Distractions Versus Destination

Ponder the path of your feet;

then all your ways will be sure.

Do not swerve to the right or to the left;

turn your foot away from evil. (Proverbs 4: 26-27) In the days of Rome, there was an expression Roman Politicians used, and indeed implemented, called "Bread and Circuses." This idea in the Roman Republic (which was supposed to be a government where the people held most of the power, and elected officials did their will) was explained such: if you feed the people, and you keep them entertained, you can rule however you want. The Roman government would, in practice, keep its people subdued by giving them free grain, and putting on costly games, such as chariot races and gladiatorial events, so that, well fed and entertained, the people would not look in to political matters, being content in what the government was providing for them. I, by no means seek to dive further in to politics in this post, but I do see a dangerous trend among Christians: we're getting off course from the Straight and Narrow and the Great Commission in favor of what is popular and trending. I see Christians more prone to talk about Washington, or talk about scandals, or trends and news, but not so much about the Gospel. We're distracted by a world that is dying, fading away, and our gaze is drawn away from the Eternal. Where we are supposed to "fix our eyes on Jesus," we're dashing away from Him like a cat towards a laser pointer. Our mission is to get to Jesus, and to bring as many along with us as possible. It's not to save our own skin, it's not to protect our rights (if we had any rights before God, it would be immediate and total destruction), it's not to be comfortable and it's certainly not financial or political gain. We're told that the greatest commandment is two-fold: to love God with all we are, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. We were given a mission to spread the good news and make disciples. It's time to stop letting the world pull us this way and that. It's time to stop getting taken in by Satan's game of bread and circuses, and fix our eyes on Jesus who says: “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. (Matthew 7:13-14)