Sunday, May 6, 2018

Healing the Soul


"It does no good to heal people's physical bodies, just to send them back to the depraved lives that are leading them to destruction." D. Martyn Lloyd Jones

It is often eye opening how the world views sin. Just the other night, my wife and I were watching a TV show. Now, before I write anything else, let me specify that Hollywood is not known for its support of traditional, biblical-based morality. So the fact that they portray depraved, sin-soaked lives and activities should not come as a surprise to anyone. But it just seems that those who are the ones most in the public eye are constantly trying to outdo each other in their rush to embrace anything and everything that rejects God and His dictums. If some sort of new-fangled sin begins to peek its head in the public consciousness, you can bet that it was likely first promoted by the media.

Getting back to the particular TV program, this specific episode dealt with a couple of its protagonists planning their wedding. What, you may ask, is wrong with that? Nothing, except that the couple had already been cohabitating for quite some time and, to top it all off, the woman had just found out she was pregnant. Unfortunately, this is quite common in our day. There are studies that reveal that an amazing percentage of babies born today are conceived  or born outside of wedlock. The number of children who grow up with one parent or the other missing, usually the father, is astounding! But the thing that catches your attention is the fact that the other characters in the show were obsequious and effusive in their praise for the soon-to-be parents. Instead of frowning at the fact that here were two individuals engaging in blatant sin, they were elated at the prospect of another child being conceived without the benefit of married parents (although the couple was eventually to be married).

Adam and Eve could not have foreseen the suffering and destruction that their act of disobedience would unleash on the world. People today do not have that excuse. The effects of such behavior are evident for all to see, if only they have the eyes to see it. According to the US Census Bureau, 24 million children in America, that is 1 out of every 3, live without a father in their home. These children are more likely to be involved in crime, drop out of school, go to prison and perpetuate other destructive behaviors—such as becoming pregnant out of wedlock themselves—that contribute to their problems in the first place. Yet, as the smoker who continues to puff away outside the hospital while dying of lung cancer, people continue to engage in such conduct at an alarming rate.

Anyone with a modicum of common sense is made to wonder at why anyone would choose such self-destructive behavior. But when we remember the words of the apostle "...whom the god of this world has blinded their eyes lest they see the light of the glorious gospel of Christ..." (2 Corinthians 4:2-4), then we can begin to understand where all this comes from. If the Jews of John chapter 6 asked for a sign from Jesus a day after He fed 5,000 of them with two fish and five loaves, it is not hard to understand why today's individuals would continue to race to destruction with their eyes wide open.

But as always, the answer to these and all other human ills, is the gospel. It is not programs or moralism or any other effort that man insists on using to attempt to solve the crisis. It is only through the gospel that man can overcome evil. Since we are dead in our sins (Ephesians 2:1), we are incapable of doing what we need to do in and of ourselves. The social justice warriors who insist that we must involve ourselves in every program out there, fail to understand that the problem is not what they can see with the physical eye. It is what goes unperceived: the depravity that leads to such behavior. Unless that depravity is addressed, nothing will produce positive results. The problem will continue to grow worse and worse. "Repent and believe the gospel" (Mark 1:15). Without that, nothing else will make any difference.



2 comments:

  1. Good article, Mike. (It's worth noting, though, that none of it would make much sense if people aren't free to make any choices for themselves. If that were true, this would be kind of like what I heard happened recently to an actor: the character he played in a movie made a really bad decision, and many fans were berating the actor on social media for his character's actions!)

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