Is It Spiritual?

 I just finished watching a video over on The Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction's YouTube channel. The subject matter was interesting but I came away from the video with something that will stick with me forever.

At one point the channel's host commented on how we should see things. I immediately grabbed that as being really important and this is part of the hurried comment I left:

"...I will always be asking "Is it ~fill in the blank~ or is it spiritual?"  Is it politics or is it spiritual? Is it really necessary news or is it spiritual?  etc. I am guilty of forgetting to look at the world around me through a spiritual lens. Everything is part of this game - either for good or for bad."

As I commented, I have been guilty of not looking at things the way I should. And perspective alters everything.

A few years back, when the country got all up in arms (literally, at one point) over politics, I watched most of the news through my citizen's eye - and not just as a citizen but as a black citizen and a female citizen. That caused so much stress. 

Seeing things as a citizen causes me to react as a citizen. If I remember to stop and see things as a Christian, everything shifts to fit that perspective.

There is a man with a very interesting YouTube channel called Dazed but Not Confuzed. The videos are primarily about his escape from Scientology. The host seems to be so very sincere and kind that my heart aches for what he's been through and I find myself praying for him along with some other online personalities. 

This man has come out of such a tricky and insidious "religion" that I doubt he wants to hear anything about Christ. At least, not yet. I am sure that he sees everything through the eyes of someone who has been duped before.

I know another man - a longtime friend of my family's - who sees everything only as a black man. Racism is real, but this friend is so focused on the issue of racism that he can barely see anything else. If a white person cuts him off in traffic, it's "racial", if someone... Well, you get it. The wildest part is that he seems to only see white people as racist - as if they are the only race of people who don't like black people. And he is the epitome of a stereotype in one way. He has white friends, all of whom he believes are only the "exceptions" to a very hard and fast rule. It's a mirror of the whole "My best friend is black" copout. 

Now, this family friend uses racism as a reason to doubt the validity of a "white" Jesus. You cannot make him understand that Jesus is not the person depicted in those paintings people have in their homes! I remember once pointing out that Jesus was Jewish. The family friend came back with "They're white, ain't they?"

Lord, help the ignorant and stubborn.

The point I came here to make is about myself. I need to make sure that I see everything in this world with the eyes of a Christian. Every day of my life (and yours) on this earth is a spiritual battle. We should never forget that.

As a Christian, I know that a lot of what goes on in politics is spiritual. Same thing with all the manipulations of media. All this uproar over gender and sexuality is spiritual. All the distractions in the media over this celebrity suing or "beefing"" with that celebrity is a distraction. 

Half the time, we are walking around in a daze from being news-bombed. When we have a free minute to think, we are scrolling through our social media - just hunting for new distractions. 

When something is meant to turn us away from God, we should remember that Satan was bold enough to try tempting Jesus. 

Satan is a master of deception, distraction, disinformation, and confusion. We have to remember to be discerning - always.

I will close this post by suggesting you read Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis. It's a total reminder of our daily life being under attack.

Peace

--Free