So, What's Wrong with the World, Anyway?
“Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools.” Romans 1:21-22
Do you ever wake up feeling yucky? Maybe you remember that the day before you were not so nice (to put it mildly) to one of your friends. Or maybe you got caught in a lie? Or maybe you had this rare moment when you actually felt sad about how mean you are to your little brother? Then you stumble into the kitchen to grab some OJ and on the Today Show they are talking about some horrible tragedy that happened while you slept, and you think, “So, what’s wrong with the world, anyway? It seems like I’m broken and so is everything else!”
You were made by God and for God. He is meant to be at the center, not just of your life, but of the whole universe! Maybe a question you asked yourself when you read that was, “Well, what if we reject him from that place? What if we put ourselves at the center instead?” Excellent question.
I’ll bet you are pretty familiar with the very beginning of the Bible, you know the part about the Garden of Eden and Adam and Eve? Well, when God created the world he made everything good, and he put Adam and Even in the garden and it says they ‘walked with God’ and there was no fear, or worry, or shame. Everything was running just splendidly. And God had given them this whole beautiful garden, but there was one tree from which they were not allowed to eat. But one day, Satan (in the form of a serpent…is this why I don’t like snakes?), approached Adam and Eve and told them the first lie, “God must not LOVE you! If he really loved you, then he would let you eat of that tree!” You see at the heart of all the lies that we are prone to believe, and tell ourselves is this same lie… “God must not love you, or he would give you _______ or ________.”
As you probably know, Adam and Eve listened to the lie of that snake, and basically what they said is, “I don’t want God to be God…I want to be God! I want to call the shots! I want to be the center of the universe!” And at that moment, everything broke…it was like a wildfire that spreads over all the land and leaves nothing untouched. And as crazy as it may sound, the yuck you might feel this morning started right there. It’s what the Bible calls sin, and sin ruins everything.
You see, at the very heart of sin is not just breaking a rule (it is that, but it’s more than that), it is rejecting a relationship. It is essentially saying to God, “I know you made me and love me and know what’s best for me, but I just want to do it my own way.” And that, friends, is what is wrong with the world.
The first step in speaking truth to yourself is being honest about how you are broken. Ask yourself today, how have I listened to that same lie that says, “You know, God must not really love you…” Because the truth is that he does love you at this very moment and he knows you’ll only be happy if you listen to him.