Those who are truth tellers will be shunned and mocked by many around them. Since the world doesn't want truth, only "happiness", there is a tendency to feel agitated when someone speaks boldly with authority.
We are encountering more people who have a tendency to rage when told they are wrong about something, because they will only tolerate an "opinion." When we say "God says this" or "no you are wrong because of this", the hearers become incensed that we dare to speak without doubt.
Many people want everyone to have a measure of doubt in their belief system. When we speak with a measure of doubt about out own beliefs then the hearer feels justified in believing their error. Personal validation is more important to the people than truth or evidence. Being validated in our beliefs is more important to our world than knowing truth.
Truth tellers will be mocked, excluded and demeaned whenever they speak with authority from the Bible. The truth is a threat to those who are unsure of their own reality.
So maybe we could say that we live in a world that fears truth rather than values it.
If you see things in truth and declare that truth, then you are a threat to the culture as a whole and will frighten people. Yes, I said that, the most frightening people to our culture are those who see truth and declare it.
Since truth is not very important in our culture we can conclude that neither is integrity. How can we even know what integrity is if there is no absolute truth. How can we know what honesty looks like when there is no absolute truth.
I have been noticing that even the idea of honesty is skewed in a world that values fantasy above truth. As long as you say you are being honest, there is no need to evaluate if we really are walking in honesty. As long as someone says they are sincere, they think this validates their assertions.
One person will say "I have been honest", when in fact they embellished the truth, left half of it out or changed it a little to fit their desired outcome. And, yet they will say they have been honest. We live in a world full of half truth and lies while calling it all "honesty." The interpretation is that honesty is based on how we "feel" rather than reality. If we "feel" something is honest then it must be so.
Our culture runs on feelings more than it seeks facts. When feelings are the focus then facts can be manipulated to fit the desired feelings.
Feelings are facts to those who are not very interested in truth. This is the reason the Bible is offensive to most people we meet.
We are living in an irrational world filled with people who love their elevated status of godhood based on their fantasies. Let me ask this culture, "how is that self esteem teaching working out for you"? I can tell you that it is not working, but because so many people like how it feels, they would say it is working.
We have more teen suicides than ever before, there are school shootings that never happened when I was a teen. The worst thing that happened when I was in school was those who smoked or chewed gum in class. Now we have school shootings, irrational and out of control young people who feel so entitled that they have no conscience about murdering someone just because they have been bullied, as though shooting others is not bullying.
Adult children are more disrespectful than ever before and yet they think they are respectful. I guess they think that if they don't kill their parents then they are respectful. Mocking, dismissing and demeaning parents is disrespectful, but since this culture see it as normal, then they are counted as respectful for not killing their parents. But wait a minute, doesn't God say if you have hatred, contempt, in your heart for someone that is the same as if you had murdered them? Yep, many adult children treat their parents with a great deal of contempt.
We have based so much on "feelings" that we have managed to give excuses to people for their bad behavior, calling it "an addiction", instead of calling it what it really is, and that is sin.
When the culture lives in a fantasy world of make believe there is no longer accountability for evil behavior, only excuses that have few if any consequences.
Young people are out of control because their parents are indulging themselves in divorce and remarriage, even their parents cannot learn how to get along in a marriage, while demonstrating to their children how to act when things get rough, and that is to throw away or mock and intimidate the people who are bothersome.
Is anyone still scratching their head about what has happened to America? I'm not, it is clear that sin in the lives of the parents who are selfish is causing this mess, and, some grandparents are culpable too for coddling the bad decisions of their adult children.
When an entire culture lives in fantasy every day, they will interpret everything in terms of their momentary feelings rather than truth and we will end up with what we have right now, the 2 Timothy 3 problem of self love.
That's the truth, there is only one fix for the mess we find ourselves in, that is to tell the truth and take our lumps, perhaps someone will listen, see their need for Christ to be changed by Him and that person will see victory over sin and lies in their own live.
I do not see the entire culture changing, only individuals as we plod along obeying the Lord, telling the truth and remaining faithful to Christ as we go.
Brothers and sisters we are going home soon, our job of truth telling is not over until the Lord comes for us. May we be encouraged to "keep on keeping on" in our walk with Christ, even if we find no one to listen.
The anti-christ will exalt himself above Christ, his minions are in the world today working on the minds of the culture to exalt themselves above God. their rebellion against truth is evidence of this. The world is ready to receive someone who tells them exactly what they want to hear, the very tactic of the devil in these last days. The world is believing so many lies right now that the really big lie of the anti-christ will be easily and readily received when he reveals himself.
Truth is truth even if no one believes it.
2 Thessalonians 2
"1 Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him,
2 that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.
3 Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,
4 who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.
5 Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things?
6 And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed.
7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way.
8 Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming;
9 that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders,
10 and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved.
11 For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false,
12 in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but [n]took pleasure in wickedness.
13 But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.
14 It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
15 So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us.
16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace,
17 comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word."
We can be thankful to the Lord that we have one another to encourage and build up in the faith in these very trying times. Our joy remains full even with the chaos around us, because we have the Creator of the Universe living inside of us. Hallelujah!
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