“In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it” (2 Timothy 3:12-14)
According to Alpha News, our Mayor Jacob Frey and the City of Minneapolis are facing widespread criticism for posting that (Memorial Day) was a day to “remember George Floyd” — hours before they posted anything about Memorial Day. While many of us may shake our heads at such a headline, none of this should surprise a biblically-informed Christian in the least! “We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.” (1 John 5:19) We can look at this through several levels or dimensions.
From a spiritual perspective, for those under the control of the Evil One (Satan), scripture describes unbelievers as “dead” or “blind”: “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” (2 Corinthians 4:4) All this is conveying is that it is not enough for us to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to the World. There also needs to be a supernatural work of God upon the hearts of the “spiritually dead & blind”.
“But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.” (2 Corinthians 3:16) “When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ” (Colossians 2:13) “Salvation is of the Lord” (Jonah 2:9), but God has chosen to have it come through the proclamation of the Gospel (Romans 10:13-17). That’s the spiritual dimension, and God also has decided to work often through our prayers to accomplish His Purposes unto salvation.
On another level, those without Jesus Christ and the heart-changing work of the Holy Spirit will naturally operate according to their own natural, “fleshly” desires, rather than that which would lead to spiritual life and a restored relationship with their Creator (Romans 5:10). Whether it is clearly understood/articulated, or not, humanity will act according to their values, which operate according to one’s core beliefs. If they really, truly believe that their lives have no lasting value or purpose, they will act according to that, at least in private, if not also in public. It is not determined by what one states in public, but what one believes in their heart.
If in our heart of hearts we believe that our lives have value and purpose because it has been given to us by God, then a life lived consistently to that should stand in stark contrast against those who do not. We who understand this and have begun to apply this, however, must learn that we are all in process from “being to becoming”. None of us have fully lived out who we are already declared to be, in this life: “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:6-7). Therefore, we need to be gracious with those of us who are still learning to apply these powerful truths to our lives, and live it out with increasing consistency.
For those struggling with consistency, we should lovingly come around and encourage (Hebrews 3:13). For those of us who should know better by now, we might need a gracious “kick in the pants”, as Paul gave Peter in Galatians 2! For those of us who’s eyes have been opened to see God’s spiritual realities, we have also been granted the keys to living according to the Truth with consistency: “So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature” (Gal 5:16), & “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:25). Let us be gracious with each other as we grow in this regard.