How Did it Start For You? Hebrews 1c thru 2a

Let me preface these comments with a hope that they do not apply to you! I'm talking about the tendency of society to drift into disorder and chaos, if left alone. Is this not what Science has concluded?

I just completed the book, The Road, by Cormac McArthy. It describes a world with no hope, no authority, no order. Gradually, the people lost their sense of humanity and compassion. They became more like animals. It's sad to think of the human race with such intelligence combined with so little moral bearing. We're too smart for our own good. If we think we can get away with it, we would do anything.

Enter God's plan. God knew this about us. There's a fine balance between intelligence, free-will, nobility, and purity, that God wants to strike with us. With intelligence comes judgment, the ability to choose right from wrong. The intelligence brings self-awareness. The smarter we are, the more aware of ourselves we become. There is a sickening juxtaposition of smarts and wisdom, where they paradoxically end up at odds with each other. We are self-aware, and it makes us self-ish. We feed our minds, and it feeds our egos.

So we had the severity of the Law in the Old Testament. We had rigid rules, to drive us back into growing up into spiritual beings . . . people that could love unselfishly. God's amazing plan would have us be intelligent and loving. This is a delicate blend that only an all-powerful and all-wise God could pull off!

Now, I look about myself today: Sexual looseness. Divorce. Hideous crimes on TV. Lying politicians. Kids that have seen it all on their cell phones, Cable TV, and the Internet. Babies born out of wedlock. Filty language is now the norm. Basic courtesies and etiquette are out the door. People that have not learned to sharpen one another. Harmful, nervous habits that eat away at people souls. Self-mutilation.

Interestingly, the decay in society today goes back to multiples of decisions made by individuals, that harm themselves first! These decisions harm others, when they see that someone they trust can make a bad choice, and nothing bad happens. There is an allure to wrongdoing that captivates humanity. We will do anything, if we can get away with it!

Unchecked, uncontrolled, un-stopped decline into a world we never could have dreamed would come around in our lifetimes!

A church that folded, (or actually, many). Believers that are today alienated from one another. People that once were like family, now focused more on possessions, money, and being "cool." Seeking the upper hand over others. A descent into chaos masked by people just getting for themselves, "what I've got coming to me." Children with more steps and halves than they can keep track of! A disintegration of family; true family; real family; the best form of family.

So how did your world get to where it is today? How did it start with you?

I remember a divorce that happened years ago. It happened to a young ministerial couple that was very effective with youth, and full of promise. It was a sad, devastating situation. It started with the young wife having an affair. The divorce was ugly. The two respective families separated totally, and years later still have not reconciled.

But the families had to accept it and "move on." The story had a tragic outcome, but it did not stop others from wanting to follow that example. Other family members and friends got divorced. Unmarried people began living together. Children were born out of wedlock. A rippling effect spread, and broke up families and churches.

I go back to that one divorce, that a young couple got away with. It became easier for the rest of us to push the boundaries.

Therefore we must pay more attention to what we have been told, or we could drift off course.

The writer of Hebrews knew what he was talking about. The statement is powerful, and to me prophetic. It's a warning, a prediction, a sage piece of advice.

We don't lurch suddenly ninety degrees from our walk with Christ. We drift.

Pay more attention to what we have been told. Friends, you've got to read your Bible, and discuss it!

I am in the final year of a decade-long Bible study. During that decade I experienced my own divorce. I would not recommend it to anybody. These other divorces only paved the way for other marriages like mine. It gets easier. We ignore what the Bible says about divorce and marriage.

We drift, and we hardly notice it.

I don't know how we take back the territory we lost in the culture war. It's hard to imagine us drifting back into righeousness. I fear that the only thing that works is to be shocked back into it. We must hold the Word of God before the world, like a light.

But first of all, by all means, stop the drift!