Times They Are a Changin'
“Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
The battle outside ragin'
Will soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin’”
- Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan’s iconic words capture the flavor of the 1960’s when cultural upheaval was in full swing. Could that be where we’re at now in 2020? Racial riots, global health pandemics, earthquakes, protests, boycotts, political parties at war with each other, and the list goes on… There is a common felt cry out for justice. The songs of the victims have pierced the ears of Americans and the trumpet call for battle has begun. But why now?
Our land has been building up pressure on many fronts. Cultural tech-tonic plates push with force due to political division, Trump-hatred, pent-up rage from being quarantined, and now racism and police brutality. It’s an earthquake waiting to happen. And we all feel the pressure. It’s not a war on terrorism, or a war on Vietnam, but an interior battle within our own country.
Battle lines are being drawn: Republican vs. Democrat; Black vs. White; Trump-haters vs. Trump-supporters; Police vs. Civilians; even Mask-wearers vs. non-Mask-Wearers. A spirit of war and disunity has gripped our nation.
What can we as Believers do about this?
The New Testament church in the city of Philippi was undergoing some similar problems. The church was made up of newly converted Roman soldiers, Jews, false teachers, true teachers, slaves, free, men, and women. There was a lot of disunity within the church and we can imagine even more within the Roman culture at large.
What did Paul encourage the believers in the church to do?
“So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,[a] 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,[b] 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant,[c] being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” -Philippians 2:1-8
Paul knew that unity is the best testimony of Christ’s love, and unity can only come through humility. Where there is pride, there is only division. So in this volatile season when the “times they are a changin’”, let’s join hands in humility and look for common ground.
Paul (and Jesus) didn’t radically change everything about their culture that was wrong. They lived in a culture that devalued women and children, and saw people as property in the system of slavery. How did they handle it? Jesus showed value to the women and children and ministered to them when the disciples would have ignored them. Paul appointed women leaders in his churches (Dorkess and Phoebe) and spoke to the masters and slaves of how to love and respect each other. They sought to inspire kingdom-life within the fallen limitations of their culture.
In what ways do you see the effects of original sin play out in our American culture today? How is God challenging you to live out His kingdom in the midst of it? What areas of pride do you struggle with? How is that creating division in your own life?
If Adam and Eve originally took the fruit to be made like God, then their own pride created separation for all time. Pride will continue to do that in our families, our churches, our nation, and our global economy. Out of all people, Jesus had a right to be right. He had every right to use his divinity to show others they were wrong. But he didn’t do that. Instead, he humbled himself and emptied himself, washing the feet of those who betrayed him. It is only when we walk in Jesus’ footsteps of humility, truly preferring others better than ourselves, that we can be lifted up and exalted by our Father in heaven. It is only then, that we can start to see true healing as a nation and see the walls of division crumble. Let’s join hands across racial lines, political lines, religious, economic, & gender lines and sing the song together that Jesus taught us to sing.
- Terra Montford, June 29, 2020