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Life in the 2020s seems to be racing along at a rapid clip. Heading towards …war? Peace? More pandemics? Fake pandemics? One world? One further divided world? Atheism? Faith? Global warming? Global cooling? Age of tolerance? Age of intolerance for Christians especially, but for anyone who has a different point of view from oneself?
There are plenty of people with answers one way or the other and reasons for same. Many if not most of them seem to be absolutely certain they are right!
Many if not most see the reasons they give for their point of view to be infinitely superior to and utterly refuting the opposing camp’s. There’s little to no give in the sense of finding any worthwhile thoughts ever given birth to by one’s opponents.
Withholding for now some possible comments on the above-mentioned issues of the 2020s, I would like to offer some reflections on some certainties about these matters for those who follow Christ.
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First: What profit is there in gaining the whole world but losing one’s soul? (Mark 8:36)
Gaining the world is not only about material goods, but also about any activity that involves having influence and “making a difference” here on planet earth.
If I become so consumed with my “cause,” even if that cause has gospel motivations or seemingly selfless reasons for being carried out, and I am carried away with pride of achievement or rage at those who do not listen to me, then the Gospel is no longer being lived, and my words will not long bear fruit for the kingdom of the Lord.
Yes, I know, there is such a thing as righteous anger, such as the Lord reputedly displayed when cleansing the Temple; but anger that is truly righteous is, like the Lord, ready to die out of compassion for the very ones being chided for their sin.
There is a kind of sadness in the Lord’s urgent anger (he did weep over Jerusalem’s resistance to his coming), and a love that burns in the night in vigil and fasting.
Second and on the other hand: Whoever acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father. But whoever denies me before others I will deny before my heavenly Father (Matthew 10: 32-33).
If we keep silent when we should speak out, then that is tacit to denying the Lord, and we are no better than Peter was the night he denied the Lord three times. Fortunately, he did not despair but entrusted himself to the Lord anew after his Resurrection.
Today there are in contemporary society increasing punishments for those who do not agree with the latest dismantling of traditional Christian (and certainly not only Christian) values.
Those who have dared to speak openly in opposition to such issues as abortion, euthanasia, new definitions of marriage and sexuality and gender, or whatever other matter has a current tag of politically correct, are deemed to be filled with hatred and are considered harmful to, even dangerous for, society at large.
Fines are meted out; some are put in prison. Of course, speaking up is not the only way to acknowledge the Lord; living out what one believes is and always must be at the heart of any words put forth.
Sometimes we Christians “talk the talk” but don’t do so well when it comes to “walking the walk.” Both silence when we should speak and failing to live in humility what we’re called to live are ways of denying the Lord.
Who can fail to notice that overall, we are timid today when it comes to bearing witness in these ways?
Third: You have heard how it was said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I say this to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you …When someone strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other one to him as well…” (Matthew 5: 43-45, 39).
This passage is not about being a doormat. It’s not about being pushed around because one is too weak and cowardly to fight back. It’s not about being a hapless, helpless victim.
It is about showing the true nature of God’s forgiving, benevolent love. It is strong enough to bear the burden of evil until evil is swallowed up by the vast ocean of God’s transforming love.
This is what Jesus accomplished on the Cross for us, and this is the witness we are meant to give in our lives, and boy, does it ever hurt to even try it! We soon crumble in the face of attack, either fleeing or quickly finding ways of fighting back, getting revenge, and so forth.
Only with much prayer does the grace of God hold sway in the day of trial, as the Lord gives not only his gift of fortitude, but also shares his compassion for those who in their sin and blindness oppose him.
Today we can feel very much that the forces opposed to Christianity have the upper hand, and they are in no way going to be moved by our being “nice” to them, since they have all the advantages in any event.
We can already feel so powerless in face of it all, but this is where our Faith reminds us that such treatment rises when we have the courage to speak the truth, and when the “powers that be” move against us.
Our refusal to use their means of attack and intimidation has the power to reach deeply into people. The contrast between worldly force and gospel meekness is like a sword piercing hearts all around: to the violent, it brings judgment and the call to repentance; to the non-violent it is a flame that purifies at ever deeper levels the desire for vengeance and power.
Fourth, and on the other hand, “We [Peter and the other apostles] must obey God rather than men. The God of our ancestors raised Jesus, though you had him killed by hanging him on a tree …
“We are witnesses to these things, as is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.” When they [the Sanhedrin] heard this, they became infuriated and wanted to put them to death (Acts 5: 29-30, 32-33).
Meekness and turning the other cheek don’t in any way preclude speaking boldly the word of truth that someone needs to hear. It may, after all, lead to a conversion of heart; but even if there is no immediate or apparent change, that word is like a seed of truth that is planted and will bear fruit in the proper time, God willing.
But for that seed to bear fruit, another seed may first have to fall into the ground, and that is the seed of my life as a believer.
Whether it is a matter of actual blood martyrdom, or imprisonment, or being deprived of certain privileges in society, the Gospels tell us that the Lord and his apostles were willing both to speak the truth and to become the seed falling into the earth for the sake of that truth’s bearing fruit.
How far are we willing to go for the sake of our world today actually seeing and hearing the real Gospel?
