Help!

I’m sure I’m not the only one who surveys the news and world events and wants to plunge my head in the sand crying, “Get me out of here!” We seem to be surrounded by insanity, gratuitous violence, political figures that leave us bewildered, and negativity everywhere. I remember my grandmother saying, “The world has changed so much”. My father said the same thing, and now I’m repeating those sentiments.

That’s when I have to give my head a shake and rid myself of sand in ears, nose, and eyes. I suspect the truth is that human beings are very much the same from generation to generation, it’s our toys and inventions that convey change at sometimes alarming rates. After all we are living at a time when change over the past 100 years has accelerated more than at any time in history (how often have we heard that?). And with the accelerated change we are constantly in danger of losing our way, our identity, our purpose, and our sense of having any control of our lives and destinies. That can be very scary.

I remember Malcolm Muggeridge interviewing Mother Theresa in Calcutta as she held a tiny baby in her hands. He commented that what she did was a drop in the ocean of human need in the city. “What difference does it really make?” “It makes all the difference in the world to this tiny life, we are doing something beautiful for God,” she smiled. Perhaps, therein lies the key to hope and a response to the whirlwind we inhabit.

Pay attention to those around us, do something positive wherever we can, and trust God with it all. I don’t believe that he hides his head or is without solutions. I am sure he is grieved at behavior and saddened by so much human cruelty, greed, and unkindness. After all, it was into a sordid and violent world that Jesus was born, that was the whole purpose of God in human form. His entire life was lived in an occupied country with little justice or support for the poor and the downtrodden.

God calls the negativity, darkness. The condition where human beings bump into one another, lash out reactively, or in fear, and intentionally or accidently cause pain to one another. He calls people in darkness lost, deaf, blind, and distant from him. John referred to the birth of Jesus as light coming into a dark world; a light that would never be extinguished or overcome. Jesus talked about light and salt as having an effect in a dark and tasteless world. Their greatest impact is when they feel most alone. A single flame surrounded by a whole lot of darkness. A grain of salt offering flavor, actually disappearing in order to be the difference.

Then I consider the broad span of history. How for the first three centuries Christianity was persecuted, believing in Jesus was unpopular and cost many their lives. It must have seemed as if the darkness was overpowering the light time and again. And yet like one of those trick birthday candles you can never blow out, the light counter-intuitively spread and grew stronger. The light shines brightly in the darkness and it was the courage of Christians facing death and persecution that profoundly impacted those who witnessed these events. Their courage and bravery touched a chord in the witnesses, revealed their own inner darkness and emptiness, and the salt began its mysterious work.

That’s what happened when Saul watched Stephen stoned to death at his command. He couldn’t get the scene out of his head or heart, and later his revelation of Jesus on the Damascus Road transformed his life. In the West the light has been significantly diminished by indifference, apathy, and a culturized form of Christianity.

Today the growth of Christianity is taking place where persecution is highest. These are some excerpts from Open Door. a group that monitors such things and produces annual reports.

More than 5,600 Christians were killed for their faith in 2022. More than 2,100 churches were attacked or closed. More than 124,000 Christians were forcibly displaced from their homes because of their faith, and almost 15,000 became refugees.

360 million Christians live in nations with high levels of persecution or discrimination. That’s 1 in 7 Christians worldwide, including 1 in 5 believers in Africa, 2 in 5 in Asia, and 1 in 15 in Latin America.

Where It’s Hardest to Follow Jesus:

1. North Korea
2. Somalia
3. Yemen
4. Eritrea
5. Libya
6. Nigeria
7. Pakistan
8. Iran
9. Afghanistan
10. Sudan
11. India

Reading the accounts of daily life in some of these places is sobering and makes me ashamed of my whining and complaining. When I survey the reports of life in these countries I realize that the 1st century is alive in the 21st century. Human nature, and the conflict between good and evil continues as sure as day follows night.

Perhaps that’s why God placed the moon and stars in the heavens at night; to assure us that the light will never be overcome by total darkness. And therein, lies hope!