I’ve never thought that the term ‘rat race’ is a very flattering one! Yet the daily grind of getting up to go to work to buy the food, to come home to eat, to enjoy a little diversionary leisure before going to bed to get up in the morning and start it all again – that does certainly feel at times as if we are on some kind of endless wheel!
The pressure of keeping-up somehow appears to drive the wheel to go ever –faster. The rewards of being in the race are greedily sought: for some they are barely enough to keep them going – while for others they are more than enough to provide an incentive and enjoy the race itself! Either way the rewards drive the rules, the ultimate of which is keep in step! Some people are excluded from the ‘race’ by their circumstances, and the pressure on them to conform as much as possible can leave them feeling disillusioned and bitter. The message is clear that ‘the race is on’ and it is only the victims who aren’t involved!
Revelation ch 18 is a description of that race – and it’s called simply ‘Babylon’. The previous chapter describes why that is a good caricature for what we might otherwise know as culture – but it is quite obviously a culture that has rejected God and which doesn’t want Him taken into account. Rather, asRevelation 18:3 graphically illustrates, our culture is a place where devils feel at home and evil thrives!
…and if that all sounds rather harsh, it doesn’t take too much imagination to see exactly what the Bible means by such an allegation: a brief look over the news reports for the last week will confirm that our culture REALLY isn’t interested in anything to do with the God of the Bible. At every turn what the Bible defines as ‘right’ the culture has twisted: from the young woman sentenced to death for her faith in Sudan, to the greed that drives economic decisions, to cheap clothes produced in semi-slave conditions of the far-east, to the need for food-banks in 21st century Wiltshire, to various high-profile sexual matters both legal and illegal, some whole heartedly endorsed and others roundly condemned. The wheels –within-wheels way that our culture behaves means that none of us remain unaffected now matter how disengaged we feel!
The REALLY searching question for a Christian in all of this, is how to respond:
– At first glance the call to ‘come-out’ of such a culture sounds both compelling but also impossible! How can I step-off the rat-race? It can’t involve moving to a monastic commune because that would simply develop its own ‘godless culture’! The various laments that are sung over destroyed ‘Babylon’ in Revelation 18:9-20explain very well both what the problem is and how we might ‘come-out’ of it.
– For a society that finds its meaning and identity in position and status, a Christian presents a clear contrast: Jesus whom we call our Saviour has died and risen again. Our identity has been ‘buried’ with Christ in His death (Romans 6: 4 – 8). The centre of our universe is no longer ourselves or our changing culture, but God and our home in Heaven. That is REALLY liberating – if only we will recognise it!
– Similarly, for a culture in which the highest rewards are almost always related to more and greater possessions, the Lord Jesus himself tells us that we can invest in a treasure that will last forever – Matthew ch 6 vs 20 & 21 “….store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” That simply MUST challenge whether our value system, and the way to ‘come-out’ of the culture is for our value system to better reflect His rather than Babylon’s! The parable of the rich fool and what Jesus says afterwards must not be forgotten: (Luke 12:16 – 31)! Neither must Peter’s lovely reassurance to the early church: 1 Peter 1: 3 – 5.
– Finally there are those whose whole purpose in life is apparently to sustain and support the rot! The seduction of a society built on excess is perhaps the very hardest of all to resist. I don’t have any answers except to challenge my own heart to search its priorities – where I put my time and effort and energy, and whether it could be better employed?!
Whatever conclusions we may draw, the fact is that God says He will judge and ultimately destroy this ‘Babylon’ because of what it has done to His people. As a Christian I don’t feel very rejected (just a bit) – but maybe that’s because I haven’t been very much – yet! I do know people who have been ‘managed’ out of their jobs because their godly integrity didn’t ‘fit’ the culture that management wanted.
I also know Christians who have been forced to leave because their Christianity was an embarrassment in these days of political correctness. Maybe if I were living in Chippenham in the early 1600s, or in the Middle East right now, I would better understand the point. If I had to pay a harsh price for being a Christian then perhaps I would long less for the opportunity to step-off the rat race in the summer holidays and long more for heaven!