Look at your newspaper. Or open your web browser. Turn on the TV or radio. What do you see, read, and hear? Is it good news or bad? The old adage “good news doesn’t sell newspa-pers” notwithstanding, there really is plenty of actual bad news out there. Terrorists, Muslim extremists, economic meltdowns, natural disasters, and superbugs, just to name a few. And we, as Christians in the West, face our own set of challenges in the form of a society apparently hell-bent on self-destruction as it scoffs at God’s word and the very concept of God Himself. Laws are passed or on the horizon that legitimize sin, and threaten our essential religious liberty as gov-ernment agencies threaten to intrude more and more on parents’ rights to raise children according to the Word of God.
Sometimes, it’s enough to make one long for the good old days. How ’bout the Reagan years? Strong influence of the “moral majority”, rebounding economy (albeit slowly), renewed respect for military, pride in the country… and the cold war; constant threat of nuclear annhilation. And the rise of the media sound bite that could distort the most innocuous words of anyone. Or maybe the days of Camelot and the Kennedys and the nascent space program… and Viet Nam, and the cold war, and Cuba, etc. Well, we could go back further, and further still, and find something wonderful enough about every era to make us long for it; and something horrible enough about every era to make us thank God we weren’t there then.
The simplicity we often long for also came with hardships we have no desire to endure, and you know it. In the words of Billy Joel (sorry): “The good ol’ days weren’t always good…”.
Certainly we face a number of real and sophisticated threats to our lives and our way of life. And in a media-saturated society, we sometimes tend to jump on the panic bandwagon, seeing our roles as watchmen on the walls as necessitating our becoming alarmists. And no, I’m not advocating for a “head in the sand” mentality. We must be aware and wise. Ignoring bad news doesn’t make it go away.
But you and I are called to preach the GOOD NEWS! That’s what “gospel” means, remember? Good news may not sell newspapers, but it is like water in the desert to people who are surrounded by nothing but bad news. “How lovely on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news!” (Isaiah 52:7) You know what people will find when they finally receive the good news? When they finally experience the salvation we proclaim (Isaiah 52:7 again)? Stability. If I had to use one word to describe the world we live in today, I’d be hard pressed to find a better one than “unstable.” 2 Peter 1: 12 says, “For this reason I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things, though you know and are established in the present truth.”
“Established” can be rendered here “made stable.” And that’s exactly what happens when we saturate ourselves in God’s word. We see everything through the lens of His plan, His protection, and His provision. And it boils down to one thing for us: There has never been a better time or place for you to be a Christian than right here, right now! Stop worrying; keep believing, keep trusting, and keep SHARING the good news; you don’t have to make the headlines to change the world.
