At the end of January this year, Ohio Senator Rob Portman announced that he would not seek re-election following the completion of his current term that ends in 2023. For nearly 30 years he has worked in the upper echelon of federal politics, as an advisor for presidential administrations, as a member of the House of Representatives, and now as a Senator. Over the many years, he has prided himself as being results-oriented, crossing party lines to do what he believed was right, even when others in his party would disagree. To be clear, we are not endorsing or rejecting his political views or statements, and this Editorial should not be understood in any way as to approving or disapproving his positions. But in commenting on the reasons behind his decision not to seek re-election, he cited the divisiveness that is increasingly plaguing politics today. Portman stated, “Our country’s polarized right now.… It’s kind of shirts and skins. That makes it more difficult to find that common ground. Elected officials aren’t rewarded for that. What they’re rewarded for is throwing red meat to the talk show.” We see from this example an insider’s account of the problems that face the U.S. government. The divisiveness in politics, vaunted by the media and incited by the populous, draws attention away from the hard work of righteous virtue, focusing instead on feeding an insatiable appetite of bloodlust and vitriol.

What we see right now merely foreshadows the hostility of individuals and factions that will increase as the return of Christ draws closer. Jesus Christ reminds us of the reason why this is so when He states, “And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold” (Matthew 24:12). The citizens and ironically, the lawmakers of our nations are not seeking the Will of God, but rather they are embracing lawlessness. We can see the consequences of these worldly actions today manifested in the hatred expressed against those who hold contrary opinions. Sadly, the world that we live in will need to suffer catastrophe and near-extinction before the return of Jesus Christ sets things straight.

Until then, we must endure life in this world, doing the hard work of upholding the Way of God. We know that Satan is the lying tempter who deceives the world, convincing individuals to adopt his way of sin rather than the Way of God (compare 1 John 5:19, Revelation 12:9). It is our responsibility to be on guard against these powerful forces in the world because they can be very subtle in their influence. We have the privilege of having the Truth of God through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. It provides us with a guide to discern the worldly from the spiritual. But we have to put the Holy Spirit to work in our lives if we want it to be effective! If we don’t, we too may succumb to the way of sin without even recognizing our falling away from the Truth. We know that Satan will work to deceive even the elect – those who have the Truth (compare Matthew 24:24, Mark 13:22). We must not fall into that trap. Since we live in this world that embraces a culture of conflict, we face the threat of becoming negatively influenced unless we are constantly vigilant. Jesus Christ spoke of this state of being when He prayed to God the Father in those last hours of His life on Earth, saying about His disciples, “They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth” (John 17:16-17). If we want to guard ourselves against the evil in the world that surrounds us, we must separate ourselves from the world by clinging to God’s Truth, rather than becoming influenced by the nonsense that swirls around us.

In his letter to the Romans, Paul offers instruction that can serve us very well today: “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2). We can renew our minds by focusing our attention on doing good, rather than those things that heighten our anger. This is not to say that we could not and must not become angry about the evils in this world or that we could not or must not hate what is wrong. We most certainly have to, but we are speaking here of the hate and anger of the carnal mind. By finding reasons to love what is right rather than hate in the wrong way, we please God. By making peace, we become sons of God. By offering mercy to others, we too will receive mercy from God. By doing good in our lives, we will overcome evil. (Compare Matthew 5:7, Matthew 5:9, Romans 12:21.)

Separating ourselves from this world is no simple task. As hard as we try, we will still become influenced by it. It is impossible to completely avoid it. Christ was the only One who was able to overcome this world and its evil influences perfectly, without ever sinning. But just as Christ served to glorify His Father in heaven, while still living in this world, we must do the same today by the way we live our lives. Our mission on this Earth is to continually work to find those areas in our lives where we can eliminate the worldly ways that influence us to sin and replace them with love and Truth. In doing so, we uphold godly righteousness and improve our own wellbeing right now, and we guarantee that we will be able to enter the Kingdom of God in the future.

Over the past week, we saw the President of the United States of America banned from social media platforms for posting comments interpreted as inciting violence. While no violence or incitation of it is justifiable, the social media giant Twitter chose to interpret seemingly innocuous statements by President Trump as glorifying violence. In his final incriminating tweet, President Trump expressed his intention to not attend the inauguration of Joe Biden. How such a statement glorifies violence is beyond me. Yet, Twitter found a way to interpret this statement as a call to violence in support of his own election, therefore providing them with a justification to finally shut down his account permanently.

