“Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me; they and their fathers have been in revolt against me to this very day. The people to whom I am sending you are obstinate and stubborn. Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says.’ And whether they listen or fail to listen—for they are a rebellious house—they will know that a prophet has been among them. And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or their words. Do not be afraid, though briers and thorns are all around you and you live among scorpions. Do not be afraid of what they say or terrified by them, though they are a rebellious house. You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are rebellious.” (Ezekiel 2:3–7, NIV 1984).
My Musings – While spoken by God to the prophet Ezekiel roughly 2600 years ago, this seems pretty descriptive of the current post-Christian era that we live in. Post-Christian being defined as “where Christianity is no longer the dominant civil religion of a society but has gradually assumed values, culture, and worldviews that are not necessarily Christian.”
In many respects, the values, culture and worldviews are very much anti-Christian. Which is, in essence, the spirit of anti-Christ. “Obstinate and stubborn.” “In revolt against [God].” This “revolt” need not be blatant denial. It can be, and often is, quite subtle. “But every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist.” (1 John 4:3, NIV 1984). And what does it mean to acknowledge Jesus? To accept His claim that “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6, NIV 1984). Any attempt to spin this truth claim any other way (e.g., one of many ways) is the “spirit of the antichrist.”
My Advice – Comes from the text. “Do not be afraid of them or their words.” “Though they are a rebellious house. You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen.”
The Brew Is A Musing 