His Love Frees

All have turned away,

    they have together become worthless;

there is no one who does good,

    not even one.

(Romans 3: 10b-11)

I was writing about a political situation in a country recently, whereby experts opined that citizens felt under pressure to take polarized positions – there was no middle ground. I can understand that point of view. We do seem to live in societies, especially in the West, where many feel their personal boundaries and beliefs, of whatever ilk, are under threat and they give harsh opinions, standing up for certain ‘rights.’ The good thing about such rights is opportunities to speak up for righteousness as defined by biblical teaching. The bad thing is when we mix our own prejudices into that opinion soup, which confuses people and ultimately does not glorify Jesus. 

I wonder where I stand within that chaos. Am I over-opinioniated? The Lord knows. I think the internet and particularly social media feeds into this general melee though. A few years ago, I deleted my membership of a Dietrich Bonhoeffer social media group because of the vicious way people communicated with each other. My mother resigned for similar reasons from a C.S. Lewis-related online group. These were meant to be Christian groups! It can be a nasty world out there where debates and discussions too easily evolve into a fire fight, even amongst those claiming to follow the Lord.  

And in the midst of that depressing noise of opinions and presumed rectitude, there is this terrifying Bible verse, which says: “They have together become worthless.” All those harsh words and condemnation handed out by various political and societal leaders, evident in our societies, carries no weight before the throne of the Living God:  “There is no fear of God before their eyes” (Romans 3:18). How terrifying! A sober reminder too, that He has told us clearly to love him, and to love others.

And that is all. That is truly all!

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