What's missing?

As a little girl I use to be sad that I lived in the modern time period. I wanted to live in a culture that more fully embraced things like the Bible, God, and femininity. Now I see that God has placed me here and now for a reason and I have learned to be grateful for that. But I still am saddened sometimes when I see what we have lost as a culture. 

 Oftentimes, to me, it seems as if something is missing in our culture. As if we lost something beautiful that used to be more appreciated in our culture. It feels like the modern life of comfort, ease, careers, and technology isn't as wonderful as everyone makes it out to be. But what is missing? I mean, shouldn't it be great that we have Tv's, phones, social media, texting, cars, better career opportunities, comfier clothes, more rights for women etc., etc.. Shouldn't I be grateful that life is easier and we don't have to work as hard as everyone use to, to make a living? So why, even though the world makes those things sound promising, is it not fulfilling. It feels as if it's not enough. As if it's empty.

So, what's missing in our world? What is missing in our culture? What is missing in our society? And how can we bring it back?

1. God, His truth, His design, His gospel

Any culture or society without God is missing the biggest thing of all. Of course, we are not without God in the sense that He is always sovereign and is King of kings. But our society is one that runs away from worshipping God and chooses to worship self. Yes. Our culture idolizes self. We do and accept whatever we feel like doing. Our world is very self-focused. We need to direct our hearts back to God. He is the only One that can complete and fulfill us.

We must turn to God's truth and design. After all, if God is the Creator then shouldn't He get to define what our purpose is? Instead of running away from His design we need to follow it. His design (for gender, marriage, family, church, etc.) is beautiful. We must embrace His truth and not believe the lies of the culture. He is truth. His word is truth. We can trust Him.

Another thing our culture must turn back to is the gospel. We cannot be saved without it. What is the gospel? It is the good news:

God created the world and the whole universe. It was good and perfect and beautiful. The first people made were Adam and Eve. They were perfect and without sin. But one day they rebelled against God. This was serious. God is so holy and perfect that absolutely no sin or evil may dwell with Him. So after that 1st sin, mankind became separated from God. Mankind is born into a sinful nature, separating us from the very God who created us, the one whom we disobey. But that's not the end of the story. God loved us. Not because we were so great. No. We aren't. We are undeserving of His love. But yet He chose to love us. Love is a choice. It is the sacrifice of self. And God showed the greatest love ever to be demonstrated. He sent His only and perfect Son to this earth: Jesus. Jesus came to earth and was born in the likeness of man. He was fully God and fully man. He lived an absolutely perfect life. That's right! He lived on this earth around 30 years and never once sinned! He faced trials, temptation, and suffering just like us. But never once did He lash out in anger, give into temptation, or complain about His circumstances. He was sinless. He performed miracles, called people to follow Him, and taught many things. But then He did something astounding. You see, there is only one way to heaven. The only way to get to heaven and escape eternal punishment for our sins is to live a perfect life. That is NOT good news for us, is it? None of us is without sin. And even one sin is enough to condemn us to hell. The only way for us to be forgiven is through a perfect and holy, bloody sacrifice. The Israelites in Bible times would sacrifice lambs without any blemish. But even that was not enough. They had to live by the law and continue to bring sacrifices to the temple. But, like I said, Jesus did something astounding. He sacrificed His own perfect life for us. He died a brutal, bloody death to save us! He paid the ultimate sacrifice once and for all. He took the punishment for all the sins of the world on Himself. He had never sinned even once! And yet He faced that punishment out of love for the Father and for us! He is our Savior. After He died, He was buried. If that was the end, it would be a very sad story. Death would have defeated the Christ. But it is not the end! Three days after His death, Jesus Christ resurrected from the dead! He appeared to many, proving that He is alive! He then ascended into heaven where He is now! And everyone who confesses that He is Lord and puts their trust in Him and repents of their sins will be saved! What grace and mercy God has shown! This is the gospel. This is the good news. This is what we must turn to and point others to.

