Another year has gone by and what a year it has been. Crazy thing after crazy thing happened what seemed to be on a regular basis.
It was actually a good year for me though. I continued to write for my site, and that included releasing a new book. It’s simple ways you can gain a more positive outlook on life. That lead me to start my own brand as well, Upliftance, to help spread that positivity to others. Even started doing some investing. Let’s see where that goes. Overall, it caused me to also grow as a person and I love where God is leading me.
Of all the lessons I learned though, there’s one that sticks out above them all. It really had to do with the pandemic and how people were treating it. I now have a sense of how the first century church must have felt after Jesus ascended back into Heaven. Having been mocked and persecuted for my beliefs. Not nearly to the extent that the church went through but it did give me a certain degree of their experience.
Jesus said that those in the world love darkness rather than light (John 3:19). Not only do they not like light, they stay as far away from it as possible. And they also will get others to enjoy the darkness as well. And, of course, there are some that have a massive God complex and use their darkness to rule over the masses.
Truth has never been more suppressed than it is now. It only took a global pandemic to do so. And whenever anyone speaks the truth, they are suspended from most social media platforms.
The apostles were also instructed not to preach the name of Jesus (Acts 4:18). Evil people in power do the exact same thing. If they don’t like what you have to say, they will silence you at all costs. Same thing happened when you showed scientific studies that questioned what the experts were putting forth.
Imagine with me for a minute that you just heard one of the apostles tell you that they just witnessed Jesus ascend back into Heaven and that He was the Son of God that the Scriptures talked about. You believed them and were baptized for the remission of your sins. You’re exhilarated now that you have a new life in Christ.
You then go and tell one of your friends who is disgusted that you would believe in such rubbish. Everyone believes that the caesar is god and he’s the one that supplies all of their needs. He’s the one we all worship. We would be crushed upon hearing that.
History has repeated shown us that when a dictator is in power and someone questions his authority, they are removed from society. The powers that be don’t want you undermining their authority and they most certainly don’t want you causing others to question their narrative. It’s still true today and it was true back when the church first began.
This is not how truth is determined though. When one person or one organization controls the flow of information, it’s the most dangerous thing in the world. Truth is determined when it can be seen from many different angles. Many minds observing what is going on around and constructing a theory based on the evidence given to them. That’s what we ought to be doing, especially as Christians. It shouldn’t have surprised me, but I was taken back a bit, to find that many who spoke up against the medical tyranny were, in fact, readers of the Bible. Believers in the Judeo-Christian God. Simply carrying out the duties God has given us in finding out what is true and what is false.
This is what we are called to do. We are to act maturely and think critically. “Therefore, you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48) When we become Christians and start thinking more mature, we start to see the world as immature. This is why we’re told to not be like the world as well. In addition, we should really ask ourselves, what is the difference between a mature person and an immature one? What would you say?
To put it plainly, a mature person is simply someone who pays attention. That’s it. They pay attention to their surroundings, or more alert, and notice details that most people won’t. If you’ve ever watched TV shows like Psych or the Mentalist, you’ll see my point. To the immature mind, these people seem almost superhuman, but the fact is, they just see things differently.
We’re told the same thing in the Bible too. How many times are we told to be vigilant (1 Peter 5:8), to not be deceived (Galatians 6:7; James 1:16), and to be watchful (Revelation 3:2)? I mean, the entire letter of Revelation to the seven churches of Asia is dedicated to mature Christians, who knew the Old Testament well, to watch out for those things which were to come. Those who saw the signs coming faired a lot better than the ones who didn’t.
Remember to always have your eyes and ears open. You will be called many different names by the immature. They don’t have any good arguments against your position so they’ll just throw ad hominems at you which is a logical fallacy. It’s just empty threats so don’t let it get you down for standing up for truth. Remember, they hated Jesus first (John 15:18). Some people just cannot tolerate the truth.
So, with this, it has strengthened my faith even more and it should yours too. We truly are in this together, you and me. Just don’t forget what Jesus told us “And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end shall be saved” (Mark 13:13).