Recently, I was asked to reflect on the topic ‘Why Christianity Still Matters.’ Of course besides the obvious things that came to mind, including salvation, church potlucks and community, one thing really crossed my mind. And, here you have it:
The world shouts so much to each of us. If you ever sit back and think about all the messages you hear in a day you will recognize your inferiority.
You will never be rich enough to own all the houses, cars and technology that will make you elite amongst the world.
You will never be good enough looking, have an attractive enough figure, or be stylish enough to be the envy of all.
You will never be good enough for all those who want more from you, whatever that looks like.
Over and over from birth to death we are bombarded with reminders that we are not enough. We need the latest trends in furniture so our home looks magazine worthy, expensive sports cars in the driveway, and all the latest gadgets and gizmos. We need unnecessary surgeries or fancy make up, and diets galore so we can fit into only the finest brand name clothing. We need to know all the latest news, celebrity updates and have several degrees under our belt.
The rise of social media has not helped at all, with us all so connected online to worlds where we brag incessantly about our greatest moments. As we sift through the newsfeeds of other’s highlight reels in our darker moments, the world reminds us again that we are never going to be good enough.
Its no wonder that people are miserable, mental health struggles are so common and suicides fill our news headlines so often. Families are falling apart all around us. People are so broken and lonely. Depression and anxiety haunt society and further convince people they aren’t good enough.
On top of being not good enough, society reminds us to only think of one person: Me. You want this? Go get it, after all you deserve it! There is no time to burden yourself thinking of others when you ought to think about you first!
It’s exasperating. We are destined to fail regardless of the effort we put in because it will never be enough! And when we do fail the entire world knows about it as our mistakes are blasted all over social media before we’ve even been found guilty for strangers to condemn and judge us.
We are walking a fine line of perfection, trying to keep our heads above water in a world and culture that will always remind us we still have so much more to go. The societal bar is set at an unachievable height for us to reach.
Millions of voices to reminds us, we aren’t enough, we will never be enough and we are far from perfect.
But there is one voice that outweighs them all: The voice of God. People are imperfect, even after their redemption, they remain broken humans. But God, He is perfect. He is sinless. He is blameless.
We can trust the millions of imperfect and broken voices we hear from people, or we can choose to trust the one authoritative and perfect voice of God. All the voices of the world together, still can not compare to one whisper from God Almighty.
In this broken, exhausted and malnourished world, Christianity doesn’t just matter, but is crucial for such a time as this.
The Bible tells us the very opposite of the world’s incessant demands. In scripture, we read truths about who we are and what our purpose is. If God loved Noah who drank, Moses who killed, and David who cheated, then He is fully capable of loving us too.
If Jesus spent time with the unloved, those who burdened society with their lack of knowledge, their tax collections, their fishermen smells, their pasts with sexual immorality, then he surely must love us too. Even if we don’t have the latest gadgets, and our house is often messy at best. Regardless of our weight, or lack of muscle. Regardless of our knowledge or efforts. He just loves us, regardless.
The world, with its lack of Biblical knowledge looks at the Christian life as restricting and boring. Christians can’t have the fun the world offers, so they think. Christians have rules and who would want to sacrifice their #SundayFunday with a couple hours of listening to some person ramble on about some man who died so long ago.
But, it’s the very opposite. Nothing is more liberating than true Christian freedom!
True Christian freedom allows people to submit their weakness to the God who created the universe. Depression, anxiety, whatever else ails you. God is bigger than that. He can handle it. It encourages us to give generously to others, be it our time or resources. When we are not trapped in the endless cycle of me, me, me, we are free to find joy in serving others.
True Christian freedom tells us we are created with a purpose, that God wants us exactly as He created us, each part of our imperfect self is intentionally created. The Holy Spirit fills us regardless of what clothes we have, and what size we are.
True Christian freedom reminds us that death isn’t the end. We have no reason to live in fear anymore. It teaches us to forgive, and not just others but ourselves, letting go of the poison an angry world wants us to inhale. We are free.
As Paul writes, “We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons to knock down the stronghold of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments” (2 Corinthians 10:4, NLT).
Christianity doesn’t just still matter, it matters even more in a world starved of true freedom and hungry for authoritative truth. Now more than ever, we need to help the broken find redemption, and the one true voice they are starving to hear.
When we sit and dwell on God’s truths, His one mighty voice is capable of drowning out the millions of lies we hear every single day.
Guarded Hearts Ministries 