Godly Living in an (Often) Ungodly World

By Neil Earle

Even today our toga parties are patterned after the riotous Romans.

All Christians are familiar with St. Paul’s challenge in Romans 12:1-2, “Do not be conformed to this world but be ye transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may know what is the will of God” (RSV).

Many analysts claim that North America has been at war for 30 years – a culture war in which traditionalists battle it out with liberationists in the public square. “America – love it or leave it!” say some. “America – change it or lose it,” reply others. Even in religion some fervent conservatives will have nothing to do with the mainstream churches such as the Episcopalians and United Methodists. This point came up at our Glendora ministerial meeting last week.

So what’s a Christian to do?

Rome’s Sick Society

In some ways St. Paul also gave us important context for looking at our present dilemmas, which always helps. In Romans 1 he lists a catalogue of aberrant behaviors that were bedeviling the first century Roman Empire, a society into which the church was sent to preach the Gospel. Paul list is pretty harsh: “Full of envy, murder, strife deceit, malignity they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents…”

As one wit said, Paul could be describing the nightly news!

But the Roman Empire was ahead of us in personal and corporate degeneracy. The commentator William Barclay talked about a First Century world where violence had run amok. Roman historians reported on the reign of Tiberius (14-37 AD) when John and Jesus started preaching: “No day passed but someone was not executed.” The emperor himself retreated to the isle of Capri living in perversion with little boys some of whom he murdered to cover his crimes.

Writes Barclay: “There had not been one single case of divorce in the first 520 years of the Roman Republic…[the first was in 234 B.C.]…but now, as Seneca said, women married in order to be divorced and divorced in order to be remarried.” The writer Juvenal reported on one lady who had eight husbands in five years. Fourteen out of the first fifteen Roman emperors were homosexual. Concludes Barclay: “There is nothing that Paul said about the heathen world that the heathen moralists had not already said” (Barclay, Daily Study Bible: Romans, pages 31-32).

The Roman world was sick. It needed a Great Physician. Paul knew that only the power inherent in the Gospel could save such a people. He began his dire analysis of the empire with “I am not ashamed of the Gospel for it is the power of God for the salvation of all who believe” (Romans 1:16).

How then should we live today in an often ungodly with its own peculiar strains and stresses?

Three things come to mind. Let’s discuss them.

Divisions seem to be all the news in North America especially in this election year.

Avoid the Extremes

First, guard your emotions, avoid extremes.

Jesus said not to judge by the outward appearance but to judge righteously, wisely (John 7:24). Emotions and glandular opinions often cloud our judgment. Much social media thrives on the shallow and superficial. The present U.S. Presidential election now being set before us almost obnoxiously by a heedless media is one of warring ideological extremes. One party sets forth an avowed socialist, another a full-fledged capitalist. It couldn’t be any more polarized.

But in the middle of all this reckless debate, reckless claims and counter-claims comes the steady words of Proverbs: “Keep your heart (your mind, your understanding) with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. Put away from you crooked speech, and put devious speech far from you. Let your eyes look directly forward and you gaze be straight before you” (Proverbs 4:23-25)

So what are we to think about as God’s people?

Paul gives the answer: “Finally brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious…”

STOP!

Is there really anything lovely about what we hear so often on TV? Is it honorable and gracious to think a sitting U.S. President is not a real American citizen these past 7 years for example? What about “worthy of praise”? Is it praiseworthy to think a former Vice President helped plan the bombing of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001?

Of course not, but these are the wild extreme ideas floating around and often repeated. We have to guard our emotions, we have to avoid extreme ideas and letting them take root in our mind. This does not mean we have to be Polyannas, but we do have to call a halt when we see or hear such hyped up reporting as the printing presses and the mails promulgate too often these days.

Shut it down and look for sources and people who strive for excellence in what they are doing. That’s Paul’s advice – strive for the best, excellence (Philippians 4:9).

Second, find a way to serve.

One problem with our pervasive media coverage is that we can easily fall victim to “compassion fatigue.” We can see so many atrocities, famines, diseases, hurting animals, etc. that we can begin to feel quite helpless in the face of it all. “Is God still on his throne?” we might ask ourselves subliminally. Here’s where local service either in the church or community can put us in a better frame of mind. Don’t wait for the proper feeling – start serving and the feeling will follow. It’s a poor church indeed that doesn’t have a missionary program of some sort, either locally or overseas. There’s a reason. First, it’s a New Testament command (1 Peter 2:15). Secondly, reaching out to others completes us as individuals. We are not monads, designed for solitary living. We were designed to live in community starting with the family and branching out from there.

In his ending to his Corinthian letter Paul praised a whole family who were positively addicted, addicted to serving the local church (1 Corinthians 16:15). Just think. Libraries need volunteers, service groups need helpers, schools need volunteer moms, seniors centers need younger assistants – the list is voluminous. Get in on the feedback loop God has built into the human psyche. “A man wrapped up him-self makes a small package.” It’s true that people outwardly motivated live a lot longer and enjoy a better quality of life than those who stay reclusive.

Get out of your rut. Get out of you rut and serve and enjoy the results. Recently a 106 year old woman was invited to the White House. How did she live so long? “Keep moving!” was her instant reply. Right. You’re never too old to get involved. Start doing it and the motivation will grow with inverse results.

We all know what it's like when everything seems against us, but the Lord is always near.

Better Bible Study

Three, get more rooted in God’s word.

The present looks scary and the future may challenge us even more. But God promises to give us the wisdom and faith to meet every challenge if we will look to him. Once again Proverbs speaks to us as it says “cry out for insight, and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasure; then you will understand the fear of the lord and find the knowledge of God” (Proverbs 2:2-5).

After feeding 5000 people with five barley loaves and three small fishes, Jesus sent his rugged disciples ahead of him across the lake while he stayed to pray (Mark 6:45-52). A vicious storm came up. “Then he saw them straining at rowing for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night he came to them walking on the sea, and would have passed by them.”

The disciples were terrified at what they thought was a ghost.

“And immediately he talked with them and said to them, Be of good cheer! It is I: do not be afraid.”(Mat. 4:45-50)

“Do not be afraid!” That happens by some counts to be the most common command in the Bible. Just think: the strength and wisdom of the Creator of the universe available to us IF we ask him for it. Notice it said, Jesus would have walked past them. Lesson? Jesus needs an invite. He needs to hear from us. With him on our side, even though the winds and storms of life may be against us, waves flying straight in our face, we can do the impossible, we can live godly lives in an ungodly world.