A World That Loves Sin
A World-Wide Issue
Throughout this series, we have been answering many questions around the topic of sin and have discussed how many of these answers have either been avoided or ignored in a Christian’s life. And while we are going to continue that theme throughout this month, I wanted to take a break from those questions and address the world we live in today regarding sin. I believe it is undeniable that the world we live in today is one that chooses our own desires over the Lord’s commands. Even if you don’t look at the whole world and only consider the U.S. itself, I think we would all come to the same conclusion. Our current culture and society are so full of pride that we don’t care what God has to say, we only care about what we say and what like-minded people say. The question here is, what do we do about this? How should Christians live in a world that favors sin over God? Do we refuse to be a part of this current culture or do we just ignore it and do the best we can? As Jon Bloom recognizes, “Modern man, try as he might to convince himself of naturalism — that the world is not broken, just brutal, that we are merely the products of a long, ruthless organic competition for survival, that there is no objectively moral way the world “should” be — he cannot escape the instinctive sense that something here is deeply disordered.” Despite whether we are Christ-followers or not, it doesn't take a genius to look at the world and realize that it doesn't favor perfection and conformity. With this in mind, let’s address some of the top sinful issues this world has and how we should handle them.
Pride
For starters, I would argue that a vast majority of our world’s problems are seeded in the sin of pride. The very fact that we want to fulfill our own desires over the Lord’s is all because of pride in the first place. We don’t care about loving our neighbor if it is an inconvenience to us. We don’t worry about fulfilling God’s commands if something we strongly desire goes against it. We aren’t persuaded that God knows what’s ultimately good for us when we just want to be comfortable. Why? Because to put it quite plainly, we’re full of ourselves. Pride is one the biggest sin habits we see in the world today and I would argue that it almost goes unaddressed because of how common it is. Since pride isn’t as shocking as a pornography addiction or as fatal as a murderer, we almost view it as a normal characteristic that God doesn’t care about. But of course, nothing could be further from the truth. We could almost put a link here to the book of Proverbs because of how much it has to say about pride in general. One of my favorite passages that doesn't hold back is Proverbs 16:5 “Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord; Assuredly, he will not be unpunished.” Now you may be thinking that this seems to be a bit tyrannical but the only thing tyrannical about this passage is what pride does to the Lord. This verse doesn't just say that pride is wrong in the eyes of the Lord or that pride is just a bad thing in the eyes of the Lord, but rather an abomination. This sin is one that our Lord does not take lightly and therefore we shouldn’t either. Humility should be one of the biggest characteristics that overflow from the Christ-follower as pride is put to death daily.
Identity
Furthermore, another huge sinful act that the world loves to partake in is their own identity crisis. The identity of our current nation is one that used to be called a ‘Christian Nation’. If you’re anything like me, you would also agree that this term no longer applies. Our identity is no longer in Christ, but rather in ourselves. Even from a more narrow perspective, the identity of so much of this country is found in their gender, politics, or even level of education. No one cares anymore about what they believe in, they only care about what they believe about themselves. This leaves no room for Christ and only room for selfishness and again, pride. As you can probably guess, scripture isn’t in tune with this mindset either. As Paul says in Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” Once with Christ, we no longer struggle with knowing what we are or what our identity is. It is clear that our old lives have passed away and we are now new creatures who belong to God. We don’t have to struggle with our sexuality because we know that God formed us in our mother’s womb. We don’t have to struggle with politics because we know that God’s Word is perfect for all corrections. We don’t have to worry about what type of degree we have because our Lord gives wisdom to all who ask for it. Our identity must not be wrapped up in the priorities and ways of this world. As a people who have been saved by Christ, our old identity is gone, and our new identity of belonging to Christ has begun.
Resolution
Now these may just be two big examples that reveal the world has fallen into sin and the people of Earth have chosen their morals and lifestyles, but what does that mean for the Christian? Yes, we know we shouldn’t live like the lost, but do we just avoid sinful people in order to separate ourselves from sin entirely? I think the best example we have of this is looking at the Old Testament prophets. In these books, we see multiple examples of how nation after nation has given themselves up to the lusts of their heart, and yet, God still raises up prophets to lead the godly men and women and all who will listen back to God’s heart. Our Lord doesn’t remove His people from the sinful land and other sinners but rather shows them how the found can have an impact on the lost. Look at what Isaiah says in Isaiah 4:2 “On that day the Branch of the LORD will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth will be the pride and the beauty of the survivors of Israel.” This is mentioned right after God tells Isaiah of all the judgment He is about to pronounce over Israel for their sin and wickedness. And yet, right after these chapters, God says that there will be ‘survivors’. What does this mean? It means there are yet people who have not been lost in their ways and will still follow the Lord through trials and hardship. And this is what we must do. Yes, our nation and world struggle with love, love anyway. Yes, we struggle with pride, be humble anyway. Yes, we struggle with our identity, stand strong in Christ anyway. Why? Because when we do, we reveal to the lost the power of our God and the saving grace of His gospel.
Sources
[1] Blue Letter Bible. (n.d.). Blue Letter Bible. https://www.blueletterbible.org/
[2] Bloom, J. (2023, October 4). Groaning, waiting, hoping: How to live in a fallen, fragile world. Desiring God. https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/groaning-waiting-hoping
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