If this life is all we have, then Western Civilization was right all along. When you strip it bare down to the core, the very heart and soul of Western Civilization is anti-Christian materialism. Everything about it assumes there can be no value to anything which does not promote creature comfort in this life. It utterly rejects the notion of the Fall, of human sin nature, and assumes you must make the most of things here and now. Even with all the nice words about eternity, Western Civilization perverts the notion so it means nothing.
Thus, we in America today are so wrapped around this devilish lie, we can hardly be taught to do what’s right. It requires massive plowing and destroying what stands in order to heal it down deep at the roots. An entire epoch of human history is built on sand, and that is Western Civilization.
Everything you dream of as the goals of your life are probably utterly sinful, whether you are a full blown Spirit-filled Christian or not. The Bible says we must give our entire focus to the Life beyond this world, and the only thing which matters here is how well we advertise that truth. I’ll cite some prime examples.
Sexual fulfillment is not a human need, not a right. It is an appetite of the flesh, and God has tightly, strictly ruled how it shall be fulfilled. Any other route is evil. No, God says you have no right to expect good sex or even bad sex, because you have no business demanding it in the first place. Your proper attitude is accept what He provides with grateful heart, and don’t let it own you. Sex is marriage in God’s eyes, so all the rules about marriage applies. The only reason we think this is cold and ruthless, that calling it life and joy is somehow perverted, is because our cultural perversion regarding sex runs all the way down to the roots, the very soil itself. No, I’m not promoting what you may think is Victorian or Puritanical, because that’s just a false counter raised to scare you. The real deal in God’s eyes is so foreign, I’m not sure writing a book or two would be enough to dispel the mythology.
Clinging to his life is evil. For folks who are spiritually dead, this life is all they have, and eternal torment is what follows. That is the natural concern of those who don’t know Christ. But for us who know Him, we can’t wait to escape this world. God keeps us here at His pleasure, and it is neither punishment nor a blessing to live long. What is a blessing is having a long train of good testimony of divine truth, of a life which reveals Him. For us, this life is not precious; it is to be endured. We aren’t here to grab a little gusto. It would appear to be some sort of gusto though, because we value it so lightly, we would bravely face almost anything for His name. It will seem we are a candle burning brightly and burning out quickly, and fatalism is awfully close to the truth. Children dying is not a tragedy to the children, but to us who love them. Children suffering is a tragedy because they tend not to understand, but tragedy is a good basic description of this life, because suffering is built into the nature of things. We don’t need to pursue what makes for a good life, but what makes for a good witness.
Your dreams are lies. Do you dream of a good education, a good career, a home and kids, and the same stuff for them? You are deluded, and God is not pleased. If your career matters much at all to you, God will have a very hard time using you. Retirement? It’s just a tool: useful, but not worth much effort. Economic rootlessness is not a sin, contrary to everything we are taught. It’s not irresponsible to be poor in the face of economic opportunity. It’s irresponsible to think it matters at all. If God has given you children, He does not require you to sacrifice everything for their apparent welfare and happiness. Try to understand this line from an obscure song: “We would rather our children be martyrs than murderers.” That’s godly; that’s biblical. Insofar as you are in charge of your children’s lives, God holds you accountable to Him for your commitments, not what you manage to do, and He demands sacrifice from the heart, which means you place them in His hands. Do what your conscience demands, and if that deprives them of the American dream, you have done well by them nonetheless, because they will have seen the truth of things. If they react poorly, that is not your problem, because the only thing you owe them is truth, not happiness.
There is no significant difference between violence by police and violence by criminals. Not every act of violence is unwarranted by either group, but a great many times both will assault and kill people for entirely personal gratification. Crooks don’t want your resistance for their nefarious deeds, and neither do police. That the police are paid by the government has no bearing on the issue, only that it means they are more likely to get away with it. When the public demands a criminal be punished, the state will comply only if it matches state needs. Often they simply won’t bother. The state rarely offers a policeman the same penalties for precisely the same criminal acts as non-state violators. Simply because a policeman followed official policy does not make it right; it simply means you and I have no input on those policies. The state is almost entirely unresponsive to public demand, and certainly less responsive than almost every criminal who lives. Confront a professional crook with minimal force and statistics show he’ll move on to easier targets. Resist the state and you will most certainly be killed, especially more so when the cop and/or state is wrong. The difference is the state refuses to admit what it does is wrong.
We have a long, long way to go to get it right.
