Choices and Priorities

 

Earlier this week a friend of mine here in Dulce sent me a link to a video, asking me to watch it and let him know what I thought about it. It was a bit more than 20 minutes long and was basically a woman reading a statement having to do with COVID-19, genocide and…and I’m not really sure. She seemed to be making a case about some sort of coordinated effort among various peoples but as I think about it now I’m not quite sure that her argument rose to the level of exposing a conspiracy. Maybe it does. Maybe it doesn’t. The section below in italics was the response I made to my friend. After you read that I have some final thoughts for this blog post.

“I watched a bit more than half of the video. I saw the first 10 minutes and then skipped to a bit before she drew her conclusions. There were a few points that I might agree with but I think her overall case, as I understood it, about a major world-wide conspiracy, was a bit overblown. I think when she repeatedly used the word genocide towards the end she was not really strengthening her case, as she herself pointed out several times earlier that the death rate from COVID is not particularly high. Genocide, as I understand it, is intentionally causing the deaths of a large amount of people, usually from a specific people group. I have first cousins whose other grandparents were victims of the genocide Turkey inflicted on Armenia. I think a strong case could be made that US policy towards Native Americans for many years could be classified as genocide. Sand Creek, Wounded Knee, and forced sterilization come to mind.

As a Christian pastor, particularly within the Reformed tradition of Protestant Christianity, I don’t have any illusions that our country, or the world, is generally headed towards some form of paradise through the actions of individual peoples and/or governments. The Bible paints a picture of things becoming worse, very much worse, before the time when Jesus returns in power and glory for the completion of God’s plan. What will that “worse” or “very much worse” more precisely look like? I don’t know, and I don’t think that anyone else really does either. Again, as a pastor, I think looking at the world and then trying to see if various signs from Revelation are coming true, is the wrong way to expend energy. In the Gospel of Matthew Jesus told his followers that all power on heaven and earth was in his hands and that they were to go and make disciples, or followers, of him. He holds the power, come what may, and he gives his followers a task to perform right now.

I believe that God is real, that God is holy, and that God has revealed himself fully through his son Jesus. I believe that sin, at its root, is rebellion against God, and that all human sin, even my own, makes me an enemy of God, unless something is done about it. And God himself provides the solution to that problem, which is the forgiveness of my sin through having faith in his Son Jesus and what Jesus did to remove that sin. It’s a free offer that God extends to anyone who would repent of their sin and turn in faith to Jesus. But it is a limited-time offer. A person has to respond to it in this lifetime. So I don’t get very worked-up about possible world-wide conspiracies, or things going to pot here in the US. I do care about our country and the kind of society my children and grandchildren will live in. But I care a bit more about their eternal state before God, and not just them but the people God has placed us among here in Dulce. 

Kind of a long answer and perhaps not what you expected, but it is what came to mind as I watched the video and thought a bit about it. Thanks for prompting my thoughts. I hope that you are well and staying warm during the cold snap we are going through.”

Every day we are faced with choices and priorities. It is hard to go online and not be literally bombarded with information. As 2020 draws to a close there are all kinds of things that various news/information websites are throwing our way, demanding our attention, and in some case demanding that we act now, before it is too late. What is a person to do?

Speaking for myself, as I mentioned to my friend, I’m going to choose to trust God and what He has clearly made known through the words of the Bible, and set my priorities from that perspective. He has made it clear, per Matthew 28, that he holds all authority and that his followers are called teach others to follow. 

But? But? What about stopping a world-wide conspiracy before its too late? 

That question comes from point-of-view that prioritizes the present time and discounts trusting fully in God. In the first part Psalm 32:6 we get a glimpse of the bigger picture.

“Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found.”

There is a time when God may be found, and known, by those who do not presently know, trust, or worship him. But that time has a limit. As I mentioned to my friend, I don’t know when that time will come to an end, nor do I feel that I should spend any time figuring it out. Rather, my priority should be to make the good news of peace with God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ freely known. As 2020 closes, that is my choice and my priority. 

 

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.