The Day "I" Died
We are living in fascinating times. Recently, my son in law and I had a chance to hear Jordan Peterson lecture in Austin Texas UT campus. Some very interesting things have been happening over the past three to four years, all over the globe. The pandemic has brought about a spiritual awakening of sorts in the western world. Some large names in the celebrity world have made public statements about opening up to Christianity. Even Richard Dawkins (one of the four horsemen of New Atheism) recently stated that he sees himself now as a Cultural Christian. He has not converted to Christianity but now sees the true value of a Christian influence on culture.
Jordan Peterson is a brilliant mind out of Canada who falls into this category. His current lecture series is titled after the book he is writing “We who wrestle with God”. He demonstrated a command of scripture that surprised me. I can’t speak to if Jordan Peterson has made a personal commitment to Christ but I believe it is clear that he is on the road to Emmaus, so to speak. In other words he is near the Kingdom but maybe not in just yet.
A few things Jordan Peterson discussed in his lecture ignited some deeper thinking on my part and I want to discuss in a future post, but first lets review the current state of our world that has reingnighted what may become the Third Spiritual Awakening. The first two Spiritual Awakenings were primarily in the Western World. This one, because of the global access to instant communication, may lead to a world wide Spiritual Awakening.
The current setting in our world: The pandemic brought global fear, death, an instant reckoning with our mortality. As we recovered we could see the impact of this reckoning in the western world in a movement called “The great resignation”. Across the western world many people resigned their jobs and opted to pursue a different course of life. One that gave them more control. If life was to be short they wanted to LIVE IT to its fullest. Many took long sabbaticals, traveled, fulfilled items on their life bucket list. Others started small business’s living out their personal dreams. One of the things I remember about this short season was the vast number of “Now Hiring” signs that popped up almost everywhere. Employers were increasing wages in record numbers in attempts to keep good employees. Good employees had their pick of the landscape for jobs. Many of these employees jumped from job to job based primarily on salary. Even the fast-food industry was affected and wages begin to climb for those who wished to flip burgers.
The rise of communism was the next blow to hit the western world. First came the riots following the death of George Floyd, giving rise to the BLM movement. The actual BLM leadership made no attempt to hide their ties to communism. They spelled it out on their website. Millions and maybe billions of dollars were collected by this group. It was difficult for the average individual at first to understand the difference between Black Lives Matter as a message of love, appreciation and value for a race and the message of BLM as a movement that wanted to destroy the western worlds value system and government and take over. The BLM movement based in communism began to rise as a voice and to press forward with an agenda to remove local authorities beginning with the police. Some large cities and states began to comply and reduced the size of their police force and redirected police budgets handing over millions of dollars to BLM and other groups who aligned with the BLM movement.
Very quickly riots broke out in cities across America, the reduction in police numbers were instantly felt. We watched online and on national TV broadcast as looters emptied stores, destroyed business, set up camp in parks for weeks and refused to allow normal business commerce. Tragically lives were lost, business destroyed that have never recovered. Many large business’ have left some of these cities and will likely never come back.
The BLM movement was exposed and the millions of dollars given them were mostly used by a handful of people to make themselves extremely wealthy. The dust had not quite settled on the riot front when the western world was confronted with the Rise of The Transgenders. DEI (Diversity Equity and Inclusion) agenda had been quietly rolled out for a decade or so on university campuses but now with the Rise of The Transgenders it was rolled out like a red carpet in virtually every large corporation in the west. Using Human Resources as the primary vehicle for enforcement, policies were written and adopted to prefer Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. The definition for each of those words was and continues to be subject to those who exercised the greatest control over resources. It does not mean what you would think it means. Proof of that is in how it has been weaponized to drive division racially, socioeconomically, and in attempting to redefine gender.
Much more has happened than I am choosing to point out in this brief post but we need to revisit the backdrop before we can better understand what God is doing in our world even as so many reject and ridicule him. I believe we are living in a Romans 5:20 moment on earth.
“God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant.”
This is what we are witnessing. in the middle of chaos, godless behavior, murder, lying, corruption, perversion, hatred, division, we are watching as God pours out abundant Grace for all who will receive it. So many are turning to God. Our church is seeing this happen weekly. People who had walked away from faith, from God, from Jesus are returning and embracing God’s Grace for their lives. Celebrities, politicians, singles, young married couples, parents, grandparents all are responding to an Awakening brought about by the Spirit of God.
We come to God to die to self and be born again. The day “I” died was the day I was born again. Dead to sin, alive in Christ Jesus. The world is a very different place for the born again. We view everything differently. From selfish to selfless.
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
Gone is PRIDE in its place is humility driven by gratitude. How I feel is not who I am. Now that I am born again, my identity is not wrapped up in my feelings, emotions or skills. I am not defined by what others think of me. I have my identity in Christ. In the midst of the darkest of times God is pouring out abundant grace! Every moment of everyday another “I” is dying and being born again.
“And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.”