A Matter of Perspective

In the critically acclaimed 1976 film, Network, a failing newscaster shots to the top of the rating by declaring, "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore." He taps into and fuels arising national frustration with the state of things, but he has no answers, only aimless frustration. The result is that his frustration is open to be aimed by others, and he is easily exploited by others.

It has been a rough summer in the news, and it's not over. But sadly, this is not new news. In a world of sin and rebellion against God, chaos, pain, and injustice is the rule. The real news is that God continues to heal, to bring freedom, and to meet real needs. Our perspective will determine how we respond to the crisis around us.

If God forms our perspective then three things need to be held onto:
1) The world is in a mess because of sin.
2) God is at work to bring healing and life.
3) He's recruited us to help him.
4) We're not in this alone.

This last point, that we're not in it alone, needs to be unpacked. This does not only mean that God is with us individually, but that God is with us collectively. "Just me and Jesus," is not a formula for success. We are not only baptized into Christ, we are also baptized into the body of Christ. God ministers to us through each other. We cut ourselves off from the body, and we cut ourselves off from the resources God has given us.

If we try to take on the problems of life on our own or just as a family, then we will suffer needlessly. There is a great deal of talk about the family being the basic building block of society, but I don't read that in Scripture. The body of Christ, locally gathered, is meant to be that basic building block. Only on that scale are our needs and the needs of others met.

But I think we have to go a step farther. Only through the body of Christ will the world's ills be cared for. We have become too dependent on others solving our problems. This is especially true of our expectation that government will show us the way forward. That is our job. We need to meet together and creatively seek God to see how we would lead us forward to meet the crisis around us.

That world has changed in some significant ways. For decades and decades the population of the United States has consumed about 80% of the resources extracted from the earth. Now that other, large nations are developing a middle class, those resources will need to be shared. If we don't share them, then we will find ourselves in opposition to God (James 5:1-6). Compared to most of the world, we are the rich.

But we do not need to indulge in American bashing. We have our faults that need to be dealt with, but we have been a generous people. We have cared for those beyond our borders as well as those in need close to home. We have room to grow, but that is true for every people and nation on the earth.

The issue today is that there are new challenges in this changing world, and someone has to seek new and creative ways forward. In the past those changes did not come first from governments and think tanks. They came from Christians working together to meet the needs God directed them towards. As those solutions offers by God began to gain traction then governments and think tanks took notice.

It is a matter of perspective. Who do we trust to bring us answers? God or governments? I will put my hope in Christ, but that means that Christians must come together to seek God, to share council with each other, and to creatively serve the needs around us. God has a positive way forward for us, but we need to be listening. We don't need the world's permission to do what's right. Nations will rise and fall, but God will be with us till the end. We can choose to hide from the adventure and follow the world into the abyss, or we can faithfully follow God and lead the world.