What I find most disturbing is how this example demonstrates the power wielded by the tech giants to squash voices that express ideas opposing the narrative set forth by mainstream media. In recent history, especially over the past year, we’ve seen several examples of objective and factual statements being subjectively judged as a “threat” because they spread information that conflicts with the mainstream agenda of those in power. When a message by someone contradicts that which serves their interests, those who are in power take away the privilege of expressing those ideas and beliefs. More and more, we see that only the popular ideas and beliefs in the world may be expressed freely. Any voice that contradicts is threatened to be silenced, discredited, ridiculed, denounced, belittled, and otherwise rejected. Their terms are to conform or be canceled.

For Christians, what we saw happen to the President of the United States should be a wakeup call. But not in the way that our political positions are threatened – because we do not involve ourselves in the politics of this world. Rather, what we are witnessing is the power of the few determining what beliefs are acceptable to express. And that is a threat to true Christianity.

The Christian beliefs that we hold, which are founded in the Truth of God’s Word, will conflict more and more with the world we live in. If we express those truths out loud, do we really think that we will easily be heard? Do we really think that the platforms that provide a means of sharing ideas will tolerate God’s Truth? If we as a Church preach the gospel, as Christ commissioned us to do, the world will hate us for it! Jesus Christ states this clearly (compare John 15:18, John 17:14, Matthew 24:9). What we see now are the possible examples of how this hatred of God’s Truth will manifest. The prince of the power of the air, Satan (compare Ephesians 2:2), will do whatever he can to prevent the Truth from even being expressed, because it contradicts with his agenda to lead man to destruction.

Sadly, this world has chosen to exchange the plain truth of God for lies (compare Romans 1:24-25). Until Jesus Christ returns, lies will prevail in this world with growing intensity. Our job is to never fall prey to those lies. To protect ourselves, we need to love the Truth and never shrink away from upholding it. “The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie” (2 Thessalonians 2:9-11). There is nothing that we can do to control the world we live in, but we can defend ourselves against its deceptive effects. If we continue to hold fast to God’s Truth with our whole heart, we will prevail against all other powers that threaten to extinguish it.

Any life worth living involves encountering difficulties, accepting the challenges, and working in earnest to overcome them. Growth requires us to push our boundaries, press against the edges of our capabilities, and do more with what we have. Learning, being a type of growth, involves accepting that we don’t know something, and seeking out knowledge to increase our understanding. This principle of growth applies in every aspect of our lives. Spiritual growth requires that we continually ask, seek, and knock. Fulfilling our individual purpose in life requires that we find the gaps that prevent us from achieving our goals, and do the uncomfortable work to fill those gaps. A full life is only possible when we invite God in and ask for His help in guiding our growth. When we actively bring God into our life, He is willing to support our growth by coaching us through our challenges.

Our relationship with God involves pursuing our divinely ordained purpose in life (compare Romans 8:28). It is our responsibility to search out what that purpose is, and begin to do the work required to fulfill that purpose. But that work must involve the guidance from God. “A man’s heart plans his way,

But the LORD directs his steps” (Proverbs 16:9). When we actively involve God in guiding our direction, our plans have a much better probability of succeeding! Undoubtedly, we will encounter difficulties along the way when we pursue our chosen endeavors, but those difficulties serve a purpose. If we genuinely seek the counsel of God in prayer, faithfully step out to take action to achieve our goals, we can rest assured that any difficulty or trial set before us will help us to grow. And growth is necessary if we want to make progress in life. When God is our coach, He will push us to fulfill the potential that He sees in us.

With this in mind, we ought to ask ourselves what our attitude is when we encounter difficulties. Do we complain? Do we get discouraged? Do we begin to doubt or lose faith? Obviously, these kinds of responses are counterproductive when we are trying to achieve our goals and fulfill our purpose. If we consider that God, as our coach, guides us through all of our challenges, that source of discouragement completely flips. When God is for us, He will help us to grow in the direction we need to grow, and those challenges become a source of encouragement. Who or what can be against us when we seek God? When we think this way, we can begin to look forward to the difficulties that we will face day to day because we know that they are there for us to overcome, and draw closer to achieving our goals. God only presents or allows challenges to us that He knows we can overcome (compare 1 Corinthians 10:13).

The Word of God admonishes us to grow. Such growth must begin with our relationship with God and our spiritual development. We read these instructions in the Bible: “… but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ…” (2 Peter 3:18) and “but, speaking the truth in love, [you] may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—   from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love” (Ephesians 4:15-16). When we work on our spiritual development by searching out the Truth, putting godly obedience into practice, and continually learning, we draw ever closer to God. This is important because if we want God to be our coach in life, we must have a good relationship with Him so we don’t lead ourselves astray by making decisions that exclude Him. When we actively work to grow spiritually and overcome the challenges that God allows or even gives to us, we will find growth to spring forth abundantly in every aspect of our lives.