This world can be full of troubles, death, and darkness. Most of us have felt helpless at some point in the face of the overwhelming atrocities.
As Christians, we are unique in that God has called upon us to be the light in this darkness, to be a source of hope in the midst of hopelessness.The unbelievers are annoyed by our constant replies that we will send "thoughts and prayers" to victims every time something occurs, yet nothing is put into action or changed to prevent the evil from occurring again. Of course they are! Don't automatically put up a wall when you hear the outpouring of anger against us when you can find wisdom in their words. Put your love of God above your pride and listen. Of course we must pray, pray always and without ceasing. However, we are called to be God's hands and feet, used by Him to lead the world to His way of love.
So, what can we do? How exactly can we accomplish that?
There's a popular, albeit fictional, story of an atheist professor who attempted to shame the believers in his classroom by calling into question the logic of a purely good God. He stated that if good and bad exist, and God created everything, then God created bad and is, therefore, not purely good. Without posting the story in its entirely, a student stood up and turned the questions around in order to show that, in the same manner that darknessand coldness does not exist in themselves but are the absence of light and heat, so too, evil is simply the absence of good and, therefore, God.
We are called to bring light and warmth to a dark and cold world. Anytime, there's a question of how, we can look to the Bible.
"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people to be his very own and to proclaim the wonderful deeds of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God. Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Dear friends, I urge you as aliens and exiles to keep on abstaining from the desires of the flesh that wage war against the soul. Continue to live such upright lives among the gentiles that, when they slander you as practicers of evil, they may see your good actions and glorify God when he visits them. " 1 Peter 2:8
You are a priest, and what did priests do? They lived their lives as examples of joy, love, and truth, as we are called to be examples to the world. They were those who had direct access to God and His messages, and they were responsible for announcing those messages to all those who would hear, as we are called to spread the gospel. They made sacrifices that appealed to God for others' sins and praised Him for their blessings, as we do when we pray. There's something else they did:
They separated the clean and unclean, the diseased from the healthy. If someone was diagnosed with a contagious disease, that person was quarantined away from everyone until he or she was declared no longer contagious. If someone was unclean for some reason or another, that person was made to stay outside of the encampment to keep from spreading diseases or making the clean unclean. Not to mention that the punishments for those who committed crimes against others were harsh and immediate.
What does this mean for us? We are called, as a holy people, to discern the unhealthy and unclean and push for the powers-that-be to separate them from the rest of us. If those who are unhealthy purposely harm others, we are called to push for the powers-that-be to punish those criminals.
You are a warrior, and what do warriors do? They do not rest in apathy. If you are a Christian, you are called into action as a priestly warrior of God. We all know the verse about the full armor of God:
"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people." Ephesians 6:10-18
Another thing to remember is that we are all made gloriously different with varying points of view. What a shame if we didn't have the strength to see different dimensions and solutions to problems! Let us come together as brothers and sisters and not fight amongst ourselves, but hear each the other's opinions, so that we can find a way to shed God's light and love into the confused, blind, and horrified world.
And also, always, always pray.
