It is nearly impossible to pick up a newspaper these days without being confronted with a crisis. The plethera of burning issues seem to roll of the tongue like Billy Joels’ 1980’s hit ‘We Didn’t Start the Fire’. Arab unrest, climate change, carbon tax, refugees, earthquakes, nuclear threats, US debt, house prices, interest rates, war in Afghanistan, Greek bailout, living costs, cattle bans, … This list goes on.
For news and political junkies like myself, our present news cycle is riverting consumption. However, current events can also be quite a depressing diet. Once we have seen off one crisis, two more pop up. The continuation of these events have made us tired and nostaligic. We long for the days when life seemed simpler, more moral and more secure.
But simply longing for our problems to be fixed does not work, so we submerge ourselves in the banality of facebook, reality tv, and social gatherings. Alternatively we obsess with political and ideological involvement hoping to heal the world and make it a better place. In Australia, we are blessed to be somewhat isolated from the worst effects of some of the global crisis, but nevertheless, the creep of globalization has drawn us into the vortex of world affairs.
But how should we as Australian Christians respond? Firstly, we should take comfort that no crisis is a surprise to God. Not only is God all-knowing, but He has told us that these types events will occur. They are part of God’s plan for redemption in preparation for His return (Matt 24:14).
Secondly, we should be on our guard for false Christs. Our ever present temptation is to look to government instead of God. We worship the false security of our worldly nesteggs, forgetting that Jesus taught us that earthly possessions will corrupt and disappear. We must replace our ‘temporal Christs’ with the treasure of our eternal Jesus.
Finally, as followers of Christ, we are not to worry, but rather we must renew our minds by having our thinking transformed. (Romans 12:2) As we revel in God’s grace and mercy towards us, we will relax in God’s promise that we are not destined to judgment, but to rest. It is not our job to save the world, it is our job to love the Saviour of the world.
Blessings
-JC
First Published On: 8 July, 2011
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