Understanding the times

From Issachar, men who understood the times and knew what Israel should do… –1 Chronicles 12:32a (NIV)

As a people, we seem to have become woefully oblivious to the spiritual battle that rages all around us. We’re too smart to believe in the devil anymore. Ideas that seemed ludicrous a couple decades ago are now normalized. Behaviors that were broadly recognized as evil a couple generations ago are celebrated. Things once done in secret are flaunted. There are no absolutes, no truth, no such thing as sin anymore, only outcomes that are more productive or less productive.

The rightness or wrongness of something is determined by whether it feels good to me and the circle of people from whom I seek approval. Does it offend someone? Does it cause someone to examine their own values, or bring “their truth” into question? Then it’s wrong. To hold a contrary view, much less have the audacity to voice it, makes us guilty of some sort of “-ism”. We tolerate anything. Except someone who wants to tap the brakes and talk about what’s actually in this stew.

They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie. –2 Thessalonians 2:10b-11 (NIV)

I was asked to pray recently for someone who has manic episodes. He was eventually taken into protective custody and hospitalized for observation and treatment. The mental torture this young man experiences is awful, and the way he acts out when not in his right mind, toward the people who care most about him, is nothing short of horrific.

I am grateful for growing awareness and sensitivity in the area of mental health, and the advances we’ve seen in treatment. I’ve benefitted from counseling; there are members of my family who have successfully used prescribed anti-depressants to offset chemical imbalances. We've come a long way. I couldn’t help thinking that had this situation I’m referencing happened a few centuries ago, the poor fellow would have been diagnosed as a victim of demon possession. Of course, we’re too sophisticated for that now, right?

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. –Ephesians 6:12 (NIV)

I’m not saying we should eschew everything we’ve learned since the Middle Ages about the workings of the human brain. I’m just asking which is more likely: That such recognition would cause our enemy to abandon this form of personal attack that Scripture affirms was once a notable part of his arsenal? Or that he would use our own discoveries to reduce the question to one of biology and chemistry, removing any consideration of demonic activity as a factor in the problems we witness?

As we often say, “Heads up, eyes open.” Beyond that, what ought we do? We know the war is won. The enemy knows that as well. The later it gets, the harder he fights, to wreak as much havoc as possible before his time is up. We have an opportunity to minimize his collateral damage. More than anything else he may need, the young man I mentioned needs Jesus.

Love fiercely. Speak truth gracefully. Pray. Pray. PRAY.

You are the salt of the earth… You are the light of the world…. –Matthew 5:13a, 14a (NIV)