Russia invaded Ukraine today after weeks of posturing and threats, and the whole world is aghast at such a display of imperialism.
Putin seems oblivious to the posturing of the United States and its allies as he follows his destructive plans for Ukraine.
This event will dominate the evening news of the major networks and the 24-hour-cycle of continuing news as the reporters continue to rehash and repeat what they have said during their previous opportunity.
Most other newsworthy items will fall by the wayside for the foreseeable future. We will probably hear little about the pandemic.
For fundamentalist Christians, the discussion will be around the signs of the end-times as our prophets and preachers make capital of the fear through blog posts and books.
Conspiracy theorists will point to the decline of COVID so that something else is necessary to keep the population under the control of fear.
Liberal Christians will decry the injustices perpetrated by both Putin and Biden as innocent people become victims of the collateral damage caused by both the aggression and the retaliation.
Politicians will hold their comments until social media is in full swing so that they can check the temperature of their constituents.
Of course, all this is merely speculation on my part. We will not know for certain how things will things will shake out. By the time this article is published, the world as we know it could be so radically altered that we might wake up with a completely different state of affairs.
But, I doubt it.
Jesus said, “And when you hear of wars and tumults, do not be terrified, for these things must first take place, but the end will not be at once.” (Lk 21:9)
This is not a verse that people like to quote. We would rather give into our fear and concern so that we can talk about how the world is about to fall apart.
That is not where the Christian who is committed to following Jesus should stand.
“… (B)ut the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action.”
(Dan 11:32) We should be able to take action rather than crouch in fear.
Also, the committed Christian should be a peacemaker. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” (Mat 5:9)
You are called to bring peace into the hearts of those who have allowed themselves to be terrorized by the next big thing to come on the earth.
However, you cannot do that if you are also one who engages in the conversations of fear and speculation about that over which you have no control.
Practical Bible Teaching 