Our wobbly world

It is very dangerous to use the Bible to interpret current events. Many well-meaning Christians have been left with egg on their faces as a result of trying to figure out contemporary happenings in the light of particular Bible verses.

But this doesn’t mean the Bible has no relevance to current affairs. Rather that it doesn’t mean we can apply specific texts to each and every happening. The Bible gives us the big picture, which is basically that this is God’s good world which has been spoilt by the stubborn independence of his human creation.

It also tells us that God will one day bring this chapter of his world’s existence to an end. He will execute justice and usher in the new heavens and new earth marked by peace and justice and harmony: the world the way he originally planned it.

So we don’t throw up our hands in despair at the state of our world. Nor do we imagine the ‘bad guys’ are going to get away with it forever. God is not wringing his hands helplessly or sitting back in disinterested detachment. He is biding his time, allowing us to use and misuse our God-given freedom for a while.

All that happens in our world happens in this broad context. As one writer, Eugene Peterson, puts it, our newspapers are footnotes to Scripture, not the other way around.

Blessings
David Reay