spiraling down

There are those who curse their fathers and do not bless their mothers.

Proverbs 30:11

In Proverbs 30:11-14 there are four classes of societal sin that bring ruin to families, communities, and cultures. The list looks something like this:

1. Generational disrespect (Proverbs 30:11). Honoring parents is a vital command throughout scripture. It serves as a base for a civil society because family is the foundation to all human community. When generations disrespect, hate, cut-off, cancel, and punish parents there can be no future grounds for civility. It’s one thing to have a safe and holy limit due to sin by parents. It’s another thing altogether to personally punish, judge, and reject parents. My heart weeps often alongside many Christian parents who experience this kind of treatment from kids who have turned from faith and bought the lie that Christianity is the big problem with society.
2. Self-righteousness (Proverbs 30:12). Many of those who cancel family members do so out of a twisted sense of self-righteousness that rejects God’s design. It is virtue-signaling political correctness and it erodes community as well. It creates an attitude of zero dialogue or healthy compromise.
3. Arrogance and pride (Proverbs 30:13). It is not surprising that “pride” is the one word motto for those taking up the rainbow flag of resistance against God’s created order. New morality looks down on godly values. Sin always will be prideful since it started in the arrogance of Lucifer who thought himself bigger than God.
4. Greed and abuse (Proverbs 30:14). Personal gain at any cost ruthlessly destroys true loving care of the neediest among us. We are seeing this at so many levels. Sadly often in the church now. I can’t help but see a downward spiral here starting at rebellion, moving to self-righteousness for justification, fueled by arrogance that is stoked by communities of similarly minded sinners, leading to appalling apathy toward the most vulnerable… children and the poor, and ultimately destructive to our world by creating chaos and pain.

Lord, have mercy! Christ, have mercy! Only the cross can redeem this broken mess. Only those who cling to the hope of the gospel will be delivered from these ruinous four destroyers.