29 When the crowds were increasing, he
began to say, “This generation is an evil generation. It seeks for a sign,
but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. 30 For
as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to
this generation. 31 The queen of the South will rise up at the
judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from
the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something
greater than Solomon is here. 32 The men of Nineveh will rise
up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at
the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.
Luke 11:29-32
3 For the time is coming when people will
not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for
themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn
away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
2 Timothy 4:3-4
Two thousand years ago, Jesus judged his generation as an
evil generation. They saw Jesus with
their own eyes, they witnessed the miracles he performed, they watched when
Jesus casted out demons, they even heard the grand teaching, and they
experienced firsthand the healing he did on them, yet their heart was dull and
so they remained in their unbelief. They
followed Jesus everywhere for their amusement but they had no faith in
him. Jesus called them to repent, but
they dismissed his invitation. They were
unresponsive to Jesus. In Luke 7:32-35
Jesus said:
31 “To what then shall I compare the
people of this generation, and what are they like? 32 They are like children sitting in the
marketplace and calling to one another,
“ ‘We
played the flute for you, and you did not dance;
we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.’
33 For John the Baptist has come eating no
bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ 34 The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and
you say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and
sinners!’ 35 Yet
wisdom is justified by all her children.”
They followed but yet they
were not in tune with the rhythm.
Instead of trusting in Jesus, they mocked him. They mocked John the Baptist, and they also
mocked Jesus. They had no fear of
God. Even though they had no reason
whatsoever to do so. The works that
Jesus did spoke for itself of the authority he had. The only logical consequence for those who
witness his works was to believe.
Unfortunately, they did not believe.
So Jesus said that this generation was an evil generation.
Signs were everywhere, miracles were performed every day,
teachings were spoken with great authority, but yet these people still demanded
a sign. The dullness of their heart was
stunning. They wanted more amusement. They wanted to continue in their comfort zone
and ordered Jesus to satisfy their crooked desire. It was not like Jesus never performed any
miracle. On contrary, he performed many
miracles. There were many signs shown
right in front of their eyes. When John
the Baptist was in doubt, this is Jesus’ answer to him:
22 And he answered them, “Go and tell John
what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk,
lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have
good news preached to them. 23 And
blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”
(Luke 7:22-23)
John believed. But the people remained doubting. All the impossible diseases to cure, Jesus
cured. Not to mention the impossible
force to deal with, the force of the demons, yet Jesus overpowered them. They also had the privilege to taste the five
bread and two fish for thousands of people.
How about the raising up of Lazarus right in front of their eyes, after
four days laying dead in the tomb? Or
the calming of the storm and wind, who could control the elements of nature but
God himself? Yet, even after all that,
they remained in their unbelief. An evil
generation indeed.
This is not necessarily evil in the sense of having no
morality. Or that they were not able to
do anything nice or good in the eyes of man.
Evil here meant that they doubted what they actually had no excuse to
doubt. They acted contrary to what was
natural. More accurately, they acted
purposefully against what they knew was supposed to be done. They knew they had to believe, for they had
no reason to not believe. But yet, even
without any reason to disbelief, they did not believe. This was the evil Jesus meant. For they were against their instinct, against
reason, against the evidences, against their human nature as imago dei,
against whatever was proper. For this
generation, their demand for a sign was answered by the sign of Jonah.
The sign of Jonah was that he was in the belly of the big
fish for three days and lived. The sign
of Jonah was that he was thrown into the sea and was considered dead, the
sacrifice to appease God, then remained under water for three days, yet
lived. This was a huge sign for the
people of Nineveh. So when Nineveh heard
Jonah’s message preached against them, they trembled with fear, so they
repented in total humility. And Nineveh
only needed one sign and one sermon. But
the people in the time of Jesus, they saw many miracles, they witnessed many
signs, and they heard many sermons, yet they did not repent. That’s how evil that generation was. Someone greater than Jonah was among them,
speaking with much greater authority than Jonah, or even Solomon, performing
miracles and making signs more than anyone ever made in the world, yet even
with the abundance of evidences right before their own eyes, they did not
believe. So the sign of Jonah was given
to them, for all other signs were already given. But the sign of Jonah would have to wait
until the end of his ministry on earth.
