One of my most influential mentors had a unique way of looking at the inevitable challenges and obstacles life brings our way. While my reaction might be one of discouragement or despair, he would look at the situation and say, “Isn’t that fascinating?” He didn’t fret or get upset, but would sit marveling in fascination. While a little cliché to say, he always saw opportunity within the dilemma. I admit to never mastering this mindset, which in some ways resembles the Apostle Paul’s admonition to rejoice in all things (Philippians 4:4).
Just as joy can be difficult to find amid tragedy, fascination is often the furthest thing from my mind when looking at the chaos of our world. But these times are fascinating in both their level of depravity and departure from the perfect life God intends for us to live. We all will do well to shift our perspective as we look toward the future.
For the last several centuries, the Western world could rally around the shared values of a Judeo-Christian belief system. Not all would call Jesus Lord, and there were numerous factions among the faithful regarding specifics of doctrine and theology. But that God’s laws were higher and more moral than our own was an accepted norm in society. After decades of immense blessings, this is no longer the case. We now find ourselves in a culture we can only describe as post-Christian. Isn’t that fascinating? God has not changed nor ceased calling sinners to Himself, but our world is walking away from Him.
Why would God’s creation walk away from their Creator? That is a fascinating and troubling question. The best this world can offer anyone is temporary pleasure and enjoyment. No matter how great the thrill or achievement, it will not last. In the end, everything in this life will burn away like dry kindling (2 Peter 3:10). Nothing will remain. What God offers is the gift of eternal life (Romans 6:23). Nothing that we do for Him will ever fade away (1 Corinthians 15:58), and His salvation is inexhaustible and irrevocable. Yet so many will choose the gifts they cannot keep over the one thing they cannot lose (Matthew 16:26). Isn’t that fascinating?
As we learn to navigate life in a post-Christian world, we will face challenges we’ve not yet had to deal with in our lifetime. When a Bible becomes illegal to own, how much of it will you have memorized? If there comes a time when buying and selling requires bowing your knee to a false god, how will you respond? How prepared are you to live in a world that is not just indifferent to Christianity but hostile towards it? As a body of believers, the time is coming, and is now here, when we will need to find new and creative ways to share the gospel and even to survive in a world intent on our destruction (Matthew 10:16).
I don’t think we can deny we are where we are because the Church as a whole, and if we’re honest, we as individuals, have not stood firm in our faith. We saw the compromise happening in our lives and our churches, and we did not push back with the force God demands when sin encroaches. We liked what was happening more than we loved the holiness of God (1 Peter 1:15-16). It’s too late to stem the tide now. We can’t go back. So, now Christian, what will you do? There are rough waters ahead, storms like we have never known. Do not forget God is in control and what is happening does not surprise or perplex Him (Isaiah 46:9-10). He is presenting us with an opportunity to stand like never before and to choose eternal life over temporal filth. What a privilege to have such a choice. Isn’t that fascinating? Do not waste this moment.