By Cindy Koch –
It doesn’t seem to matter enough to the young, the privileged, the hopeful. Society as a whole doesn’t make a big deal out of it much anymore. Grade school instills a healthy childhood annoyance for such conversations. Paramount Pictures and Netflix portrays the world that we are creating for ourselves. Athletic heroes of today shine in the spotlight as our mentors, role models, and saviors. Tangible friends and neighbors are ignored as we endlessly tend to our imaginary online relationships. There is no place for Jesus anymore.
It doesn’t seem to matter enough to the hurting, the afflicted, the poor. If you’re sick, there is a doctor or psychologist with an answer. If you are sad, there is a vice to dull the pain. If you need a community, you can obsess in your own children’s activities or at the nearest CrossFit box. If you need a helping hand, a government program steps right in to help you get back on my feet. There is no place for Jesus anymore.
Jesus is an irrelevant answer because no one is asking His questions.
How can you be saved from the bondage of sin? Our generation has been taught that righteousness is the desire of our own heart, that there is no objective definition of right and wrong that applies to all humans, that such a word “sin” cannot oppress constitutionally free people. The question of salvation is irrelevant.
How can you defeat the devil? Our temporal world has been distorted to hide the identity of Satan and his demons. Quietly, spirits of the deceiver twist the hearts and minds of those who don’t even know of the danger that torments. An epic battle for souls is veiled beneath the mundane rhythm of everyday life. There is no need for tools or education or victory over an enemy that doesn’t seem to exist, and so the question of triumph is irrelevant.
How can you endure after death? Every piece of health and wellness directs our attention to the avoidance of our fatal end on this earth. Pressing out years, months, days, in our favor, just to labor through one last breath. Concealing the aged, removing the decrepit, killing those who remind us of the most tangible deadly consequence for sin, we flood all our resources into this life, now. A life after death is mocked as a juvenile pipedream, and so the question of eternity is irrelevant.
Since all of our questions can be easily answered by the world, the devil, and our sinful hearts, there is no place for Jesus anymore. Because we continually try to wrap up every loose end in a self-sufficient bow, there is no question that our heart yearns for a greater answer. The conversation must become too big for the both of us. The questions must become impossible for us to answer.
From someone who loves you, this is the hardest prayer to pray:
Heavenly Father, Revealing Spirit, Double-edged Word, destroy her answers and breathe in new life. Inspire your great questions. Show her that Jesus has always been relevant. Amen.
