Wow. Maybe it’s insecurity, maybe it’s a political agenda; but looking for a reason to be offended has gone off the rails. It’s not only due to acts of intentional misdeeds or something said; now there are those who take offense from things we didn’t do or say. There seem to be many who consume daily news that feeds the notion that their intolerance of your profession, your faith or your skin color is incompatible with their worldview. So, at the risk of being offensive, I throw some thoughts out there, as a spectator and participant caught up in the strangely morphing society we’re living in.
Certainly, the decisions we make are profoundly affected by our point of reference. Music, food, entertainment, fashion, politics, friends, job; it’s about what you know, and probably more accurately, what you become comfortable with. For the most part, those preferences began early in life when you were influenced by one of your peers, or a parent or mentor to act a certain way in a given situation. This provided a sort of baseline for your own expectations when you started to express an opinion about things in your own life. However, not having guidance that was fundamentally sound, would have made it difficult to see a positive outlook and may have been an obstacle to realizing the value of aspiring to higher goals. Unfortunately, there are those reaching adulthood who will fall short of their potential and will settle for an unfulfilling outcome.
At a seminar several years ago, the speaker, who dove into child psychology and family health, discussed how the first impressions we get, stick with us for years. Interesting how the mind works; as the years go by and we find ourselves in a situation of crisis or achievement, we dig for those scripts in our brain (like playing an old recording) of the voice that gave us a clue on how to respond. Behavoirs and actions have a strong connection.
“…But hey, man, you don’t know what I’ve been through!
Enter a new reference point. As behaviors change, so can the outcomes. That’s where the lines become blurred. The reference point we work from needs to be something you can rely on, something that doesn’t cave-in when a fickle society searches for the next trend or politically correct social justice cause. The street wants you to define yourself and quality of life by its own self-importance; don’t fall for it. Because here’s the thing; those failed expectations from society’s worldview can be crushing when the very thing they believe in, the thing that most defines them becomes irrelevant or worse.
A Christian worldview on the other hand is rock steady, something you can hang your hat on. One of the many comforting truths in the Bible is that our Creator gave us the greatest gift of love the world will ever know; that rather than leaving us to wing it on our own, to make sense of a complex world and how we fit in, the Lord Jesus Christ came to the world to, “… Give life and give it abundantly”. Not just for one group of people or certain others that qualify, but everyone gets a second chance. And it most certainly does not mean everything goes according to our plan, but, we can find comfort in knowing there is purpose and meaning in the bigger picture. And from that reference point a person’s outlook is much, much brighter. That’s a beautiful thing.
“Three-minute exposure; a snapshot of life’s imperfect harmony,” by Stew McAuley.
Encouraging your Christian Worldview.
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