People in the Storm

Here is an exerpt from an essay by Frederica Mathewes-Green called "Loving the Storm-Drenched". She speaks of the cultural tensions that seem to exist between the media and the church and the posture that the church seems to take as one being attacked by what seems to be a conspiracy against the church and her morals standards. I love how she challenges our posture to culture. To read the entire essay go to www.frederica.com, click on the article.

"God has not called us to change the weather. Our primary task as believers,and our best hope for lasting success, is to care for individuals caught up in the pounding storm. They are trying to make sense of their lives with inadequate resources, confused and misled by the Evil One, and unable to tell their left hand from their right (Jonah 4:11). They are not a united force; they are not even in solidarity with each other, apart from the unhappy solidarity of being molded by the same junk-food entertainment. They are sheep without a shepherd, harassed and helpless (Matt. 9:36). Only from a spot of grounded safety can anyone discern what to approve and what to reject in the common culture.

But we must regretfully acknowledge that we too are shaped by the weather in ways we do not realize. Most worryingly, it has induced us to think that the public square is real life. We are preoccupied with that external world, when our Lord's warnings have much more to do with our intimate personal lives, down to the level of our thoughts.

So, when Christians gather, there's less talk about humility, patience, and the struggle against sin. Instead, there's near-obsessive emphasis on the need for a silver-bullet media product that will magically open the nation to faith in Jesus Christ."

May we love the people around us well.