2. Repentance

Our culture is one that tolerates sin and tells you to follow your heart. The world says that if you want to do it, do it. If you like it, it's okay. If your heart tells you something, embrace it. Our culture is one that uses words like "love" "tolerance" "acceptance" and "follow your heart" to basically make up excuses to continue to live in sin. In fact, not only is repentance rare in our world and culture, but even within the church nowadays! Repentance seems almost to be a foreign concept to this society. The Bible tells us that our flesh and hearts desires are wicked. (See Jer. 17:9 and 1 Jn. 2:15-17) And the Bible also tells us to flee from wickedness. (See Proverbs 4:14-15) These are very different concepts from what the world teaches us. These tell us not to "tolerate" sin, to accept others for who they are and what they do out of "love", and to "follow our hearts." No. These verses tell us that our heart and flesh, our sinful desires, are of this world. And if they are of this world they are not from God. If we want to be children of God, we MUST flee from the things of this world. We must not follow the path of the evil. 

So the Bible tells us to flee evil and turn to Him. But what does it say about repentance? The Bible is clear that in order to be saved we must repent. True faith goes hand in hand with real repentance. If we truly believe and confess Jesus as Lord, we will repent from our sins. To repent means to turn from something. When we repent of our sins we are confessing them and turning away from them. We must die to our sins and live to God in Christ Jesus. (Rom 6:11) 1 John 1:9 tells us, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." We also learn more about repentance through baptism. Baptism symbolizes the death we die to our old self and sins and the new life we are raised to in Christ, bringing us salvation! (Mt. 3:11, Mk. 1:4) Of course, baptism itself doesn't bring salvation, but it symbolizes our repentance and salvation. The Bible also makes it clear that we are called to repent. Luke 5:31-32 says, "And Jesus answered them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance."" We are implored to repent. It's not just a suggestion, but a call. Our culture seems to be missing what 2 Corinthians 7:10 calls a "godly grief." Our sins should grieve us, bringing us to repentance. We must answer the call to repentance. We must confess our sinful ways and turn away from them! We must flee from and reject our sins. 

3. Sharing our struggles

Another thing that seems to be missing in our society is sharing our struggles. Yes, it can be hard to be open and honest, especially when it is about our struggles in sin. But there is much we could gain from advice, counsel, wisdom from others, accountability, encouragement, and prayer. We need discipleship. Proverbs 11:14 - "Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in abundance of counselors there is safety." It is wise to ask for discipleship, advice, and accountability from other godly people in our lives. God created relationships to be this way. We are suppose to help, support, and encourage one another. We are suppose to teach and admonish one another. (Titus 2:4, Col. 3:16) Our culture instead seems to say, "You can do it on your own! You don't need other people. You are independent. You know what is best. Don't take their advice. It's your life! Do what you think is best." All these statements are self centered and very false. We need someone else to save us from our sins, because we are not good and perfect enough. And that is Jesus. He is the One who can save us and we need Him. We are not independent; we rely on God. He gives us strength when we are weak. (2 Cor. 12:9) And He also created us to experience relationships, friendships, family, and discipleship here on this earth. It's one of the ways He encourages, grows, guides, and strengthens us. So I encourage you in the relationships that you have to share your struggles with one another. Why? So we can encourage, pray for, give and receive advice, and hold one another accountable. 

4. A hard work ethic

Our culture is one that promotes the easy and comfortable lifestyle. But it is biblical that we are called to work hard. 

We are called to be diligent. 

We are called to not be slothful.

We are called to die to self.

We are not to be lazy and selfish, seeking what we want or think is best. No. We are to serve the Lord and serve Him diligently. We are to work hard to be godly, steadfast, righteous, and compassionate. We are called to work with all our might at anything that we find ourselves doing. We don't see godly people in the Bible living successful, prosperous, fun, and easy lives. The godly people of the Bible worked hard and diligently for the Lord. They served others even if it was at the expense of personal pleasure or comfort. This is a lifestyle we must seek after. One that dies to self. One that is diligent. One that willingly serves.

In conclusion:

Now, of course, I know NONE of these things were perfectly displayed in ANY past culture or society.  All time frames have been imperfect. But these do seem to be getting more and more lost in our society today. The Bible tells us that the world is evil.(James 4:4, 1 John 2:15-17) And we know it will not be perfect until Jesus returns! (Rev. 21) But let us seek to shine our light for Christ and make a difference in the culture! Let us not lose heart, because Christ has promised to return and make everything new!

What are your thoughts?

How have you seen these things to be missing in our world? What difference do you think they really make?  How do you think we can make a difference in our culture and seek to bring these back? How can we remain faithful to Christ in a lost world?