Mark 1:5 is interesting and may have some application for today’s climate. There we read that the entire country of Judea was going out to hear John’s message of repentance from sin. Today that would seem odd would it not? To have a whole country turning out to hear a message that addresses their problems from the vantage point of its root cause.
But that happens every day. The difference is that there is more than one voice crying in the wilderness and there is more than one message. A quick obvious example, the debate last Wednesday night; north or 70 million people watched. Listened for a solution to their pain; hoped for an answer; did they get it? No.
Rather than looking for solutions to a root problem, people are settling for quick fixes. The good news is that people know there is a problem. They just do not know, for the most part what it is. Instead of listening to a message of repentance, they flock to a message of entitlement. Our challenge as believers is to gently remind them that the answer is not in jobs, money, politics, national defense, environmental stewardship or any other thing that is being debated or demagogued during this season. We have to clearly state that the problem is still what John shared in the wilderness and that the answer is to follow the One whom he baptized there.
Rather than looking for solutions to a root problem, people are settling for quick fixes. The good news is that people know there is a problem. They just do not know, for the most part what it is. Instead of listening to a message of repentance, they flock to a message of entitlement. Our challenge as believers is to gently remind them that the answer is not in jobs, money, politics, national defense, environmental stewardship or any other thing that is being debated or demagogued during this season. We have to clearly state that the problem is still what John shared in the wilderness and that the answer is to follow the One whom he baptized there.
Not much to add to this; I totally agree.
ReplyDeleteOne comment, the fact that people realize there is a problem means that they WILL go for a solution. God described it to Jeremiah in Chapter 2 "My people have committed two evils; They have forsaken Me, The fountain of living waters, To hew for themselves cisterns, Broken cisterns, That can hold no water.".
Everything being presented is a broken cistern (perhaps some "less" broken than others); at the end of the day, the people are going to vote for one.
Great thought. Thanks.
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