#while ultimately corrupting yourself by witnessing the filth and when the one you saved is faced with a decision they decide to sacrifice th

[landmineboyfriend]

maybe trophy would be the best descriptor

[jthelmsdeep]

A DYSTOPIAN OR HOPEFUL WORLD VIEW? YOU BE THE JUDGE

As a Christ follower I’ve often wondered, was Jesus’ discourse in Matthew 24—where He explains to His disciples that the end of the age would be ushered in by wars, famines, earthquakes, violence, persecution and death—establishing a dystopian view of the world or giving us hope and purpose for an imagined future?

My dilemma?

If it’s true, according to the Christian world view, that the world will end in a state of unabated tragedy, pestilence, and violence, why try at all to live right and do the right thing? Why not simply let life pull us headlong towards inevitability?

But then I realized something even more powerful.

While it’s true that these signs will portend the coming of the end of the age, the key to fully understanding what the response of the Christ follower should be to all of this is found in the following verses:

At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. ~ Matthew 24:10-14

Pay particular attention to the emboldened statements as they speak volumes in regard to what we see happening around us today. From the abuses of power in the hallowed, esoteric corridors of political power, to the licentious living of religious leaders preferring political influence over holiness, it would appear that many are unwittingly turning away from the faith established by the Scriptures, and the love of many—what love they have left—has become inwardly focused.

Of course, how you interpret this prophecy of Jesus’ will have everything to do with how you respond to it. If you interpret this as a doomsday prophecy that suggests the need to protect yourself and your children from the “enemy” as you perceive it to be, then a run-for-the-hills, every-man-for-himself attitude will be the resultant effect. However, if, like Jesus, you recognize that we’re not fighting against flesh and blood, then Al Qaeda, the Taliban, ISIS, Boko Haram, and other terrorist groups will not be your enemy, the spirit operating through them will. This realization will change your approach or response to the global refugee crisis brought on by the war for power (a war in some ways largely influenced and controlled by the West).

Of this one thing I am certain, for the things that Jesus spoke of to come to pass, there will be pain, suffering, hardship and death. For the Christ follower it is an exercise in futility to think that we can change the outcome of His prophecy simply by shutting out the immigrant and building a wall on our southern border with Mexico. Fear, hate, and anger will be the result of those actions, not peace and safety. According to the Scriptures, “where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.”

This overreaction towards self preservation is brought on by fear, and I worry that President Trump and too many Americans have developed a dystopian view of the world, and too many Christ followers are buying into that rhetoric. The uniform chant among proponents of these measures has become, “we’re tired of all the political correctness and pacifist rhetoric, and we want someone who will be honest, firm, and do what’s in the best interest of America and her citizens.” Unfortunately that position misses the mark by a mile. Jesus died for the world not just for America and her citizens, and our greater call as Christ followers isn’t toward nationalism. This extreme shift away from the globalism ostensibly promoted by the political insiders, has swung the pendulum too far in the opposite direction.

The reactionary leaning towards populism and nationalism will simply serve as a distraction for the Christ follower from the real task at hand, which is to share the Good News of the love of Jesus Christ. It’s impossible to convince those you label as the enemy, or those you build walls  against to try and keep out of your comfortable and safe life, that you love them and so does the God you purport to follow. Like someone once said to me, “If the choice is between safely living in America, or being a stronger witness for the cause of Christ by risking my life to save those of the innocent, I choose Christ every time.”

A young writer I follow on social media put it like this:

And it came to pass that some Pharisees came forward and said: "Donaldius of the House of Trumpas is he that the Lord has sent to make Merikas great again. Behold he shall conquer from sea to sea, and from river to river, and make a fool of his enemies”

And some fishermen, when they heard about these lofty declarations, came forward:

"We are not as learned in the book of the law as ye, but the Teacher from Nazareth has taught us about love, about redemption. He even once said that the weightier matters of the law are those of justice and mercy. Now, we hear that Donaldius, him of whom you speak so highly, is planning to build a wall to keep away our neighbours from the other side of the country”

And the Pharisees, hearing this, answereth the fishermen thus: “you spake thus because you knoweth not the scriptures. Donaldius of the House of Trumpas shall build a wall to separate the pure and great people of Merikas from the bad people of Mezikus. For the people of Mezikus know nothing more than to trade in weed and hard drugs. The land is infested with their filth. They have corrupted the righteous people of Merikas, and they must be kept away”

And the fishermen went away sad, knowing that it is not right, the things of which the Pharisees spoke. And many other things weighed heavily on their minds. They feared that there will be increasing division and hatred among the people of Merikas while Donaldius sits on the throne, and much injustice and conflicts in the years of Donaldius of the house of Trumpas.”

— The Book Of Seun Kolade, Chapter 1

Look, I’m not suggesting that we don’t owe our families a responsibility to protect them to the best of our ability. But when fear becomes the motivating factor for why we do what we do, then we’ve lost the plot. Ultimately, it is love that covers a multitude of sins and gives us the ability to recognize the real enemy. There is no fear in love because perfect love casts out fear, and fear breeds torment. And even as I contemplate my response to those who seek to kill me without cause, all in the name of some misconceived holy war, it is with fear and trembling that I remember that when Jesus went to the Cross to pay the ransom for our sin-sick souls, He was thinking about the terrorists too. Just my dos centavos!