Not All

In our over-heated and myopically focused social media accounts, we can too easily believe the world is falling apart. Not all we read or hear is true. 

Not all marriages are struggling.

Not all husbands are addicted to porn.

Not all wives live in a world of romantic fantasy.

Not all pastors are prideful and self-promoting.

Not all politicians are corrupt.

Not all cops are bad.

Not all churches are filled with hypocrites.

Not all immigrants are out to destroy the soul of America.

Not all cultural institutions are evil.

Not all children are wayward.

Not all…(you fill in the blank).

The broad brush we have been offered is painting over a masterpiece that can quickly disappear under the hasty brushstroke of our acceptance of unverified facts. Even our fact-checkers are now suspect because of their self-interest and worldview. 

Many good people of faith have bought into an apocalyptic worldview that seems to always go first to the worst-case scenario before it considers the possibility of the positive. We have picked up a mantle of fear prophesying to the world that our God breeds disaster and mistrust. We go there first before we consider goodness, wholeness, and peace. We even have our favorite Bible verses to support our view. 

We have entered strange waters. Lurking below the dark surface of this sea of social turmoil exist monsters of our own creation, waiting to rise to the surface to consume our love. Not all is as it seems at first glance. 

God, give us eyes to see and ears to hear your heart. Without these perceptive abilities, we will become as blind and deaf as the culture we so easily indict.