggressor and the victims of violence.
To live with hope.
To act faithfully in ways that reflects the Kingdom of God, not the kingdoms of man
And from that place, we say: “Lord, we have heard of Your fame. In Your mercy, repeat Your works in our day. But in wrath, remember mercy.”
Let us be like Habakkuk—honest, bold, faithful. Let our hope not depend on outcomes, but on the character of our God, who alone is able to bring life from death.
By the way, have you noticed how God seems to be gaining a bit of popularity again in the public sphere? It’s as if people are recognising that the idealism of various strands of secularism (such as humanism and scientism) is failing to deliver. Even Richard Dawkins had to acknowledge the contribution of Christianity to society by referring to himself as a cultural christian. New research is also revealing a trend of Gen Z men starting to go to church (not revival stuff but certainly an exciting trend developing). Do yourself a favour and look up Wes Huff, a Canadian apologist who has been doing the rounds on popular podcast shows, and presents the gospel very clearly (including on the Joe Rogan Experience).
So although there is a lot of noise in the house, we can celebrate that God is indeed still on the throne, and is moving by His Spirit in the hearts of men and women everywhere.
Let’s encourage one another to be disciples of depth, not noise. Let us be disciples who proclaim the excellency of our God, who sing His praise, who so loved this world that He would send His Son to die for us so that we can live: the gospel of grace remains amazing!
As the Moravian church puts it: Our Lamb has Conquered: let us follow Him.
In the midst of your personal life, look to Him and do not despair.
With much love
A fellow pilgrim