“And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.” – Romans 1:28
Here Paul describes one of the devastating consequences of widespread cultural rejection of God. When enough people reject the existence, presence, or authority of God as Sovereign Lord of the Universe, He gives them exactly what they want. When enough people tell God to get lost, He steps back and removes His restraining hand. What follows is absolute madness!
He removes the restraints of conscience, morality, and custom and lets people indulge every whim, every fantasy, and every destructive, shameful, and degrading idea they can come up with. To be clear, this is a punishment, not a blessing! This is the last stage of a dying culture before it either dies completely or turns back to God in repentance and revival.
Are we there yet??? It certainly feels like we might be. There no longer seem to be any filters stopping people’s most irrational thoughts, dreams, and fantasies from being expressed loudly and acted out proudly. Plenty of people have told God to get lost and rejected His authority in matters of politics, culture, art, family, justice, education, and sexuality. Media and the arts tend to be increasingly degraded and calling it progress. Our culture and society is ripping itself apart from the indulgence and selfishness demanded by each person doing whatever they think is right in their eyes.
This current cultural moment certainly feels like a Romans 1 time. Pray that the western world would recognize the madness and finally humble itself before God in vast numbers praying, repenting, and seeking God’s face. Pray for widespread revival and renewal in the name of Jesus. Pray for those who don’t know Jesus and for those who do but are still living in this degraded Romans 1 way. #FollowJesus