Monday 11/18/19 6:08 AM
I know many Christians who long for the end of the world. They are discouraged by our dysfunctional world and long for Christ’s return, when evil will be punished and things will be set right. I long for the day when things will be set right too but an excerpt from In the Christian Spirit, by Louis Evely, that I read this morning gives a different viewpoint. He writes, “To believe in God is to believe in the salvation of the world. The paradox of our time is that those who believe in God do not believe in the salvation of the world, and those who believe in the future of the world do not believe in God. … To love God is to love the world. To love God passionately is to love the world passionately. To hope in God is to hope for the salvation of the world. … God seeks among us sons and daughters who resemble him enough, who love the world enough that he could send them into the world to save it.”
Most people recognize that things are not the way they should be in our world today. It seems that many who are the most concerned about righting social injustice, protecting fragile ecosystems, curbing global warming, etc., are atheists. At the same time many Christians do very little or even oppose those seeking solutions to the world’s ills, and instead long for Christ’s return, when he will solve all the world’s problems. Evely seems to argue that if Christians truly loved God they would also love the world and do all within their power to protect and redeem it. Christians should be on the forefront of the fight, leading the way, rather than belittling those who are concerned and attempting to do something about it, or hindering their efforts.
It’s no wonder people are not attracted to the modern church and perceive it as those who hate the world and the people within it. The people of God need to adopt Christ’s attitude of putting others’ needs before their own, seeking the good of others before seeking what is good for themselves, and sacrificing their resources and using their influence for the benefit of others. Those attitudes and actions align with God’s attitude and action and would do more to effect changes in society and within the hearts of those who do not believe in God.
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