The Way the World Is

I have often heard the phrase “that’s just the way the world is”.

Here’s the way the world is, as I see it:

  1. This world is basically unjust. Just because you hand someone a sandwich doesn’t mean you get a reward for your effort. This is just the way the world is.
  2. To get a reward for their work, most people refuse to provide goods or services unless they get paid.
  3. Capitalism teaches that behaving in this way benefits society, and that maximizing your profit is what benefits society the most.
  4. Socialism teaches that the way to overcome these injustices is for the government to run everything.
  5. Christianity teaches that what God wants is to prioritize selfless love. Forget about what benefits society; prioritize God.
  6. The “right” preaches a watered down Christianity that teaches we should split our lives into two parts. Some of the time we’re preaching the Gospel and helping the poor; some of the time we’re running a business and taking care of ourselves.
  7. The “left” preaches that we don’t really need God at all and the government will fix these injustices.
  8. The Book of Revelation tells us that humanity will never fix these problems, that we’ll never invent a system of government that does, and that left to our own devices, human beings will eventually exterminate ourselves.
  9. From beginning to end, from the Garden of Eden to the New Jerusalem, the Bible preaches a decidedly anti-populist message. The majority are immoral; only a minority are righteous.
  10. This society, like almost all human society, is systemically discriminatory, anti-Christian, and oppressive. It is, however, better than many others. At least I can write this on my website without being arrested by the police.
  11. When Jesus says “…I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you” (John 15:19), he’s not just talking about the Roman Empire of two thousand years ago. Jesus’s message is timeless and universal.

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