What is the World Coming To?

This past Sunday, May 30, there was a shooting at the local Target that shook this community.  A man walked into the store and shot an employee of the store and then turned the gun on himself.  This is something that people in this community knew happened in the world, but was something we never thought would happen in our town.  Since this time I have heard many people discussing the tragic events that took place, and normally the conversation turns to a statement like "What is this world coming to?" or "Nowhere is safe anymore."  While there is no denying that evil is everywhere and that crime  around us is a reality, I think that the meaning of these questions and statements go deeper than they may appear on the surface.  Often the tone of these statements and the conversation that surrounds them implies that the communicator has the understanding that if people would just act like they did in the "good old days" then everything would be right in the world.  After thinking about this the past few days the question has come to me, what should the church's answer be to the growing reality of depravity around us?

The Wrong Answer

First I want to expose the answer that is normally given for the erroneous statement that it is.  If one looks at the strategies, programs and sermons that are often given in church, one could easily be led to believe that the answer to the problems in the world is simply good morality.  From the mindset that if people would simply clean up their act and live like they were supposed to, to how to live a better life sermons that pervade today's pulpits, it seems that churches are convinced that a change in morality will cure the problems that face the world today.  Proclaiming morality will at best mask the symptoms, but it will never cure the disease.  Solving the problems of evil in the world today by teaching morality is like trying to cure emphysema with a cough drop.  When looking at the issues in the world around her, the church cannot believe that lie that people just simply need better morality.

The Cure:

So what is the answer?  The church cannot ignore the issues in the world around her, nor can she successfully seclude herself from the world and remain oblivious to the needs that exist.  However, if the church is going to be effective in addressing the affects of the disease of sin that is so prevalent around her, she must administer the right cure.  So what is this cure?  Quite simply, it is the message of the gospel.  It is proclaiming Christ and Him crucified in every message and to every person.  It is realizing that the problem is not bad morality, but sin that has separated us from the Creator God and led us into death. The world is not going to change by changing itself, rather true change will only come through an encounter with the Living God through the cross of Christ Jesus.  This is what we must proclaim as a church, this must be our remedy, for it is the only remedy with any affect.

We must rexamine the way we look at the world.  As Paul states in 2 Corinthians 5:16 we must no longer see people "according to the flesh" but view them as people made Imago Dei who are seperated from a Holy God and in need of a Savior, not a behavior change.  Proclaim Christ and the new life that is in Him, not good behavior.