cchrisholland

Over the last few weeks, there’s been a number of news stories that make you wonder if some people have simply “lost-their-ever-loving-mind”. For example, commentators and politicians are blaming everything (but the shooter) for the terrible murder of the reporter and cameraman in Virginia, Planned Parenthood is making ridiculous statements in response to recent videos exposing their practices, politicians are telling us to whole-heartedly trust Iran, the City Counsel of Denver is refusing permits to Chick-fil-A because they’re now considered “immoral”, and then there’s this story that took the proverbial cake:

The University of Tennessee has decided to become a social leader by having their Office of Diversity and Inclusion issue guidelines to new gender neutral pronouns such as “ze”, “hir”, “zir”, “xe”, “xem” and “xyr”. Evidently the idea is to ask every student what they prefer and to never, ever practice such a silly thing as assuming a student named Frank with a beard and deep voice would be OK with “he”, “him”, “Mr.” or “Sir”.

So what does all this goofy stuff mean, and is there a way to put it in perspective? Yeah, I’ve found that there is, and it may help get your blood pressure back low enough to start eating salt again. You see, when Paul is discussing man’s rebellion and God’s judgment in Romans chapter 1, he explains that our flesh is prideful and opposed to God’s way of looking at things. He describes our ancestors with a mindset of “professing to be wise” while “becoming fools.” (Rom. 1:22). The word “fool” is “mōros” where we get our word “moron” from. It’s true with every generation and in a sense, we’re walking around among people struggling to connect the dots; so it’s no wonder they’re making the statements they are. That probably sounds judgmental, but my point isn’t to insult; it’s to correctly frame what’s happening. The lost world around us is busy acting like…well…the lost world. Biblical truth is foreign to them and John even said for us not to marvel if they hate us (1 John 3:13).

So, when you read/hear more crazy news (that’s bound to come out this week), don’t let it discourage you. Remember to think about things in an eternal perspective and invest your energy where it will pay the most eternal dividends. That may be talking to your children about social and civic things (in light of scripture), more targeted prayer, or striving to be the right kind of “Ambassador for Christ” at work and sports (2 Cor. 5:20). Yeah, the world around us may be losing-it’s-ever-loving-mind, but thankfully we don’t have to.