Let us lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith- Hebrews 12:1b NASB

 I do not know everything there is to know about everything.

Seriously. It’s true.

However, there is one thing I do know for absolute certain, God never stops calling Christians to a higher level of functioning in every corner of their lives (2^nd Peter 1:4-11, Philippians 3:12-14). God wants His people to move beyond the inclination we all have to live for our own pleasure into a level of existence that glorifies Him and blesses others. The topsy-turvy world we live in makes obedience to this call even more critical. This is a time for believers everywhere to become radically focused on living out biblical truth and bringing others into relationship with Jesus. One positive benefit to the kind of civil and social upheaval we have recently experienced is it causes non-Christians to begin searching for answers to life’s biggest questions. We must endeavor to live at a higher level so that we can give those answers and lead people to Jesus. Living differently begins with the five following shifts in how we think about life and spiritual truth:

 Fear should never be denied or indulged it must be dealt with-

 No one can help anyone else when fear is the driving force in their lives. Furthermore, we cannot deal with anything we deny and we will never overcome anything we indulge.  If you fear dying, deal with it. If you fear persecution, deal with it. If you fear government infringement on your rights, deal with it.  We overcome our fears by facing them head on and taking them to God in prayer until the fear subsides and we feel at peace with whatever situation we find ourselves in (Isaiah 41:10). 

 We are no longer the majority and most people do not think like we do-

 We live in post-Christian times. This means Christians are perceived as irrelevant to the greater culture. The average non-Christian no longer processes life or their moral choices through the grid of Christian truth, Christian ethics and Christian standards. What the Bible says or doesn’t say about issues is utterly meaningless for most people. On a practical level this means becoming angry at people for not thinking like you do is a pointless waste of time that will only alienate them further from God.  We must look for ways to lovingly and logically explain to friends, neighbors and co-workers not just what we believe about God and life but why we believe those things (1^st Peter 3:15).

 Life is about more than amusement-

 Recently, I overheard one Christian bragging to another about all the Netflix they had consumed over the course of the quarantine. The other Christian immediately began boasting about how many hours they were spending every day playing video games. Netflix, video games and other forms of entertainment are not inherently sinful. There is nothing wrong with decompressing with a little T.V. time or a good novel.  However, the wrong kind of entertainment dulls our spiritual senses and normalizes sinful behavior. The more time we spend simply amusing ourselves with pointless twaddle the less time we will have for activities that facilitate growth. Continuous intellectual, moral and spiritual growth is the only path to a higher level of functioning and sanctification (Hebrews 12:14).

 Nationalism must be put into perspective-

 There is zero shame in nationalistic pride. Every single time I travel to another country I return to my own with an overwhelming sense of gratitude.  That said, baby Jesus was not born with a copy of the Constitution in His hand and the Bill of Rights is not the same as the Bible. Christians should value the “rights” we have and work to preserve those rights because they have freed millions from tyranny and elevated human dignity.  However, it’s critical we remember our founding documents are really just societal constructs. They are not real in the same way Scripture is real. Our founding documents can only be enforced if the vast majority of people in our society believe them to be true and agree to abide by them. The Bible is real and true even if no one believes it or obeys it because it is the word of God not created by man (John 1:1, 2^nd Timothy 3:16).  If our “rights” are lost because our culture is too stupid to value the wisdom of our founders we should grieve the loss but we cannot allow it to shake our faith in Gods goodness (Philippians 3:20, Hebrews 11:13-15).

 We must learn the difference between a personal preference and a biblical command-

 Most Christians are egocentric and spoiled when it comes to their personal preferences. Many Christians have convinced themselves it is immoral for anyone to ask them to do anything they don’t WANT to do (Romans 13:1-3, 1^st Peter 2:13, Titus 3:1), even if what is being asked is not forbidden in Scripture. There will undoubtedly come a day when Christians will be forced to draw lines about what they will and won’t do because they will be asked to violate clear biblical commands (Exodus 20:3, Acts 5:29, 1^st Peter 4:12-19, Revelation 13:17, Revelation 20:4). In the meantime, we must choose our battles wisely.

  It is critical at this juncture we stop focusing on the rights we feel we have. Instead we must focus on the responsibilities we really do have to grow in our faith, lead others to Jesus and honor and glorify God.