The sign of Jonah would be his last sign on earth. His death and resurrection, the greatest
miracle, the most magnificent sign, was his “sign of Jonah.”
Even with that “sign of Jonah,” many people still did not
believe. They remained in their
unbelief. And the unbelief continues on
even to this day. The flute is played
and they do not dance, the dirge is sung and they do not weep. Evidences are overwhelming. Testimonies are beyond counting. The power of God is displayed
uncontested. The glory of God is shown
to the world. The Holy Spirit is sent
into the hearts of man. Messages are proclaimed
everywhere on earth. Even nature too
responds with earthquakes, floods, and all.
But the hearts of man remain dull.
They are unmoved. They are
emotionless. Their hearts are dead. They resort only to their dying senses. They ignore the uncontested evidences. But they desire more signs. Not that they desire to believe, but that
they are addicted to sensations. They
only want to watch. They only want to be
entertained. They want to exploit the
heavenly glories for the sake of their shallow desire for temporary amusement. They have not in their heart the desire to
honor God. They have not in their heart
the desire to repent. They have not in
their heart the love of God. They hate
God. God is their competition. God is to be eliminated. They want to be able to write their own
destiny. They want full control of their
life. So they ignore the “sign of Jonah”
and consider it a myth. They perceive
the death and resurrection of Jesus as legend.
A mere folk story handed down from generations past. For their senses crave for the shallow
meaning of the flesh. They magnify the
bodily senses many times over, so that their conscience could not be heard
anymore. They are committing suicide yet
they think they are living. Karl Marx
said that religion is the opium of the masses.
Yet from generation to generation, man is master of drugging themselves
with the bodily senses and amusement, in order to get rid of any sense of
divinity within. No Karl Marx, religion,
especially Christian faith, is not the opium of the masses, the callous desire
of man is.
Before his death, Paul warned Timothy that a time was
coming that people “will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will
accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and
will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” They are drugging themselves with the wine of
lies and beer of falsehood. They are
smoking the pot of unbelief and inhaling the opium of delusion. They know not of the truth, yet they claim to
have the truth. They believe they have
dug so deep into the secrets of the world, yet their findings are too
shallow. They are building upon the
foundation laid on sand, and yet claim that their monument could withstand the heavenly
shake. They are too deep in their
ecstasy that they are swept by the illusion they create, which in the end they
are unable to differentiate what is real and what is not. They find teachers and preachers that will
only satisfy their bodily senses. The
dosage of their drug keeps going up that they have become blind, deaf, dull,
and invalid to anything holy. Their
crave is unquenchable. Their addiction
is too great that they reject anything good offered to them. They are enslaved by their addiction, chained
in their opium, bound in the deadly poison of their unbelief. Falsehood tastes sweet for their palate. Truth is a bitter medicine for them. They are kicking and screaming when the
message of heaven is proclaimed to them.
As they hate the message, they also hate the giver of the message, and
with it they hate the bringer of the message as well. Following the lead of their predecessor, they
are killing God’s messengers as their ancestors killed Jesus Christ the Lord of
lords.
We now live in an era which is filled with people of
shallow minds. This is the shallow
generation. A generation that is easy to
please but hard to serve. Serve them
something excellent but not to their liking, they would be in rage. Jesus said that the Son of man came not to be
served but to serve. He did serve. And he provided excellent service. Top notch in every one of his ministry. None that he healed was not healed. None that he raised from the dead remained
dead. His preaching and teaching were
the greatest and the best in all ages.
But the evil generation wanted him dead.
His service was indeed excellent.
They could not find fault in his ministry. But for them his ministry was not to their
liking. They had forced him to do what
they wanted, but he refused. Finally
they could not take his refusal anymore, so they had to get rid of him. They did not care of his excellent
service. All they cared about was that
Jesus would do what they wanted. In the
same way, the shallow generation of the 21st century demands the
same. They don’t care about the quality
of the service provided. They would
settle with poor service as long as it suits their desire. They are hard to serve because their desire
is wild. They are easy to please because
their demand is shallow. Give them what
they want, and you will be loved. What
they want, however, is contrary to the will of God. God wants holiness, but they want sin. This generation is a sinful generation. Their shallowness is manifested in their
infatuation with entertainment. They are
so self absorbed that all they care is how to amuse themselves. It doesn’t matter whether what is on the
plate is poison, as long as it amuses them, they would eat it.
