I have been away for quite sometime. Diligently listening for the voice of God. He has shared with me a few specific messages but has generally been very quiet . . . until last Friday night. I was sitting at my son's basketball game. I dearly love watching him and his friends play. They play with such determination and heart. Their opponents consist of mostly private Christian schools and other regional homeschool organizations. We have not typically experienced malicious play or poor sportsmanship . . . until this year. It has gotten progressively worse throughout the season, the cheap shots, shoves, and bad attitudes. Friday night our team was playing a boisterous and angry group. It was a Christian school about an hour and a half from home. I was initially surprised by some the things happening on the floor and in the crowd. But then it happened. A fine young man on our team with exceptional athletic ability but more importantly exceptional godly character received an overly aggressive blow that left him curled up under some chairs. It happens. In the heat of the game sometimes young impulsive people make poor decisions. For that matter, years do not make any of us exempt of making poor decisions from time to time. And yet, I was utterly appalled and aghast when my mind processed what was happening. As this young fellow was very slow getting to his feet rubbing his head with a potential concussion, the opposing fans were celebrating his injury. He had to come out of the game due to the blow to the head, as the parents and friends of the other team cheered in jubilation.
I was angry. As I search for the appropriate words to describe the atmosphere I am coming up short. I felt the presence of evil in that place adorned with Christian banners. Who revels in the injury of a person you don't know during the course of a game? Who celebrates pain? Who finds joy in suffering? There is one answer. Satan does. I was so angry. As we were driving home I found myself praying, asking God, What is the answer? Why are people so full of rage? And how are we to respond to it? Some might blame the political atmosphere for all the turmoil. But there is one cause, Satan. The spiritual upheaval taking place in our culture is palpable.
But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace. James 3:14-18
Satan is the ruler of worldliness. He orchestrates chaos, hatred, and fear. We can label this conflict or that but all the different stories have the same author. Christians in churches and Christian schools are embracing sin of every kind, living in and loving what is evil. None of us are above being sucked in. At the game, I wanted to engage with those so flagrantly spewing venom and wickedness. I was eager to put them in their place and attempt to make them ashamed of their actions. But I held my tongue. Anger grew in my heart, it had spread to me like a terrible virus. Don't get me wrong, righteous anger has it's place. There are times we are to defend the honor and sovereignty of our Lord with the same vigor as Christ driving the money changers from the temple. But this was not the time or place. It takes the voice of the Holy Spirit to know when to speak and when to stay silent. I have prayed for Christ to give me discernment to not be deceived, be able to differentiate when to be humble and extend grace and when to defend the honor of our Lord. We must be diligent in moving closer to Christ so his voice is clear. Only the proud will believe we are above being deceived by the Great Deceiver. It will only be by God's grace that we stay obedient. The Bible tells us that before Christ returns the faithful will fall away.
Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition. 2 Thessalonians 1:1-3
Our world is blind to the spiritual upheaval taking place. Evil is hard at work and we can't even see it. It was not simply a game that got out of hand, evil was present. Supposedly they were Christians, representing a Christian school. And maybe they were children of God. Sin is permeating the hearts of Christ's followers and we are being lead astray. We must pray for ourselves. That is not self serving, that is Christ serving. Only by the power of Christ are we capable of resisting the seduction of Evil. There is an epidemic of anger. Self serving and irrelevant anger is of Satan. Righteous anger defends the weak and upholds the righteousness of God. We must know the difference and the only way to do that is to continually strive to draw closer to Christ.
