"From continued reports of international economic distress, unanswered corruption and unrest in Africa, government shutdowns in the U.S., the dangers of tainted drinking-water, or the increasing global epidemic of diabetes, the sound of alarm is uninterrupted. The current worldwide tenor is often one of fear and uncertainty. The sky indeed seems to be falling, and depending on the knock these stories make on our heads we may even join in the commotion. Broader cultural anxieties also add to this sense of fearful doom. If we are not consumed by increasing cancer rates and declining education scores, we are fearful of the multiple ways in which our children face dangers that we did not, within a world where uncertainty now seems the only certainty. Playing on these anxieties, politicians, marketers, and media producers know well that fear is a compelling motivator, and a profitable one at that. Like the music man in the Broadway musical, if they can convince us that “There’s trouble right here in River City,” we will hear what they have to say and open our minds (or wallets) to do something about it. Just this week the inquisitive blurb, “Will staring at a computer screen make you go blind?” commanded my fearful attention and convinced me to stay tuned, ironically, staring at the computer. While the worry and unrest that is ever being stirred into the worldwide caldron may indeed be based on real concerns, the combined ingredients in this pressure-cooker are at best a recipe for misperception..... Yet the harsh rebuke of this slave in the parable of the talents makes it clear that safe-living is not an option, nor an ultimate value, in the countercultural kingdom of God......There is indeed an alternative, but it is neither safe nor easy. It involves laying down fears to follow Christ with faith’s daring; it involves opening our lives to a world that will scare us, and rejecting the anxiety of a world convinced the sky is falling. The Christian alternative to a culture of fear is a kingdom of hospitality and abundance, vulnerability and generosity, love and self-sacrifice—the very kingdom Christ shaped with his living and his dying. “Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.’” Slice of Infinity
Posted on: Mon, 07 Oct 2013 10:32:21 +0000
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