Living In Babylon: Clear The Clutter Series

FAITH FOR EXILES: LIVING IN BABYLON

CLEAR THE CLUTTER

DANIEL 1:1-21

INTRODUCTION

Today we begin a 5-week sermon series that will focus our attention on a basic truth that not all of us want to admit. We find it difficult to admit if we can at all. There should be a support group for those who realize this truth. This truth makes me very sad and very angry at the same time. This truth fills me with questions. At times, I am filled with worry because of this truth.

What is that truth?

We no longer live in a Christian nation.

If you are a ‘believer in Jesus Christ’, you are absolutely living in a foreign land. I am not even sure if I can use the term ‘Christian’ anymore without having that term mixed with politics and certain unBiblical ways of thinking that muddy what Jesus Christ taught. Sometimes people identify as ‘Christian’ and then explain what they believe are nothing like what I would expect and what I mean when I used the term ‘Christian.’ I feel so stupid saying that, but it is true. We no longer live in a nation rooted in Biblical values, but rather we live in Babylon.

Let me share with you what I mean by… “we live in Babylon.” In the Bible and in the world, Babylon was a real place. Babylon began in Genesis 11 with the building of the tower of Babel which was an actual tower that people tried to build in order to take control from God. Babel was that place where people on purpose tried to replace God. In the Book of Revelation and in other prophetic books in the Old Testament, Babylon became a symbol of a society that marches to the beat of its own drum away from God and away from His way of living. We live in Babylon.

In this 5-week series, we are going to focus on the life of a believer in God who was forced to live in Babylon and draw from his life principles for us. He lived in Babylon. We live in Babylon. He was pulled away from God. We are pulled away from God. Along the way, I hope you will be able to discern more clearly how our society is changing away from God and how you can apply Biblical principles in your life to live faithfully in a society that only pulls you away from Christ.

WE LIVE IN BABYLON

I am not going to explain to you all in one sermon how it is we find ourselves in Babylon and what that looks like, but I will explain this idea about our society over the whole 5 weeks. We begin today to understand that we live in Babylon and what that looks like and we will dig into Daniel chapter 1 to anchor our hearts. Daniel 1 is going to help us navigate these days that pull us away from God and towards another way of life.

ILLUSTRATION… FAITH FOR EXILES (Kinnaman & Matlock, pages 19-21) [adapted]

You may or may not realize that we live in a very fast-paced and complex culture. Our culture influences you whether you want it to or not. The pace and the complexity of our culture didn’t have to, but it leads us away from God in many areas. It seems like much of our culture is engineered to push God out and to push ‘self’ up.

Our lives accelerate fast. News is fast. News is so fast that an event anywhere in the world can be reported on in real-time to anywhere else in the world. The speed of information is incredible and also comes many times at the expense of actual facts. The pace of life and the rate of change on things is so accelerated that most of the time we can’t keep up. We live in the age of the screen. Most people live with advanced computing power in the palm of their hand and those devices drive how we see the world and how we interact with it. Technology makes everything easy, but it also makes everything fast and accessible and easily manipulated.

How does this fast pace draw us away from God? We do not have time for Him. We take kids to this sport and have that event and when Sunday comes around we are tired. Go go go go crash. Travel ball happens on Sunday and we choose that over Him. We are so busy we just catch church online instead of coming in person and we think it is the same. It is not. The pace at times pushes God out.

Our lives are also increasingly complex. Everyday life feels more and more uncertain and complicated. ‘Cause and effect’ used to be a normal way to think, but anymore it feels like life is unpredictable and people are even more unpredictable… their reactions are unpredictable. Take topics like politics or vaccines or facemasks or gender identity and you cannot predict the conversation you will have with someone. Even someone in your own household.