We live in a world of lies!
I want to highlight something that seems to me most critical for the Church at large and our culture to not only be aware of, but also to be in front of. The Church, it feels to me, has taken a cultural back seat on most every moral influence scale. Twitter and Instagram tell us what is true and what is the appropriate current moral platforms. We look to the news not to tell us what the facts are but to tell us their impressions and bias. And what the news has for us is deeply disturbing.
Recently our hearts have been broken and our minds challenged once again by another terrible and tragic shooting in a school. I have not recovered from Columbine and Sandy Hook and now there is Uvalde. More children and teachers have died. There are 21 families that have had the love of their lives ripped from them by evil. I live far away from this event but I too find myself broken hearted by these senseless acts. This is indeed the moment for the Spirit of Truth to be poured out. This is the reality that motivates me to tell you that I long for the Spirit to fall upon our churches, to fall upon you. That you might be consoled and equipped to address the lies that lead to Ross Elementary school moments.
There is a question circulating on the news these days. Even our President asked it over and over at a press conference. Why?
Because it is the habit of our culture to take these moments and use them for some kind of political or sociological weapon – the question has been targeted several ways –
When it comes to the broken places of our world, the horrific expressions of evil, it can stop us in our tracks spiritually . . . Why would a loving and powerful God allow such things to happen? And such things happen a lot. In fact, in our world of hurt such things, and worse, have been happening for a very long time everywhere in the world.
In just our modern world – in the last one hundred years or so:
But we can go back thousands of years and in every age, there have been conquerors that killed hundreds of millions across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, China, India, Central and South America. Our own North American continent has seen more than its fair share of wars and death and suffering.
Our world is terribly broken. And in saying this, what I really mean is the human soul and the human conscience is broken. It is this personal brokenness that accounts for the evil acts that torment our minds.
You want to know that the answer is to the why question? I can tell you. It is really quite simple: “We live in a world of lies.”
Since the beginning of our human history, we can trace the beginning of the age of lies to a single incident. It will be very familiar:
The snake – the Evil One (and I use that title quite literally) introduced the lie in the garden by telling two truths and a bold face lie.
Or today we might hear something like this:
And this formula is still his main weapon of destruction and evil.
Lies about power.
Lies about who you are and who you ought to be and how you ought to look and how you should perform. Appearance and performance based lies. But there is more. Lies of power and influence and sensuality and pleasure. Lies of entitlement and lies of expectations of my will and agenda being satisfied. Lies about meaning and purpose, about what gives meaning and lies that rob you of your authentic sense of purpose. We have too many excuses for lies in our wealthy country. We have too much time on our hands to imagine how life would be if only my sensitivities were granted. If my expectations were met. Because lies come from the murderer and thief, lies feed a culture of death and fear.
Lies that feed a Culture of Death and Fear
Viktor Frankl the 20th century Psychologist/Philosopher, holocaust survivor and author of the profound work Mans Search for Meaning, wrote this:
“When a person can’t find a deep sense of meaning, they distract themselves with pleasure.”
Our search for meaning in power, work, relationships, influence, pleasure – strivings that will never satisfy – have left us numb and angry. And curiously we turn back to the gods that failed us for answers again and again. And here is the real tragedy: These lies kill!
These lies kill
Suicide, domestic abuse, human trafficking, bullying in person, bullying by social media, vandalism and violence of property, racism, identity politics, name calling, death threats, random acts of violence (rather than random acts of kindness), the travesty of abortion at will, the isolation of the aged, the marginalization of the mentally ill. All of these are various forms of death by violence.
The question is Why? Why are children as young as 8 and 9 taking their own lives? Why has fentanyl become such a problem – the leading cause of death for adults between the age of 18 to 45? Why have our young become so expendable? Why is truth in such short supply? Why doesn’t someone do something???
Why?? Because we live in a world of lies and these lies kill – they are as lethal as stepping in front of a train, but they are slow and insidious so as to suck others into the same deadly streams of lies and death. It is the Evil One’s plan. Once evil can establish normalcy, it is easy to make the case that evil is in fact ‘normal’ and therefore ‘good.’ The “Everyone is doing it!” argument has been around a long time!
