Articles
What Really Matters
Unless you have been isolated from the headlines (and if you have been, please send me your secret) you have seen all the hubub about 6 Dr Seuss books that will no longer be published because of what some have decided are racist images. Now certainly as Christians we are not to be racist nor support those who are. God tells us He created all of us equally, He loves us equally, (Acts 17:25-28) and we all should strive to be like Him.
I don't own these books, so I can't look for myself but apparently, most people don't see what seems to be the problem, and they believe something is being made out of nothing. But I'm not here to argue that, just to point out those facts so you will understand what one young man meant, when he posted "The Weeknd was nominated for a kids choice award for a song about cocaine making his face numb, but Dr Seuss crosses societal lines..."
Now I'm even more ignorant as to who Weeknd is than I am Dr Suess, and I'm pretty ignorant about Dr Suess! According to Wikipedia, Weeknd is actually Abel Makkonen Tesfayem, a Canadian singer, songwriter, and record producer. Wikipedia claims he is "often cited as an influence to contemporary music..."
The above is just one example of the contention in our world, and the rest of this discussion has nothing to do with the argument over the Dr Suess books or the singer, it has to do with these disputes sometimes coming before Christians, and how we handle them. Sometimes we do have to take a stand. We are under attack in so many ways, from our history, to values, to our belief in God, yet more often than not, the same people who attack us support things such as drugs, liberalism, immorality and sexual immorality, abortion, violence, and so forth. Many of them take such small insignificant things and make mountains out of molehills, yet they can't see the damage being caused by the ideas they support.
We could stay here all day and argue who's right, who's wrong and why. However, we know everybody's opinion is simply that, their opinion. There is no guarantee anybody agrees with our opinion, and unfortunately each person's sense of right and wrong differs, especially between those who know God and those who don't.
Jesus was in the middle of a situation one time while addressing the liberal sect of His day who were actually very "religious". They were focusing great attention on something that actually had little meaning or importance and were missing the whole big picture that they needed to see and pay attention to. Jesus described it to them like this, "You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel." (Matt 23:24)
Our world does this very thing, and we are often caught up in it. But as followers of Christ, we have chosen God. We have chosen His way, His thoughts, His wisdom and His Word. We aren't left wondering what is right or what is wrong like those in our world, He tells us! Our world has always been at odds with itself, and will always argue over, well, basically everything and if they can argue with believers, they love it even more. But we don't need some celebrity's endorsement so that we can make up our mind on anything, we have a standard. We have the truth, not because we say so, but because the Creator of the universe says so.
Our job is to "Seek first the kingdom of God and HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS...."(Matt 6:33) He is above all rule and authority (Deut 6:4). We are to take up our cross and follow HIM (Matt 10:38-39). We are to love HIM with everything we have (Matt 22:37-40). We belong to CHRIST, and God has placed EVERYTHING under HIS feet for our benefit (Eph 1:22-23). Everything we do should be done in JESUS' name, giving thanks to God for HIM (Col 3:17). We don't put anything or anyone in HIS place (Exodus 20:3). We trust in HIM with all our hearts and we don't lean on our own understanding (Prov 3:5-6).
So when controversial issues or attacks on Christian values hit the airways each day, or in our current society hit the internet, we are not left trying to decide which way to lean. If we need to be in on the discussion and determine where we stand, let us remember God has decided the righteousness of all things for us, and He has set them in stone. We need not look any further.
Mankind can bat these differences of opinion around for days, weeks, months and even years. They can chase after the wind if they want to, AND THEY WILL. We however are called to be different because we belong to God. Let us put on the full armor of God, take our stand, standing firm, and after having done everything, let us continue to stand. (Eph 6:10-13)
