These are tumultuous times.  There’s a lot of anger, bitterness, revenge-seeking and just plain meanness going around.  I get upset about national politics, as I morph ever so surely into a curmudgeon, shouting ‘you Commies get off my lawn!’
But there’s a danger.  And one of the greatest is that we see our opponents as the problem, rather than the issues that drive them; or perhaps, rather than the flaws which afflict us all.
As I contemplated this, I remembered the passage below.
‘For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world powers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens.’ Ephesians 6:12
Maybe our political and cultural enemies are not so much the people who disagree with us, as the spiritual forces that mislead, inflame and use humans for the work of the kingdom of darkness. When we become angry, let us remember that many have been taken hostage but lies, by sin and by their own inner turmoil. And reaching them is less an argument or battle than the rescue of hostages. This applies across the political and cultural spectrum. Sometimes we can all slip into political diatribes and become frustrated and bitter. I know I can. But I hope I can keep this in mind going forward.
For what it’s worth, this can also apply to those who are not of a religious persuasion.  People can be held hostage by bad secular ideas.  By violent nationalism, by dangerous collectivism, by seductive corporatism, by assorted addictions that are reflected in their viewpoints. They can be held hostage by worship of money or worship of nature leading to tyranny against others.
In the end, everyone knees to be set free from something.
4.2 5 votes
Article Rating