What the World Needs Now

What do we need in order to succeed in the future? What are our problems, and what, if any, remedies for those problems are available for us? It's generally conceded that we have plenty of problems, so what does the world need to solve them?

We have grown accustom the visions of all nations and backgrounds come together in global unity and peace. These are often proclaimed at football halftimes and in TV commercials. This vision is not unlike the vision of many prior decades, captured in song lyrics like: "Come on people now, smile on your brother; everybody get together, try to love one another, right now." or "This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius…harmony and understanding, sympathy and trust abounding…" or, like the old Coca Cola ad: "I'd like to teach the world to sing, in perfect harmony…" or, "We are the world, we are the people…" or, "What the world needs now, is love, sweet love, not that's just for some, but for everyone…" Well, these sentiments are hard to disagree with, but are they really what we need? Can we just ignore or forget our differences? Can we simply achieve unity, peace and love by willing it to be so? Unity around what? Peace on whose terms? Love by what standard?

I would suggest that what the world needs now is much, much more intolerance and discrimination. This is our only hope, and we, as God's people, must work diligently to see that this message of intolerance and discrimination is spread far and wide. Is it really that surprising that God's message is so completely contrary to the message of the world? Allow me to explain what I mean by intolerance and discrimination. Is intolerance always a bad thing? Is it really good for us to "tolerate" everything; every behavior, and every belief? In the first place, not even the most enlightened lefty is completely tolerant (for starters, he doesn't tolerate intolerance). Where are the advocates for the tolerance of criminal behavior (especially if someone just stole their car)? Remember, it's the beliefs of the criminal that ultimately drive his behavior. And so, the most tolerant among us don't tolerate all beliefs. And what about discrimination? There was a time when we would have considered it a complement to be called a "discriminating person." Discrimination involves the ability to discern between things of superior and inferior quality. It implied a standard—a set of beliefs about the world and people—the ability to separate good from evil.

The Bible Illustrates this Intolerance and Discrimination (theologically we call this "antithesis").

Examples:

  Creator                   Creature

  Covenant-keepers    Covenant-breakers

  Life                        Death

  Sheep                    Goats

  Lost                       Saved

  Light                      Darkness

  Wheat                    Chaff

  Good                      Evil

  Heaven                  Hell

This is how God describes life.