Changing times
"You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed with pride, and love pleasure rather than God" (2 Timothy 3:1-4)
Our world is careening out of control. Every waking day we see and hear very disheartening news of economic hardships, terrorism, corruption, sexual perversion, cyber fraud, mass shootings, arson, and a frightening host of others. It seems our world is on the brink of collapse. It is even easy to say that the gravity of these occurrences have become intense in the 21st Century.
The original audience of the letter of the inspired writer, Paul was the first century Christians. Even in the first century, Paul forewarned them of the destruction of Jerusalem which was to leave in its trail all kinds of ungodliness, even in the church of Christ. The lostness of man is an age old phenomenon. Our greatest need is not material; our greatest need is spiritual. A moralizing Christian may act religious but reject the power that will make him godly (2 Timothy 3:5).
In the movie, Time Changer, a bible professor sought the approval of his faculty to publish a book he thinks will transforms lives for God. All his colleagues recommended the book for publication save one. He pointed out to the board that it was a fatal mistake to teach morality without the Moral Law Giver. He argued that Jesus Christ cannot save any man He cannot command. He implored his colleague to edit his manuscript and teach his audience that Christians choose to be godly because we are commanded by Christ Jesus. Without that men will define their own rights and wrongs and live on their own terms. This objection became a bone of contention between the one who was so zealous to get the book published and his colleague who was so concerned about the content of the book. For the zealous one, he saw nothing wrong with sermonizing to 18th century Christians without direct reference to Christ. To iron out their differences, the concerned one decided to catapult the zealous one into the 21st century to get a foresight of how his teachings can harm society. What he saw in the 21st century society sent shivers down his spine. Even in the church, people’s hearts were so detached from God. Men were materially rich, but spiritually hungry. Wrapping up his journey, he went to see a librarian who once worked in the movies industry and what the woman said was an eye opener for him:
Secular entertainment is one of the biggest tools Satan uses to mislead people. He desensitizes us through it: murder, violence, sexual immorality, etc. Sin has slowly but surely become acceptable to us because we see it all the time, so it is no longer shocking to us.
When the movie industry started back in the 30s in USA it was moralistic for the most part. There was a body that regulated what could or could not be shown on the screen. The movie makers were very careful about what they portrayed. That is where people did not realise that the devil won his greatest victory, because he got the name of Jesus Christ out of the movies. The morals were there for a while but the Lord Himself was not.
Returning from his journey, the professor, without hesitation worked on his book. He came to the rude awakening that Jesus Christ is the answer for the world and the healer of our spiritual maladies. By obeying His commands, we can navigate through this relativistic world with the absolute.