February 26, 2025

February 26    2 Timothy 4

There is a movement taking a lot of young Christians in a direction away from faith in Jesus Christ.  This movement is called the "deconstruction" movement where people claim to have become wise and the start dismantling their faith by believing deceptive and inaccurate arguments.  They begin to listen to the voices around them rather than the Bible.  There have even been pastors who walked away from churches because they "no longer believe it anymore".  There are many ideas that are trying to say the Bible is wrong, that Christians are intolerant, and that God wants us to choose our own path.  The problem is these voices tend to be very loud, and people run with emotions when they hear these teachings and they completely leave their brain behind, they don't truly examine what they are being taught. People sometimes jump into a movement because it is trendy and getting attention without really thinking about what they are really doing.  For example, how many students who were supporting Hamas on college campuses truly know what Hamas really is?  They joined a crowd and got really loud, but they may not really know what they were supporting.  In the same way, many people both young and old are jumping into these movements away from Christianity without thinking about whether they are correct or where they lead to.  We can never let emotional experiences shape our Christian doctrines and beliefs.

While there are people moving away from Jesus, there also seems to be signs of a spiritual awakening on many college campuses.  There are campus events with thousands attendance and many professions of faith and baptism.  What this reminds us of is that though some people are walking into deception and listening to what they want to hear, there is still a harvest of people who want to know the truth and will listen to the truth of Scripture because they know that nothing else truly works. We must never change our message to the delight of people who don't want to hear what we have to say about Jesus because it comes to the detriment of those who are really seeking Truth (and I believe there are many, many people looking for Jesus, sometimes without realizing what they are looking for).  We must all be sure that we are men and women of Truth and not what is popular or desired to be heard at any cultural moment. Cultures changes all the time, but God's Word stands forever.

Listening to hard truth is uncomfortable in the moment, but we appreciate where it leads. Avoiding truth and only hearing what you want to hear feels good in the moment, but nobody likes where it ultimately leads.  I guess we must decide- would we rather be uncomfortable for a moment today or uncomfortable for all of eternity at the end of our days.  Ideas have consequences and un-Biblical ideas lead only to disaster.  Be wise and prudent in who you listen to.