God Of TomorrowSýnishorn

The More Things Change

Every day I see Christians of all political and theological persuasions who fear tomorrow because of what they see transpiring in society. But nowhere in the Bible do we read that God wants us to fear the future. Instead, the Bible gives us many examples of living with bold love in a changing world. 

The truth is, while society is always shifting, the core foundational issues we struggle with as a society are not new. There is nothing any present-day society is processing that societies of the past did not work through.

Every trend or event that has occurred in our day is based on a more fundamental human issue that Jesus, Paul, Peter, and other biblical leaders had to address in a different way. In fact, although our society has some major moral and ethical gaps, we don’t face the degree of danger that was prevalent in the first century. While their society and ours have both experienced crumbling marriages, human trafficking, slavery, and so on, the way the early Christians experienced such societal movements was harsher and resulted in the deaths of many Christians. 

In the first century, a majority of Christians lived in the Roman Empire, which was led by a succession of dictators, some of whom were so narcissistic that they believed they were divine. Meanwhile, the superstition of other religions inside the empire was unbelievable. The ethics and values that Christians held contrasted starkly to those of the Greco-Roman world. This frequently led to misunderstanding, slander, persecution, exile, and death.

Now, what was it you saw posted on social media that you thought was an outrage? There’s no comparison between society for first-century Christians, societies in the Old Testament era, and our American society. (The closest similarity in today’s world might be the society of some countries in the Middle East.)

Yet when Jesus, Peter, and Paul interacted with people far from God, they didn’t get mad at them. They had strong biblical beliefs and strong friendships with various people, even those far from God. Perhaps we should do the same, knowing that since tomorrow belongs to God, we can graciously offer hope to people today.

What changes do you see in society that cause you fear? Why do they make you fearful?