A few weeks ago, I was sitting with my family watching some of our old home videos. As we sat basically weeping from laughing so hard at the ridiculous things we said and did circa 1989, the main thing that we commented on was our clothing. My mom still tries to convince us that the teal mesh shorts and bright pink tank tops worn by my brothers were actually stylish at the time. We haven't been convinced. But I started to think about how, in every season, our culture convinces us that particular fashions are good ideas. My mom thought that shoulder pads were the best addition to an outfit; my dad thought a moustache with large rimmed glasses and short shorts was perfection in fashion form; and I, today, think leggings are once again a great idea (which I know I will regret in a decade or two).
But culture goes beyond convincing us that certain fashions are great ideas. 2 Corinthians 11:3 says, "But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts may be corrupted from a sincere and pure commitment to Christ". The enemy, via the culture, has infiltrated our minds and hearts by tempting us to be complacent in our commitment to Christ. The enemy tempts us to be wavering in faith, contradictory in our witness, disbelieving in Christ's authority, unconvinced of God's faithfulness, and crippled by self-righteousness and pride.
And we have given in.
We live in a world that attempts to convince us of the falseness of the Gospel. Christ came to give us "life in abundance" but the culture teaches us that we must settle for mediocrity in love, in peace, in purpose, and in fulfillment. Christ says "My grace is sufficient", but our world says the only sufficiency can be found in what WE ourselves can provide. Christ says "I am with you always, until the end of the age", but the things we see on the news and in our daily lives try to persuade us that Christ has left us. Jesus tells us "do not worry about tomorrow", but our lives are cursed by anxiety and stress from our inability to trust those words. And with each believed lie, we have allowed our dignity, our purpose, and our hope to be diminished. As St. Paul continues in 2 Corinthians, we have "put up with it if someone enslaves you, or devours you, or gets the better of you".
"The god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers" and also has blinded us. Today, let us beg the Holy Spirit to reveal the lies we have been convinced are truth. Let us pray with fervor to the Lord that grace might be the gift that permeates our minds and hearts instead of the lies of the devil. And let us give thanks to Jesus who has been ever-faithful and the source of all Truth despite our thoughts otherwise.
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