The Prevailing Age of Skepticism and Moral Degradation

"For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths." ~2 Timothy 4:3-4

Doubt seems to saturate modern American culture, permeating across all walks of life. I believe this mostly stems from moral corruption and the inability to accept the truth in terms of black and white. Instead, gray is the color that prevails. No longer will somebody "take your word for it." Everybody now insists on proof, like the Pharisees from Jesus' time, or just believe they know best as to what is right and wrong.
I had proof of this today at work. A group needed to travel to the campground that is five miles north from the one where I'm located. Instead of trusting the turn by turn directions that employees hand out to lost patrons, this man insisted on having the address to plug into his GPS so that he could find his way. Rather than following the black and white directions in front of him, he wanted to put his faith into an electronic device that hadn't brought him to the correct location in the first place.
This is just one example of the skepticism that appears to be running rampant in this generation. No longer does the majority accept Jesus' words from John 14:6, when he told Thomas, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." This completely goes against the relativist belief that truth is unique as perceived by the individual, as opposed to there being a singular, unconditional basis for truth. Erwin W. Lutzer touched on this disintegration and disappearance of truth in his book, Oprah, Miracles, and the New Earth, where he wrote, "Delusions are substituted for reality and the truth is set aside for a lie. And the consequences go on for all eternity." Many would prefer to doubt and be skeptical of others in order to preserve their own self-centered "happiness," rather than accept the Truth, which clearly outlines right and wrong, good and evil. But in this day and age, those lines are severely blurred due to the rejection of God and truth. As Lutzer said in his book, When a Nation Forgets God, "Without belief in God, nothing is unconditionally wrong."
When the majority of people do not believe that there are unconditional wrongs that bear consequences, anything goes so to speak, and morals fly out the window. This is extremely prevalent in news headlines and stories that promote gay marriage, premarital sex, political slander, and 50 Shades of Grey. Instead of the era of Lucy and Ricky sleeping in separate beds, television now promotes alcoholism, polygamy, and teen pregnancy. What's worse is that any Christian courageous enough to speak out and stand up for God's truth gets labeled a hate monger or accused of bigotry. Just this week, the owner of Chick-Fil-A commented on how he doesn't agree with gay marriage and he has endured lots of backlash over his comments. Apparently nobody wants to remember the First Amendment, or obey the truth within the Bible. They would prefer to insult those who do.
Christians must avoid getting sucked into this secular melee of corruption. The truth of the Gospel must be defended at all costs. Doing what is right in His eyes should always trump the fear of what the world might think of you. We must remember the words of Erwin W. Lutzer: "As Americans, we must keep in mind that the First Amendment was not intended to mean that atheists and agnostics have veto power over all those who believe in God." In order to win the battle against skeptics and degrading morals, we must speak the truth in love and live our lives for God's glory.

A Lesson From Job

"And he said...'The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.'" ~Job 1:21c,d

In my struggles to find a full time job, I have had a number of people tell me to read the Book of Job because Job was prone to struggle in his life. What strikes me, though, is that I don't feel like many people want to actually focus on the entirety of Job's situation. Most want to zoom in on the fact that his wealth was restored; not many want to contemplate the complete 180 his life took when Satan decided to mess with him and God allowed it. 

The "prosperity" Gospel seems to have ruined a percentage of modern day Christians. They view Christianity as some sort of get rich quick scheme or the easy way through life. They choose to focus on what they want from the Bible, mainly phrases like, "The Lord gave," as opposed to, "and the Lord has taken away." When things get taken away from us, some feel as if God has turned against them and no longer have faith in His sovereignty. This is definitely not what has happened. The truth of the matter is that God knows what is best for our lives and He removes particular jobs, people, etc., from our lives because they are not beneficial and don't radiate glory for God. Instead of acting like spoiled two year olds, privy to everything that we desire, why not analyze the purpose behind God's decisions and evaluate how to better glorify God? Coupled with this, Christians need to stop assuming that they know everything and accept the fact that God is Supreme and the in charge of not just our lives, but the entire world. Why else would it be written in 1 Corinthians 1:25, "For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men," if not for the fact that God knows and can conquer all?

Aside from my job search, something else that has alluded me in the past year has been my motivation to run. Ever since last May, I've had little desire to get up and out the door to enjoy this blessing. Instead, I've run for like a week and then taken months off at a time. I believe that this is because I need to remember the difficulty of starting to run again in order to sympathize with other beginning runners. Also, I think God wants me to remember that He is the reason I am able to run and I forget that fact when I'm in a routine. Too easily I might believe that I can run because of my own abilities, and not because of the abilities He has granted. 

Recently, though, I have started running again. I know that God is providing the motivation because I have no desire to roll out of bed in the morning and put on my running shoes, but I have anyway. I figure if I'm not completely awake when I get on the road, my body won't totally understand what is happening until I'm too far into the run to turn back. This morning was the first time in a long while that I actually felt my normal stride come back, and I attribute that to God helping me get out of bed today, thanks to my cat. She insists on drinking from the faucet every morning at around 5am, give or take 30 minutes, and I finally determined that taking advantage of the cool weather might be beneficial. I'm so glad I had the opportunity because I got to see a beautiful sunrise and finally enjoy the sport that has been apart of my life for the past 16 years. Though the Lord had originally taken away my motivation, now He has returned it to me.