It doesn’t matter whether what is being preached and
taught is falsehood, as long as they are entertained, they would say it is
good. Their mind is set on what they
want to hear. They like to be
praised. They like to be comforted. They like to be tolerated. They like to be permitted to continue living
in sin. They like to be comforted that
God loves them anyway, the way they are.
They like to be told that they do not need to change. They like to be told that they could continue
living in their old sinful habits because God will always forgive them even
when they do not ask for it. They like
to be given opportunity to speak up their mind, even when it is as shallow as
it can be and as meaningless as it would be.
They like to hear their own voice even though what they say is
foolishness. Just give all those to
them, and they will be pleased. It
doesn’t have to be excellent. Just give
them what they want, and you will be their friends. They are not concerned whether what is
preached is true or not. In fact, if
what you preach is not amusing for them even if you speak what is true, it is
to be mocked.
Instead of excellent praise and hymns to the Lord of
glory, they opt for songs that allow them to vent off their frustration. Instead of worshiping the Lord with honor,
they opt for rock-concert like entertainment kind of worship. They want their sense to be entertained. So they bang loud noises in the house of God
to tingle their thick ears. Not for the
praise of God, but for self actualization.
The preachers prepare sermons not to carry the message of God, but to
entertain the itching ears of the masses.
Ministry in the church is no longer a heavenly affair, but it is just an
earthly transaction between buyers and sellers, no difference than that in the
mall. People come wanting to be
entertained, and if they feel entertained they would give the “offering”
according to how much they are amused.
If they feel they are not entertained, they won’t give. So ministers focus on worship service that
would draw applause. They design worship
service and prepare their sermons in such a way that stay away from being
offensive. So they pick and choose bible
verses that only soothe the heart. God’s
discipline is one topic to be avoided, because it would draw the crowd
mad. God’s holiness is one topic to be
shunned, because the crowd would grumble upon it. Repentance is not appealing to the masses, so
many pastors do not preach it anymore. Thus
worship service is then designed to please the people, not the Lord.
The shallow generation wants to be God. They infiltrate every corner of the world. They only like to read the bible, listen to
sermons, go to church, that will give what they want. They want to lead. They even want to lead God. God plays a flute, they won’t dance. God sings a dirge, they won’t weep. Because they want to be the one playing the
flute, and they want God to dance to their rhythm. They want to be the one singing the dirge,
because they want God to weep. They want
God to be their slave. They want to be
the master of the heavenly beings. They
want to exploit everything holy for their carnal desire. They defile the sanctuary of God in order to
enjoy the opium of falsehood. They turn
the house of God into the den of robbers.
They tolerate unholiness and persecute God for demanding them to be
holy. They deconstruct the holy word of
God in order to nurture their perverted desire.
They mock the God who speaks the word of eternal life and render him a
liar. So they reinterpret the Scripture
according to their degraded mind. They
argue for homosexual practice and same sex marriage as if it is supported by
the Scripture on the basis of God’s love.
Their shallow mind seeks only to please their sinful nature. Take a look at what Mark wrote in Mark
7:6-13:
6 And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah
prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written,
“ ‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their heart is
far from me;
7 in vain do they worship me,
teaching as
doctrines the commandments of men.’
8 You leave the commandment of God and
hold to the tradition of men.” 9 And he said to them,
“You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to
establish your tradition! 10 For
Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father
or mother must surely die.’ 11 But
you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have
gained from me is Corban” ’ (that is, given to God)— 12 then you no longer permit him to do anything for
his father or mother, 13 thus
making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down.
And many such things you do.”
So the shallow generation
replaces the eternal word of God with their temporary shallow tradition. They do the same thing the Pharisees did two
thousand years ago. Since their root is
not in the word of God, they become so shallow.
They are dawning.
They penetrate the study of the word of God. They form the culture of man. They drug the conscience of man. The shallow generation is actively
multiplying, like weeds in the spring. Shallowness
is merrier. Life without care. Life free to sin. Life free of guilt. Because sin is permissible. Their theology is based on the deconstruction
of God’s love. So they twist God’s hand
and corner him saying that because he is love then he ought to always forgive
them. Even when they continue to live
their filthy carnal and sinful lifestyle.
