Sept 15th, 2023: The Contemporary Four Olds

Many Christians have been wondering about what they are supposed to do in the face of everything that is happening. It is not the first time Christians have had to face persecution. It started right at the beginning of the Church, and it will continue. We should be more worried about not being persecuted at all.

Let us take a look at the similarities between what happened in China after the Communists took over and what is going on in the West. During the Cultural Revolution, Mao aimed to eliminate religion by propagating the destruction of the "Four Olds": Old Things, Old Ideas, Old Customs, and Old Habits.

Old Things:

The Bible has become one of them in this culture. We rarely hear our political leaders refer to it. For some people, it has become irrelevant. Mao burned Bibles; our contemporary governments remove them from schools.

Old Ideas:

The concept of sin is somewhat unacceptable in social conversation. We have justified our way out of sin. Redemption is not popular. Reconciliation will never be complete without redemption.

Old Customs:

Praying and giving thanks in public are no longer acceptable. We are told that prayers should be done in private. The notion that "Men and Women should compete separately in sports" is backward. We now have no idea how to celebrate excellence.

Old Habits:

A family with a father, a mother, and kids is now not accepted in our school system. A father is now referred to as parent 1, and a mother as parent 2. It is not acceptable to talk about being male and female. However, it is cool to talk about ourselves with plural terms and more than one identity.

Let us prayerfully look for opportunities to participate with God in His actions in the world today.

“Look among the nations! Observe!

Be astonished! Wonder!

Because I am doing something in your days—

You would not believe if you were told."

Habakkuk 1:5