We are part of The Trust Project.
In 2 Corinthians 4:4, the apostle Paul makes a stunning statement: “The god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”
The “god of this world” is Satan, the adversary of good and the father of lies (John 8:44). According to Paul, he has blinded the minds of those in the world.
I don’t know that we need much persuading that that is true. We see in our culture the complete rejection of truth and the complete embrace of lies and nihilism. Our culture calls standing for biblical values “evil,” and calls standing for perversions “virtuous.” This is blindness.
I can’t tell you the number of times in recent months I’ve been talking with someone and had them reference chakras and karma when talking about God. Our society has become so pluralistic that we feel we can combine any spiritual things and make a coherent system of belief with no basis whatsoever.
At the same time that we are seeking belief, churches are destroying belief in the truth of Scripture or any adherence to it. We love verses that talk about taking care of strangers (and assume Jesus meant we ought to tolerate sin), and we ignore as antiquatedly bigoted any passage that affirms a biblical view of sex, relationships, life, gender roles and biological makeup. This is blindness, because it refuses to see what is clear and squints so hard to re-interpret divine revelation into our own making. We abandon a solid foundation of the Bible for the sinking sand of our own opinions.
ADVERTISEMENT
Blindness, of course, comes in varieties. My eye doctor has told me that I am legally blind without my glasses, yet with my “corrective lenses” I can see as well as anyone. Some are blind is only in one eye; their depth perception may be skewed, but they can still see colors and shadows.
What can be done about our society’s blindness? Jesus is the only answer. He healed a blind man in John 9, and then had a discussion about spiritual blindness, saying in John 9:41, “Ye say, ‘We see’; therefore your sin remaineth.”
God will help us to see things the right way if we will repent of our blindness. May He help us to do that.
