“God gave them up to a debased mind and to things that should not be done. They were filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice. Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, craftiness, they are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, rebellious toward parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. They know God’s decree, that those who practice such things deserve to die – yet they not only do them but even applaud others who practice them” (Romans 1:28-32).

Last night I watched a good-sized portion of the MTV Awards. I rue the fact that I spent the time watching this mindless drivel. However, I am oddly glad that I did because it opened my eyes to some of what is taking place in our culture. What I mean to say is that we are offering our children… our very own young people… filth and evil and doing so as we call it good all the while. We are taking the formative years of the children in our culture and telling them in so many words and ways that violence, sex, and selfishness are worthy of our time, money and applause.

I sometimes wonder why the world is the way it is. I wonder as to why fewer and fewer people seem to be happy (in the sense of a contented joy). I wonder why fewer and fewer people seem to be kind and courteous… willing to say a nice “hello.” I wonder as to why sexual promiscuity and lavish lifestyles are on the increase. Why a desire to see people inflict harm on one another (ultimate fighting) is a multi-billion dollar industry. I wonder about the future of the Church in our culture. Its sustainability as fewer and fewer people attend or are cognizant of being a committed part of a faithful community. I wonder and then I stop and realize that each of us are in one way or another, the culprit. Whether we spend time or money to support inordinately evil industries or simply remain neutral… we are the ones at fault.

Until Jesus returns I don’t see a let-up in these matters. Perhaps they may only continue to get worse. But what I do see… what I am hopeful of… is that in the power of Jesus Christ those of us who choose to, can stand in harms way and say a courageous “no” to those young people we are responsible to… “No, you will not see that movie.” “No, you will not play that video game.” “No, you are not allowed to go out with people I don’t know anything about.” When the complaints come (as they most certainly will) the reply I despised the most as a child seems to me to be worthy of constant use: “Because, I said so.” Meaning… I have been given authority (God knows why at times) and because I have this authority I dare to use it for your well-being… so that, if nothing else, you, my son/my daughter, can one day look back and realize that I never called evil good but called you to be good as you withstand, through the power of Jesus, all evil.