It Is Harder To ________ Than Ever Before.

We know,” the radio announcer said, “that it is harder to save money than ever before.” With that, he introduced some program designed to teach people to manage their money. Have you noticed how many things fit into that blank? It is harder to raise children than ever before. It is harder for couples to stay together than ever before. It is harder to get to know your neighbors than ever before. Everyone seems to have something they believe is harder or worse than it has ever been.

Particularly in Christian circles, it seems that we want to make things more difficult and worse than they’ve ever been. “Why look at how bad the public schools are,” someone will say. “Or look at how bad our government is.” “Look at how evil the world has become. The Lord’s return must be close.” I should point out that some scientist use similar techniques. Global warming is an example. A few decades ago, they were talking about global cooling.

Don’t get me wrong, I realize there is much need for improvement in our world and I do believe that the Lord could come back any day, but I also think that some people have an incentive to portray the world as bad as they possibly can. The belief is that if we convince people that we are on the brink of destruction then they will feel motivated to change for the better. It is basic scare tactics.

Scare tactics work, to a certain extent, but we should remember what happened to the boy who cried wolf. I can understand people who put their faith in science having reason to fear, but Christians in particular need to get away from the scare tactics. The only thing we have to fear is God. Christian who truly fear God have no reason to try to persuade people to take action because of fear of the future. The person who fears God realizes that God is in control and will serve the Lord without coercion.

What have you heard is harder than ever before?

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