Why the World Feels Broken

One of the main Christian influences in my life growing up was the CCM music of the 90’s and 2000’s. A couple months ago, I got to see my all-time favorite musician Steven Curtis Chapman in concert.

This afternoon, a quotation from his song “Heaven in the Real World” came to mind. At the beginning of this song, listeners hear the voice of Billy Graham as the music rolls in. Dr. Graham’s words feel even more relevant today than they did when Chapman recorded the album back in 1994:

“Where is the hope? I meet millions who tell me that they feel demoralized by the decay around us. Where is the hope? The hope that each of us have is not in who governs us or what laws are passed or what great things that we do as a nation. Our hope is in the power of God working through the hearts of people. And that’s where our hope is in this country. That’s where our hope is in life.”

It seems like everywhere you look, anger, hostility, and impatience dominate our culture today. You see it on TV, on social media, and anytime between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, you feel it all up and down Woodruff Road.

It feels like things have gotten worse since 1994 in a lot of ways. But I wonder if that’s really true. After all, I think most of us tend to recollect the past and dwell on our highlight reels rather than our struggles.

For instance, my wife and I have three kids under the age of 9. Often, we’ll be out at a restaurant and one of our kids will do or say something cute, drawing the attention of an older onlooker, who usually says something to the effect of, “I remember when my kids were that age! It was so great!” And while I appreciate their sentiment, and I understand where they’re coming from (there are lots of wonderful, sweet things about having little kids), I can’t help but wonder at the amnesia empty nesters sometimes have.  Raising kids is hard! When you’re living in it, your focus tends to be on the daily struggles. But when the struggles are behind you, you remember the good.

Here's my point. I’m not sure things are any better or worse than they were in 1994. All of us have era in life we’d consider the “good ol’ days.” And it’s very likely that at some point, many of us will look back on 2025 as the good ol’ days. Like the writer of Ecclesiastes said:

What has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which one can say, “Look! This is something new”? It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time. Ecclesiastes 1:9-10, NIV

So if nothing is new, why do things feel different? Why does the world feel more decayed than it was in 1994? I think it’s simply because we have new ways of doing all the same things. Technology has ramped-up our capability access everything, moral and immoral, positive and negative. Social media gives everyone a platform to speak and voice opinions (whether they know what they’re talking about or not) and hide behind the anonymity of a device rather than stand face to face with real people. The internet deceitfully gives people the opportunity to feel like an expert in anything because everything is at our fingertips.

The problem is, real life is more nuanced than technology makes it seem. Consider Jesus.

In Mark 10:17-22, we read:

⁷ As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

¹⁸ “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. ¹⁹ You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’^[d]”

²⁰ “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”

²¹ Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

²² At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.

Did Jesus tell every rich person he met to sell everything for the poor? Nope. Just this guy. Why? Real life is nuanced. For this man, whom we call the Rich Young Ruler, God wasn’t his god. Money was. And when Jesus pulled back the curtain, the Rich Young Ruler’s religious façade was revealed. His worldview told him that he must be a really great guy because he had been so materially blessed by God. But Jesus pointed out that his wealth was completely disconnected from his spiritual well-being. Spurgeon said, “Apart from vital godliness all religion is utterly in vain; offered without a sincere heart, every form of worship is a solemn sham and an impudent mockery of the majesty of heaven.” Ouch.

If there really is a personal God out there (and I believe there is), you should expect Him to show up and step on your toes, like Jesus did with the Rich Young Ruler. Anybody who really cares for you will call you out when they see you in error (which is one of the many reasons parenting little kids is hard). In fact, if your god isn’t a God who can offend you, it’s likely that you’re serving something or someone else other than Yahweh God…maybe yourself.

But what does all this have to do with how I began?

A lot of the time, the hostility, or decay, we see in our daily lives begins because we, like the rich young ruler, have elevated ourselves to God’s place. Go check out the comments section of a social media thread where people start arguments. If I am guilty of elevating myself to God’s place in my life, and I am threatened, offended, or otherwise slighted, what would be a small thing becomes a really big thing.

When Jesus pointed out the Rich Young Ruler’s idolatry, the man walked away from Jesus, and we have no indication he ever came back. Why? Jesus threatened his real god—money.  Operationally, is Yahweh God your real God? Or is there something that can be threatened in your life causing you to react to the same extreme as the Rich Young Ruler, that you’d walk-out on Jesus? I’m sorry, but to me, the scene in which the Rich Young Ruler literally walks off from Jesus—choosing money over God incarnate—is one of the saddest scenes in all of scripture.

Most of us wouldn’t admit to this kind of idolatry. But what, in your life, if it was threatened, would cause you to clench your fist? Obviously, there are some things we should fight to stand up for, but it’s not likely to be the things Christians usually stand up for, like one’s personal rights. After all, Jesus didn’t stand up for his personal rights in his unlawful trial. People often point to Jesus’ anger when he cleansed the Temple to justify what they perceive to be their own righteous anger. But what made Jesus’ blood boil had nothing to do with personal offense—it had to do with a broken religious system that made reconciliation between God and people difficult and transactional. Remember, Jesus’ condemnation of those doing business outside the Temple was that they had turned a house of prayer into a den of robbers.

So, back to Dr. Graham’s quotation. For Christians, I think the decay around us is directly related to the idolatry already in our hearts. In 1 Corinthians 10:31, Paul tells us to do everything for the glory of God. But truthfully, none of us serve God to the degree we want to or should. The world hasn’t gone wrong…each of us as individuals have. Blaming “those people” for the wrong in the world does nothing about the sin in my own heart.

I can’t control the decay around me. Really, we can’t control much at all in our lives. But we can shift our focus in our daily lives from ourselves to God. We can pray that each day we would be filled with the Holy Spirit, and that kindness, faithfulness, and self-control would be markers of our submission to God.

So, for you, whether you tend memorialize the past or “live it up” in the present, if you paint a picture of what “ideal life” looks like that doesn’t include doing all to the glory of God, you’re missing the mark…it’s meaningless (Ecclesiastes 1:2).

Don’t be concerned with the comments of others, or what they think. Live life before an audience of One.

“Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind.” Ecclesiastes 12:13

If each of us had more self-awareness, I think we’d all discover we have a problem with idolatry. But Dr. Graham was right—our hope is in Jesus. And Jesus wants to work in the hearts of His people to change our hearts. What would it look like to live in humble submission to Him with the rest of your day? Week? Month? Odds are, He’ll use you to fight the decay we’ve let in here.