Modern Nonsense

Question: Who likes negativity? Furthermore, who truly enjoys emitting “negative energy” as a way of life? Yes, there may be a few bizarre individuals, groups, or cults whose only goal is to demoralize the rest of the planet. But in no way are they succeeding! Or are they? Unfortunately, a large fraction of humanity, mesmerized by round-the-clock social-political brainwash, has been and is continuing to fall into a depressive society; a society, where socializing goes no further than an electronic signal and the use of a physical book with actual pages is regarded as old-school. All of this, mixed with increasing violence, immoral behavior, and Hollywood gives you what we have today – one sad place to live.

It may seem that by ruffling-up all of the world’s problems into your face, I too am being negative. Yet that is not my intention, nor desire. I do not belong to any of those cults and by far am not a negative person. Conservative? Yes. Serious? To an extent. Pessimistic? I’d rather be safe than sorry. But I am certainly not habitually negative. Being a believer in God’s word, the wicked ways of the modern culture makes a lot of sense and doesn’t come with much of a surprise. Therefore, my desire is to awaken the sleeping crowd; specifically, the mesmerized ones mentioned above. Concurrently, I pray that He helps me to remain vigilant and spiritually sober, and that He gives me the strength to not fall into a similar dormant state.

For this post, I’ve coined the phrase “modern nonsense”, as it accurately depicts my realization of the modern, Godless culture. One of the latest, most evident examples of this is the inclination to socialize everything. This basically means that one’s entire life revolves solely around social experiences. Ultimately, Facebook is with you and you are with Facebook, 24/7 – you are inseparable. In this scenario, your existence would have been futile had you not checked your social networking account in the last 30 seconds. But it does not end there. In addition, regardless of where you go, you seek nothing but social interaction. School, college, work, and even church are simply your environments for social interaction. This is an especially depressing state for Christian’s. If your church attendance, baptism, and fancy Sunday clothes are nothing more than elements of your ploy to hangout with friends and family, you’ve got some serious decision-making to do. This behavior is a demonstration of fleshly desires, which according to Galatians 6:7-8, will only “reap corruption”. Your flesh desires to have fun, to socialize, to hangout, to relax, and nothing more. One might think this applies only to teens and young adults – alas, it is not so.

Are you headed the wrong direction?

This lifestyle is instilled in children, youth, and adults alike. How? One of the methods is mind control. Sounds silly but studies show that via subliminal advertising, consumers can easily fall for purchasing products which they don’t need and doing things they never intended to do. "Advertisers have taken a firm hold on our daily lives. Half of their dominating influence can be attributed to their use of subliminal advertising. They take advantage of the vulnerabilities in our subconscious minds. Using the latest computer technology, they have unparalleled resources to manipulate each image to target a specific weakness in us”, says Dr. Lechnar in his article Subliminal Advertising and Modern Day Brainwashing. This type of mind control is only the beginning and as individuals young and old, “progress” through life, they become more open to what society has to offer and more ignorant of their spiritual well-being. If you have not already noticed, society does not only offer material products – but lifestyles as well. Hence, the dangers around free services such as Facebook and public television must be conveyed here as well.

I’ve mentioned all of the above to give you an idea of just a few things which lead us to behaving the way we do. Our desire to study a book, especially the Bible, fades to zero. We disregard person-to-person communication and allow electronic devices to replace our best friends and relatives. When the rare occurrence of meeting with someone actually takes place, we scurry to catch-up on the latest Facebook statuses and quickly part, neglecting to value one another as human beings. This is what ultimately makes planet Earth a sad place. Nonetheless, negativity is not my middle name. So I’ll wind-up this post with a word of encouragement. And what encourages us better than the purity of God’s word?

Thus says the Lord who made the earth, the Lord who formed it to establish it, the Lord is His name, “Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.” Jeremiah 33:3

Call out to God; He will hear and answer you. Turn away from the rubbish offered by society, and set your ways right with Him. By doing so, we can make our surroundings a better place to exist in. Yes, in some cases it would take a collective effort but even if those around you are not adhering to Scripture’s warnings but are running through life on a gerbil’s exercise wheel, you must primarily be satisfied with your relationship with Christ. That’s where it starts. So go ahead, analyze yourself and make an honest judgment of where you stand. Wherever you go, what are your intentions? Whatever you do, what is your motivation? And whatever it is, let’s hope that it’s not modern nonsense.