a daily resolve…
Romans 12.2: And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
Galatians 4.8-10 Formerly, when you did not know God, you were in bondage to beings that by nature are no gods; but now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and beggarly elemental spirits, whose slaves you want to be once more?
Ephesisan 6.10: Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.
I took a partial day off a few days ago and made my way to Strasbourg, Germany, to see its famous cathedral. This cathedral towered over the “modern world” and was the world’s tallest building from 1439 to 1869. Yet, despite its immensity, the world passes it by with only a passing nod to history and the architectural marvel it represents. One doesn’t need an academic’s insight or keen powers of observation to recognize that the “spirit of the times” has changed…
Zeitgeist is a German word that historians and sociologists have adopted as a technical term. It comes from two words: “zeit” (time) and “geist” (spirit). Zeitgeist refers to the spirit of the time—the taste, culture, and outlook characteristic of a period or generation. It is the unseen force or tide that carries people, communities, and nations in its stream. A crisis — whether political or ideological— occurs whenever one zeitgeist confronts another.
Thus, for example, wars are the result of competing zeitgeists. The political and cultural upheavals that polarize and divide us also illustrate the fallout when zeitgeists collide. Scholars attempt to understand the zeitgeist of any period to gain an understanding of the unseen forces (spirits!) behind human behavior, perception, and decision-making.
Scripture recognizes the reality of living in a world that daily tempts followers of Jesus Christ to exchange their liberty for enslavement. Therefore, we must make a deliberate decision every day to be filled with the power and resolve of the Heilige Geist (the Holy Spirit), lest we become carried along by the tidal wave of the zeitgeist. Without this daily resolve, we will:
Equate “blessings” solely with prosperity, convenience, acquisition, title, or power.
Subjugate Christian truth to personal experience or our own need for security and acceptance.
Believe God only for what is “believable” (i.e., realistic and practical) and avoid the need for a faith that is dependent on God.
Rationalize our selfish “wants” as representing God’s will for our life.
Perceive inconvenience, challenge, or conflict solely as the devil instead of God’s discipline.
Relativize the Scriptures to avoid God’s truth and life-changing conviction.
Pursue sexual gratification, self-esteem, and self-aggrandizement as the great goals of life.
Tolerate sin and avoid personal accountability.
Perceive ourselves as a victim rather than as a victor and overcomer through Christ.
Flirt and fixate with pornographic materials or sexual imagery that titillate.
Blame our parents, spouses, culture, or education for what we don’t like about ourselves.
Prejudge others by appearance, ethnicity, nationality, party loyalty, or vocation.
Capitulate to cultural moral conformities
Lose our evangelistic commitment
Settle for mediocrity rather than yearn for “His utmost for our highest.”
Without this daily resolve, followers of Jesus Christ will become nondescript residents of society with little to distinguish them from the world in which they reside. Oh, some may still retain peculiar habits like going to church, praying occasionally, reading the Bible or observing Christian holidays. But in reality, the values, concerns, and pleasures of this world will draw them back, and they will again be subject to its demands and mastery. Such Christians will hardly influence and impact the lives around them.
Our freedom is maintained by our steadfast commitment to struggle against “powers and spiritual forces” that seek to enslave us (Ephesians 6.12). How do we do this? “Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.” Free is the person who daily seeks the empowerment of the Holy Spirit and presses into the abiding presence of Jesus.
