FOCUS OF THE WORLD! [2 Corinthians 10:3-5]
Emotion is defined as “a state of pending or present excitement, characterized by strong feelings, often with a tendency toward a definite kind of behavior,” e.g., anger, affection, depression, devotion, allegiance, love, etc.
When we see the American flag, it elicits a certain kind of emotion for Americans, something else for foreigner; when we see a fireman, policeman, or soldier, it results in a specific emotion; Easter scenes do the same for Christians; a child’s wedding or a loved one’s passing bring out a plethora of strong feeling; and certain hymns or choruses do the same. These are life and character building emotions.
Yet in this violent, deviant, self-obsessed world, with its collective focus three feet off the ground, we’re confronted with a glut of destructive emotions. The whole of our society seems to need "tenting," to exterminate the pests operating in the framework of our national and spiritual houses.
Reading what Paul said to the Corinthian church in his second letter, we rightly conclude the church, as a whole, has failed to take much thinking captive. He said:
Where the church's emotions ought to be running high with righteous indignation (abortion, homosexuality, pornography, deviance), we instead suffer rebellious indigestion.
Emotion is defined as “a state of pending or present excitement, characterized by strong feelings, often with a tendency toward a definite kind of behavior,” e.g., anger, affection, depression, devotion, allegiance, love, etc.
When we see the American flag, it elicits a certain kind of emotion for Americans, something else for foreigner; when we see a fireman, policeman, or soldier, it results in a specific emotion; Easter scenes do the same for Christians; a child’s wedding or a loved one’s passing bring out a plethora of strong feeling; and certain hymns or choruses do the same. These are life and character building emotions.
Yet in this violent, deviant, self-obsessed world, with its collective focus three feet off the ground, we’re confronted with a glut of destructive emotions. The whole of our society seems to need "tenting," to exterminate the pests operating in the framework of our national and spiritual houses.
Reading what Paul said to the Corinthian church in his second letter, we rightly conclude the church, as a whole, has failed to take much thinking captive. He said:
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.Fortresses are going up faster than churches; graves are flooding with the rotting carcasses of the lost, faster than the saving of souls; and the rate of growth of biblical ignorance is only exceeded by the combined annual rate of the printing of Bibles.
Where the church's emotions ought to be running high with righteous indignation (abortion, homosexuality, pornography, deviance), we instead suffer rebellious indigestion.
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