CS Lewis, famous for his various meaningful quotes tells us:
I was listening to a podcast where the topic was this shooting and one of the guests said, “In the moments of these tragedies people run to their gods.” He went on to say, “Too many are turning to the government to fix the problems of their lives.” And I would say, “Or their money, or their education, or their love life.” Turning to false gods who cannot help.
The Bible speaks very frank words of warning from God for those who would deny His ways and follow their own. In Psalm 81 we read;
Devices: ironic isn’t it that the so-called instruments of presenting ‘knowledge and truth’ – our phones and tablets that search Google and Facebook for their answers are called hand-held devices.
Our Adversary has turned so many things of merit and value upside down. It was true in the time of Jesus as well. The Pharisees and religious leaders of the day had believed certain lies about themselves and God – about power and spirituality and legalism. And they believed in them with such confidence and arrogance that they convinced others to believe in the lies with them. They believed in them so much so that they were willing to murder (of course quite against the Law) to protect and advance these lies.
Jesus, confronting these liars, says in John’s gospel:
And Jesus’ good friend Peter warns us as well:
We need the pouring out of the Spirit of Truth, the Holy Spirit, to attack and push back against the Unholy Spirit. As the verse tells us, it is not about escaping suffering so much as it is standing firm in the truth.
Why doesn’t someone do something? Because we are helpless to affect real change on our own power. Changing the educational dials, adding politically motivated buttons, pursuing laws that treat symptoms and not the real issues will be without avail. It is the depravity of our souls we must address. Our problems are not educational, political or sociological. They are spiritual. The wickedness extends far beyond the single acts of violence. The wickedness is in our souls. We have believed lies and the lies are killing us.
How did Isaiah put it? I am undone. I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips. I have believed in lies, advanced lies and even profited from the lies. And so has everyone else. We are undone by our lies!
We cannot pull ourselves out of this because there is no one that is above the chasm we are in who can pull us out. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We are all victims and perpetrators of lies that kill. It is hopeless . . .
We need a Sinless Savior! And we have one! The writer of Hebrews that Jesus, our High Priest, lived with us yet never fell into sin.
No the only time Jesus was stained by the workings of sin was on the cross when he took upon Himself the world of sin and became sin for our sake:
The question is really not ‘why’ but ‘who?’ Who will deliver us? The Apostle Paul sought deliverance as well;
We have a Sinless Savior! We have a God who saves!
Our best hope is to not fight in our own strength. It is to yield. We must yield, we must confess our depravity and brokenness and our hopelessness.
Our friend Frankl weighs in again to our conversation:
Victor Frankl was Jewish, but in this moment, he spoke in a prophetically Christian manner. Jesus was equally emphatic;
Frankl also said this:“What is to give light must endure burning.”
I cannot retire just now because the work, the purpose, the calling, the longing to advance the Kingdom is still upon me. God has released me from 47 tears of ministry, not to retire but so that I may pick up my hammer and work somewhere else. I long to burn for Jesus Christ and the Gospel of His Kingdom Glory right now!
I need you oh I need you, Every hour I need you
My one defense, my righteousness, Oh God how I need you
Thanks for connecting here at 100foldministries.org and hanging out with us in our Backyard Conversations. Come visit us again soon – maybe check out our podcast at Spiritual Offerings!
This is Dave Scherrer, let’s be friends!
Recently our hearts have been broken and our minds challenged once again by another terrible and tragic shooting in a school. I have not recovered from Columbine and Sandy Hook and now there is Uvalde. More children and teachers have died. There are 21 families that have had the love of their lives ripped from them by evil. I live far away from this event but I too find myself broken hearted by these senseless acts. This is indeed the moment for the Spirit of Truth to be poured out. This is the reality that motivates me to tell you that I long for the Spirit to fall upon our churches, to fall upon you. That you might be consoled and equipped to address the lies that lead to Ross Elementary school moments.
There is a question circulating on the news these days. Even our President asked it over and over at a press conference. Why?
