Did I get you’re attention with that title? 🙂 No, I don’t have any bad news for you. And I’m sure that’s a good thing because we all have had enough bad news I think.
I’ve been especially weary of “bad news.” One of the reasons I avoid Fox and other news networks is because of all the bad news they spew all over. The economy is bad, the weather is bad, the nation is bad, the president is bad, congress is bad, the world is bad… bad, bad, bad! I get so tired of bad.
I was thinking about this the other day and how it relates to church. Have you ever gone to church and left just feeling bad? Not bad as in “wrong” but just bad. Discouraged, down in the dumps, run down, depressed, disheartened, hopeless, just…. bad? I have. I have plenty of times, and ya know, I think it’s wrong of the church to make believers feel bad. I’ve come to that firm conclusion.
When I read the Bible, I don’t feel bad. In fact, I find it just the opposite! I find victory in the Bible. I find Hope, Love, Forgiveness, Redemption, and GOOD NEWS!!! Yes, there are stories of “bad” people and bad things that happen to people and nations, but there is always hope in God even in those darkest of times.
Why doesn’t that come across in church? Why do we seem to have the “need” to react to all the bad news in our culture and proclaim it through the teaching and testimony of church? Why???? Honestly, I don’t need preachers and teachers and church leaders to tell me things are bad. I see that all around. I hear it on the radio, and news, and Facebook, and anywhere you look. Bad news is all around us, we don’t need the church to tell us things are bad. What we, or at least I, need from church is some encouragement, and reminders that amidst the bad news of this life there is GOOD NEWS that trumps it all!
I’d like to leave church, or the radio program, or even fellowship with believers feeling that I had received some good news! Uplifted, encouraged, strengthened, and hopeful. That’s what we need to be. As believers in Christ and followers of Jesus, we have the GOOD NEWS. Lets live like we have it! Live like we believe it! And above all, share it!! Share the good news with those who are wandering around wallowing in the despair of all the bad news that surrounds them on a daily basis.
Lets not walk defeated with our heads down over the sad state of the culture we find ourselves in. Let’s rise above all that bad news with the knowledge of the good news that puts it all back into the proper perspective.
(rant over) 🙂