He that becomes protector of sin shall surely become its prisoner.
― Augustine of Hippo, City of God
For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. … For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another. … But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. … Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. … If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
~paul, The Least of The Apostles, in Galatians 5
Oh beloved, it is true.
We can feel the sickness in our cities. We seemed to have part of One Thing, but now are falling apart.
Our politics are spinning out away from the centering Truth that bound our differences together. We knew how to disagree, and to do it agreeably. Oh, it was not because we were any better a couple of centuries ago. It was because we knew that we were no good without the pursuit of Truth, and without being E Pluribus Unum (that is: Out of many, One).
But, as we spin apart, we feel the slowing of our progress. Any of you who are engineers or mechanics have likely seen or studied the centrifugal governors used on old steam engines. We can feel it… The harder we spin, the more resistance, friction and tension the whole system experiences.
It also seems that we have even abandoned reality. Our “news” shows work to just put the best of two very dirty feet forward. We gorge and binge on the failures of others. Instead of working together to find the truth, we are just trying to show where everyone else is wrong.
Beyond all of this, this fool of a writer cannot help but sense that recent developments in our geopolitics show we have even abandoned that which makes our culture a culture in the West. The Occidental (i.e., that which is not of the Oriental) view is that the individual is infinitely valuable, and as such leaving the 99 behind to find the one has been a defining features of the West. This entirely Biblical view is radically different than any other worldview, and we abandon this at our peril. The idea that committed, Loving selflessness was better than survival, made us strong and fostered community in our United States.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us all.
Can we see it?
It is much simpler than we make it.
The Least of The Apostles, Paul, and a Church Father, Augustine, show us where the heart of the problem is in our cities.
The problem is the giant “ME” in me.
And, if i can be so bold, the problem is the giant “YOU” in you.
We have begun to run
If we are honest, we know that this is true. As we have gone full on towards the lusts of our flesh. The West is shattering from a cohesive melting pot of infinitely important individuals, to a geography in which we have – each of us – retreated into our own little cubicles of rebellion. So, instead of a culture building towards true liberty, we are dissolving into little kingdoms of self that see people as obstacles rather than partners in this life – and in the next.
The City of G_d is not just an idea. The City of G_d is a real Kingdom. It is the same Kingdom of Heaven that Jesus Himself spoke of over 100 times in the four Gospels. This Kingdom is the utter opposite of selfishness. This City, this Kingdom is built on that which is the very substance of the Trinity: Love. Love is the profound concern for the well-being of another person, without regard as to whether that person Loves us in return. Love is willing the good of the other, simply because they exist.
Read the passage again. To walk in The Spirit is simply to walk in G_d’s strength. It is to live as the citizens of Heaven that we are, In Christ. And our Maker maintains infinite strength through Living Life as it truly is: Loving others. But to walk in the flesh is to turn away from Love, and to become slaves to our selfishness. To walk in the flesh is to try and build our dusty little cities of self.
So, are you struggling with what is happening in this disintegrating culture? Don’t look at others as the problem. Look in the mirror. Reconnect to the City of God. Reconnect to the Source of our strength in the Love of The Holy Spirit. And, if we all do this, we might just see the West rise again as a Light in the darkness.
Tonight is your night. Time to decide in which city you will reside.
Justice being taken away, then, what are (our own) kingdoms but great robberies? For what are robberies themselves, but little kingdoms (of self)?
~ Augustine of Hippo, City of God
Right now at this time in my life, with all of the man-made chaos and suffering taking place, I was feeling very down, feeling a sense of impending doom. This piece of encouragement, written by a dear friend I met in Tianjin China, is exactly what I needed to read and reflect on. God is so good and He looks out for us in so many different ways, reaching us in ways we never expected. PTL! ??
Thank you, Gary. So glad this was encouraging to you!