Because it is the habit of our culture to take these moments and use them for some kind of political or sociological weapon – the question has been targeted several ways –
- Why haven’t the police learned their lessons?
- Why haven’t we closed the borders?
- Why haven’t we taken away the guns?
- Why don’t they allow teachers to carry guns?
When it comes to the broken places of our world, the horrific expressions of evil, it can stop us in our tracks spiritually . . . Why would a loving and powerful God allow such things to happen? And such things happen a lot. In fact, in our world of hurt such things, and worse, have been happening for a very long time everywhere in the world.
In just our modern world – in the last one hundred years or so:
- Ismail Enver Pasha (2.5M deaths) A Turkish military officer who conducted what is now known as the Armenian Genocide. The word “genocide” was coined to describe this event.
- Leopold II of Belgium (2-15M deaths) responsible for unspeakable deaths in the Congo.
- Adolf Hitler (17M deaths) 17 million died not in war but in executions. Seven million Jews only represents half of all Hitler was responsible for.
- Jozef Stalin (23M deaths) These were most all Russian citizens that he suspected might threaten his power base.
But we can go back thousands of years and in every age, there have been conquerors that killed hundreds of millions across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, China, India, Central and South America. Our own North American continent has seen more than its fair share of wars and death and suffering.
Our world is terribly broken. And in saying this, what I really mean is the human soul and the human conscience is broken. It is this personal brokenness that accounts for the evil acts that torment our minds.
You want to know that the answer is to the why question? I can tell you. It is really quite simple: “We live in a world of lies.”
Since the beginning of our human history, we can trace the beginning of the age of lies to a single incident. It will be very familiar:
- Genesis 3:4-5
The serpent said to the woman, you surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.
The snake – the Evil One (and I use that title quite literally) introduced the lie in the garden by telling two truths and a bold face lie.
- Your eyes will be opened
- You will be like God knowing good and evil
- You will surely not die
Or today we might hear something like this:
- Our lives are hard and we work hard for everything we have
- We are entitled to some pleasure and some stress release
- You should have another drink, another slice of pie, another car, another affair.
And this formula is still his main weapon of destruction and evil.
Lies about power.
Lies about who you are and who you ought to be and how you ought to look and how you should perform. Appearance and performance based lies. But there is more. Lies of power and influence and sensuality and pleasure. Lies of entitlement and lies of expectations of my will and agenda being satisfied. Lies about meaning and purpose, about what gives meaning and lies that rob you of your authentic sense of purpose. We have too many excuses for lies in our wealthy country. We have too much time on our hands to imagine how life would be if only my sensitivities were granted. If my expectations were met. Because lies come from the murderer and thief, lies feed a culture of death and fear.
Lies that feed a Culture of Death and Fear
Viktor Frankl the 20th century Psychologist/Philosopher, holocaust survivor and author of the profound work Mans Search for Meaning, wrote this:
“When a person can’t find a deep sense of meaning, they distract themselves with pleasure.”
Our search for meaning in power, work, relationships, influence, pleasure – strivings that will never satisfy – have left us numb and angry. And curiously we turn back to the gods that failed us for answers again and again. And here is the real tragedy: These lies kill!
These lies kill
Suicide, domestic abuse, human trafficking, bullying in person, bullying by social media, vandalism and violence of property, racism, identity politics, name calling, death threats, random acts of violence (rather than random acts of kindness), the travesty of abortion at will, the isolation of the aged, the marginalization of the mentally ill. All of these are various forms of death by violence.
The question is Why? Why are children as young as 8 and 9 taking their own lives? Why has fentanyl become such a problem – the leading cause of death for adults between the age of 18 to 45? Why have our young become so expendable? Why is truth in such short supply? Why doesn’t someone do something???
Why?? Because we live in a world of lies and these lies kill – they are as lethal as stepping in front of a train, but they are slow and insidious so as to suck others into the same deadly streams of lies and death. It is the Evil One’s plan. Once evil can establish normalcy, it is easy to make the case that evil is in fact ‘normal’ and therefore ‘good.’ The “Everyone is doing it!” argument has been around a long time!
