In 2020
In 2020, we are witnessing the younger western world Christian generation go through an environmental metamorphosis. For previous generations what was not only acceptable but encouraged, is now being turned against and hated. What Isaiah warned and prophesied against has come about, “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” Isaiah 5:20. Many turn from the faith and run to darkness for answers! News reports show a dramatic rise in witchcraft and other paganist beliefs. Just two years ago, “According to a study by the Pew Research Center, there are now 1.4 million mainstream Presbyterians in the United States but 1.5 million who identify as Wiccans or pagans.”[1] This is not including all other forms of beliefs and practices which identify as something else. For the born-again believer who is growing up in this reality, they are having to witness the result of the change. What was first deemed acceptable by some Christians, such as yoga, and allowed in the Church, is now being recognized as having a direct link to the embracing of such religions, “Experts believe that the explosion in the witch population is due to millennial women’s embracing of new-age spirituality, mindfulness, meditation, and yoga.”[2] Nevertheless as the younger generation of Christians who will have to grow up in a world of being the minority, we should not be afraid, our loving Lord and Savior has given us His Word to guide and help us. As younger believers seek guidance from the older believers, we can look at 1 Peter chapter 5 for help on such manners, but also with understanding we have a roaring lion who is out to devour us!
“You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble” 1 Peter 5:5. We need to be seeking the guidance that spiritually older believers have to offer to us. One of the biggest things we can see on the news and in our entertainment, is the idea of pride and living for the moment. This sadly will not only keep you from learning from God in His Word, but also cause Him to have to do what is necessary to keep you focused on Him. I once heard it said, “Lord please let me be a quick student.” Some of the hardest lessons I have learned in life were because of my pride in not wanting to listen to God and what He was trying to teach me.
We need to humble ourselves under what God is wanting to teach us and allow Him to mold us into the person He wants us to be, not what we want to be, “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God” 1 Peter 5:6a. This can be hard, especially in today’s world where so many Churches are not preaching the Word of God and are all about tickling the ears! We need to listen and wait on His timing, “that He may exalt you at the proper time,” 1 Peter 5:5b. He has a plan for you and I. If we wait for His will, just like in Joshua’s day, we can see God work! “Now Jericho was tightly shut because of the sons of Israel; no one went out and no one came in. The Lord said to Joshua, ‘See I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and the valiant warriors. You shall march around the city, all the men of war circling the city once. You shall do so for six days. Also seven priests shall carry seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark; then on the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. It shall be that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city will fall down flat, and the people will go up every man straight ahead” Joshua 6:1-5. We need to wait on the Lord’s timing, we are not going to do anything that He desires without His calling and on His timing. But that does not mean we sit and wait, but rather, “casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you” 1 Peter 5:5c. What an incredible statement, “He cares for you” with knowing that we can be rest assured that no matter what is coming in 2020 or in 2021, we have the living God on our side.
Yet, that does not mean we can be complacent, but be sober minded and knowing what is going on in the world, “be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world” 1 Peter 5:8-9. We are soon entering a state in the world, where all Christian believers will be in similar circumstances, where the world will be actively against and openly hostile towards us! Though this might sound scary, we have Jesus Christ who is with us, “After you have suffered for a little while, the God of grace who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect confirm, strengthen and establish you” 1 Peter 5:10. He is eagerly watching us and is there to help us. Remember what Jesus Christ said to those believers who would suffer for His name and righteousness sake, “because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth” Revelation 3:10. As possibly the final generation within the Church, it is ever more important that we go back and reflect on the first generation Church and see what characteristics we should be reflecting, for our commissioning by Jesus Christ has not changed, we are to “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you” Matthew 28:20a. Some might say this commissioning was for the disciples only, I would just remind them of the final part of Jesus Christ’s statement which He is making directly to us in this generation, “and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” Matthew 28:20b. So, let us take up the responsibility as the coming generation, lean on the Lord, and do what He has told us to do.
Hold until relieved, our Blessed Hope is coming
JL
[1] https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=181e80d6-a180-4bed-bdbf-4b2e981f72db
[2] https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6404733/Number-Americans-practice-witchcraft-estimated-high-1-5-MILLION.html