Photo by Aaron Buerdon on Unsplash
Last week, I began a journey before God the Holy Spirit took me down a rabbit hole, which became last week’s post.
Today, I am picking up the journey where we left off.
The Apostle Paul, in his writings to the Christ-followers in Rome, amazingly describes the 21st century.
But the basic reality of God is plain enough. Open your eyes and there it is!
By taking a long and thoughtful look at what God has created, people have always been able to see what their eyes as such can’t see: eternal power, for instance, and the mystery of his divine being. So nobody has a good excuse.
What happened was this: People knew God perfectly well, but when they didn’t treat him like God, refusing to worship him, they trivialized themselves into silliness and confusion so that there was neither sense nor direction left in their lives.
They pretended to know it all, but were illiterate regarding life.
They traded the glory of God who holds the whole world in his hands for cheap figurines you can buy at any roadside stand.
So God said, in effect, “If that’s what you want, that’s what you get.” It wasn’t long before they were living in a pigpen, smeared with filth, filthy inside and out.
Romans 1:19-24 The Message
WHAT HAPPENED WAS THIS
- People knew God perfectly well.
I am an American, born and raised in the South (Florida, to be precise). I only point this out because my posts are read all over the globe.
Growing up, I had respect for elders and the church. Prejucious existed, but people were polite, helpful, and kind for the most part.
As an adult, I have traveled to third-world countries where I experienced kindness and hospitality.
It wasn’t a drastic change, more subtle at first, but by the mid-1980s, greed gripped the country.
The impact of the church began experiencing a decline, and people weren’t as kind as they once were.
God became tolerated, and respect for your fellow man (in the generic sense of the word) was eroding.
- Refusing to worship him.
By the early 2000s, people were doing whatever pleased them. God was almost an afterthought or an oft-used curse word.
Church attendance declined as transfer growth moved those still attending church into larger (mega) church establishments.
“My personal Jesus” became a term for those who claimed to have a form of religious life.
- They trivialized themselves.
It started with men—the male species—and Hollywood was too willing to paint the picture.
Fathers like Jim Anderson (Father Knows Best) and Ward Cleaver (Let It to Beaver) were replaced with fathers like Al Bundy (Married with Children) and Homer Simpson (The Simpsons).
Men went from being respected figures to confused psychological idiots.
- There was neither sense nor direction.
Women became badass, brutal, liquor-drinking mercenaries who beat up weak-willed, puny men.
(I am not advocating a woman’s place in the home with a pearl necklace, makeup, and heels).
It wasn’t long before children knew more than their parents, and the heroes as parents lovingly stood by cheering them on.
The family unit became fractured and broken, and God was nowhere to be found.
- They were illiterate regarding life.
Self-help and self-improvement gurus sprang up with advice (for a fee) for living better, stronger, and longer.
Looking out for yourself (because no one else will) became the key to life. You could join a community of fellow believers and be encouraged by the testimonies of those who made it to the top (through lying, cheating, and taking advantage of someone’s fear).
- They traded the glory of God for cheap figurines.
It is estimated that globally, over 64 million influencers—with millions of followers—offer advice on everything from life to love and freedom.
You can have it all if you follow them and do what they do, buy what they sell, and act like they act.
They are nothing more than cheap figurines.
- They were living in a pigpen.
This doesn’t speak about someone’s physical living conditions but rather about the filth in their hearts that spews out of their mouths.
In one of his many conversations with the religious leaders of his day, Jesus tells them that they are meticulous about cleaning the outside of a cup, but they are filthy on the inside—their hearts.
The Apostle Paul says this,
And all this is because they traded the true God for a fake god and worshiped the God they made instead of the God who made them – the God we bless, the God who blesses us. Oh, yes!
Romans 1:25 The Message
Do you see the basic reality of God, or have you traded the true God for a fake one?
It is a vital question that can create conflict or turmoil (which is not my intent). But eternity could be on the line, and I do not want you spending it on the wrong side.
To be continued…
A close personal relationship with the Godhead provides you a living hope. It is a living anticipation full of expectation of something good happening.
A close personal relationship with the Godhead is a journey. I invite you to follow along. As I learn, I will pass it along so you, too, can learn. I hope that as you learn, you can pass it along so that I (and others) might learn.
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