Nothing Else Matters

Two weeks ago I had finally done the “impossible”. I deactivated. Cut the ties. I was even able to pass the “guilt” message. “Are you sure you want to deactivate? Your friends will no longer be able to blah, blah, blah.” There it was, Facebook Freedom. I had my life back. Over the next few days I would start my daily routine. Checking email. Bank accounts. Investments. Drudge. RSS feeds. But then…..nothing. All of a sudden I had all this extra time on my hands.

It got me thinking about what I had accomplished in all that time I had in the past. If you are like me, during these last 5-10 years, the political, moral, and human rights issues of the day had encompassed my soul. We had wars, poverty, corruption, division, scandals, and the finger-pointing just never stopped. So I, like many of you, had to voice my opinion on the matters at hand. People had to see things my way. The truth had to prevail. After all, righteousness and the future of this country were at stake. Nothing else mattered.

So I took to Facebook. Liked this page, and that page. Got notifications and updates from all of them. Then I did what everybody seems to be doing….”Share“. BAM! There it was. Now that will teach ’em. How could you not be converted to a Pro-Life position after that pic I had just posted. BAM! There it was. How could you ever win another argument against the 2nd Amendment after that pic I just shared. BAM! There it was. How could anybody ever vote for that man after what I just shared. Day after day, night after night, morning after morning…the “truth” just kept getting shared. After all, righteousness and the country were at stake. Nothing else mattered.

Immigration…BAM! Education…BAM! UNCRC…BAM! Employment…BAM! Debt…BAM!!! I just kept the onslaught. I knew that occasionally I would have the opportunity to engage in debate about these issues so I immersed myself in a daily feeding of news and history. I needed to know that I could give a defense for the positions I had held so close to my heart. I knew that just spouting off with emotional, knee-jerking, bleeding heart on my sleeve rhetoric like a Liberal would never really convince anyone. (As a side note – I am readjusting that position of thinking based on the outcome of the last election and the exit polling data of why people voted the way they did.) I knew I could not waver in any debate. Preparedness had to be my focus. After all, righteousness and the country were at stake. Nothing else mattered.

About midway through November, as I was doing my devotions in the book of Jeremiah, I started to get the sense that God was telling me that because of His righteousness and being a just God, He would have to treat us the same way He had treated Israel and Judah. God’s M.O. is consistent. It is clear through the reading of Deuteronomy 28:15-68 and Romans 1:18-32 that many, if not most of the judgments are already taking place in this land. So I needed to assess my efforts and make sure that they lined up with the word of God. After all, righteousness and the country were at stake. Nothing else mattered.

My findings shocked…and convicted me. I discovered a few very important things:

1. 99% of my Facebook friends were my friends because they already believed the way I did.
2. The 1% who did not believe the way I did had “Unsubscribed” to my status updates and posts so they never saw what I was trying to convince them of.
3. Many of the 99% had “Unsubscribed” as well…mainly due to burnout.
4. All of my work, time, and effort had been in vain. Useless. Wasted.
5. Those who were doing as I had done, were getting the same results.

I was beginning to see that I had the wrong message…and the wrong approach.

In a time of judgment or correction from the Lord, the Constitution, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly, freedom of the press, freedom to bear arms and form a militia, Federal rights, States rights, marriage rights, unborn rights, born rights…any and all freedoms we hold dear are NOT something God holds dear to His heart. None of those rights matter.

God has taken my arguments away. He has replaced them all with this:

1 Corinthians 1:18-25

The Message (MSG)

18-21 The Message that points to Christ on the Cross seems like sheer silliness to those hellbent on destruction, but for those on the way of salvation it makes perfect sense. This is the way God works, and most powerfully as it turns out. It’s written,

I’ll turn conventional wisdom on its head,
I’ll expose so-called experts as crackpots.

So where can you find someone truly wise, truly educated, truly intelligent in this day and age? Hasn’t God exposed it all as pretentious nonsense? Since the world in all its fancy wisdom never had a clue when it came to knowing God, God in his wisdom took delight in using what the world considered dumb—preaching, of all things!—to bring those who trust him into the way of salvation.

22-25 While Jews clamor for miraculous demonstrations and Greeks go in for philosophical wisdom, we go right on proclaiming Christ, the Crucified. Jews treat this like an anti-miracle—and Greeks pass it off as absurd. But to us who are personally called by God himself—both Jews and Greeks—Christ is God’s ultimate miracle and wisdom all wrapped up in one. Human wisdom is so tinny, so impotent, next to the seeming absurdity of God. Human strength can’t begin to compete with God’s “weakness.”

1 Corinthians 2:1-2

The Message (MSG)

2 1-2 You’ll remember, friends, that when I first came to you to let you in on God’s master stroke, I didn’t try to impress you with polished speeches and the latest philosophy. I deliberately kept it plain and simple: first Jesus and who he is; then Jesus and what he did—Jesus crucified.

Jesus. The sinless God in flesh. Because of the love in His heart, gave Himself up for us to take upon Himself the wrath and punishment for sins. He suffered, died, and was buried, and on the third day rose again to new life to give us a hope of an eternity with Him.

With righteousness, the country, and your eternal soul at stake….

Nothing else matters.

(On a side note, I have returned to Facebook to promote the Gospel and this blog)