CS Lewis, famous for his various meaningful quotes tells us:
- “When the whole world is running towards a cliff, he who is running in the opposite direction appears to have lost his mind.”
I was listening to a podcast where the topic was this shooting and one of the guests said, “In the moments of these tragedies people run to their gods.” He went on to say, “Too many are turning to the government to fix the problems of their lives.” And I would say, “Or their money, or their education, or their love life.” Turning to false gods who cannot help.
The Bible speaks very frank words of warning from God for those who would deny His ways and follow their own. In Psalm 81 we read;
- Psalm 81:11-12
“But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me. So, I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices. (or to follow their own counsel)
Devices: ironic isn’t it that the so-called instruments of presenting ‘knowledge and truth’ – our phones and tablets that search Google and Facebook for their answers are called hand-held devices.
Our Adversary has turned so many things of merit and value upside down. It was true in the time of Jesus as well. The Pharisees and religious leaders of the day had believed certain lies about themselves and God – about power and spirituality and legalism. And they believed in them with such confidence and arrogance that they convinced others to believe in the lies with them. They believed in them so much so that they were willing to murder (of course quite against the Law) to protect and advance these lies.
Jesus, confronting these liars, says in John’s gospel:
- John 8:44
You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
And Jesus’ good friend Peter warns us as well:
- 1 Peter 5:6-11
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
We need the pouring out of the Spirit of Truth, the Holy Spirit, to attack and push back against the Unholy Spirit. As the verse tells us, it is not about escaping suffering so much as it is standing firm in the truth.
Why doesn’t someone do something? Because we are helpless to affect real change on our own power. Changing the educational dials, adding politically motivated buttons, pursuing laws that treat symptoms and not the real issues will be without avail. It is the depravity of our souls we must address. Our problems are not educational, political or sociological. They are spiritual. The wickedness extends far beyond the single acts of violence. The wickedness is in our souls. We have believed lies and the lies are killing us.
How did Isaiah put it? I am undone. I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips. I have believed in lies, advanced lies and even profited from the lies. And so has everyone else. We are undone by our lies!
We cannot pull ourselves out of this because there is no one that is above the chasm we are in who can pull us out. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We are all victims and perpetrators of lies that kill. It is hopeless . . .
We need a Sinless Savior! And we have one! The writer of Hebrews that Jesus, our High Priest, lived with us yet never fell into sin.
- Hebrews 4:15
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
No the only time Jesus was stained by the workings of sin was on the cross when he took upon Himself the world of sin and became sin for our sake:
- 2 Corinthians 5:21
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
The question is really not ‘why’ but ‘who?’ Who will deliver us? The Apostle Paul sought deliverance as well;
- Romans 7:24
Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
We have a Sinless Savior! We have a God who saves!
- Deuteronomy 32:4
He is the Rock, His work is perfect; For all His ways are justice, A God of truth and without injustice; Righteous and upright is He.
Our best hope is to not fight in our own strength. It is to yield. We must yield, we must confess our depravity and brokenness and our hopelessness.
Our friend Frankl weighs in again to our conversation:
- “For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side-effect of one’s personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one’s surrender to a person other than oneself.” Viktor E. Frankl
Victor Frankl was Jewish, but in this moment, he spoke in a prophetically Christian manner. Jesus was equally emphatic;
- John 14:6
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
Frankl also said this:“What is to give light must endure burning.”
I cannot retire just now because the work, the purpose, the calling, the longing to advance the Kingdom is still upon me. God has released me from 47 tears of ministry, not to retire but so that I may pick up my hammer and work somewhere else. I long to burn for Jesus Christ and the Gospel of His Kingdom Glory right now!
I need you oh I need you, Every hour I need you
My one defense, my righteousness, Oh God how I need you
Thanks for connecting here at 100foldministries.org and hanging out with us in our Backyard Conversations. Come visit us again soon – maybe check out our podcast at Spiritual Offerings!
This is Dave Scherrer, let’s be friends!