They excuse themselves saying that they can’t be holy anyway, only Jesus
can fulfill the demand of the Law, so why bother trying? Instead, they go deeper into the life of sin,
as their opium dictates them all the delusions of the deconstructed theology. The deeper they go, the more they are bound
by their addiction to sin. It pulls them
so strongly that they feel even more hopeless.
But as they realize their hopelessness, they do not run to God for
help. They do not humble themselves
before the Lord. They do not repent. But instead, they dare to shift the blame to
God and demand him to tolerate them anyway.
They think they are entitled to heaven.
And they confront God saying that they believe in Jesus, that they go to
church every Sunday, that they pray before every meal, that they give offering,
that they even help the poor. Based on
all that, so they claim, they demand God to give them forgiveness and thus to
bestow upon them heaven. They dare to
insult God so as to demand “my way or the high way.” If God would not give what they want, they
threaten to leave the church. They
threaten to become atheists. They
threaten to give offering no more. They
threaten to help the poor no more. They
threaten to pray no more. Like spoiled
children, they kick and scream when God reminds them that they are out of line.
Such is the shallow generation. They are easy to please but hard to
serve. They are no different than the
evil generation in Jesus’ time. Jesus
had given them the most excellent service, but yet they still demanded a
sign. They never wished to repent. They never wished to return to God. They only sought what they could sell, who
they could enslave, and how they could profit.
If they could, they would sell God for money. Do they love God? No, not at all. They love themselves. They spend God to their own satisfaction. They only come to God when they want
something from him. Otherwise, he does
not exist for them. They do not want
personal relationship with God. All they
want is business relationship with God.
But they do not see themselves as the lower party, rather they see God
as the lower party that they can take advantage of. They think they can outsmart God using God’s
own word. This is the mentality of the
shallow generation. Now, what to do with
them?
Jesus said that they will be condemned at judgment time,
and Nineveh will rise to condemn them.
Because Nineveh repented when they heard Jonah’s preaching. But this generation took Jesus lightly, even
though Jesus was God himself. The current
generation too is treating Jesus with contempt.
They do not honor God. Even when
they are in church worshiping, they actually worship themselves and brush God
aside. They twist his word at will. They are building their own kingdom instead
of building the kingdom of God. But they
borrow from his word. And only his word
that suits their lifestyle. They elevate
themselves to the level of God so they could decide which in the Scripture is
meaningful and which is not. Teachings
that do not fit their sinful nature are discounted. If the teaching is too clear, then they ascribe
foreign meaning to it using so many crafty devices and cunning schemes. Do not think that they are not smart. They are extremely smart. In the eyes of man they are great. They shield themselves with so many layers of philosophy,
science, and so on. But all words of man.
They render God a liar and they post themselves
as the true God. So their condemnation is
deserved.
The shallow generation is evil. They reject wisdom so they could embrace foolishness.
If Queen of Sheba could come from the ends
of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, but when the true wisdom himself – who
is forever greater than Solomon – came to earth they mocked him, then the Queen
of Sheba would rise in the day of judgment to condemn this shallow generation. Today they are still mocking the Son of God. They disrespectfully question his authenticity.
They think he is a fake. When they do that they are proud of themselves
because for them they have walked the path of wisdom, which starts from doubt. But funny, they never doubt whether they are authentic.
They even dare to argue that Jesus never
actually existed. For them he was just some
kind of a fictional character that an evil genius author invented in order to instill
order into the chaotic ancient world. For
them, thus, there is no salvation. Salvation
is just an idea belonging in the museum of relics of the ancient civilization. It is out of date. Man is enlightened now. They say that man now know the truth. They claim that God cannot deceive them anymore.
They have matured and understood the truth
of the mystery of the universe, so they say. The notion of sin and hell no longer scare the
enlightened people. Those scare tactics only
apply to the primitive people. The modern
man knows better. So they do not need salvation
anymore. Consequently, based on such logic,
they do not need Jesus. Moreover, they do
not need God. Not only that they do not need
God, for them God does not even exist.
So people who believe so adamantly that God doesn’t exist,
like Richard Dawkins and Lawrence Krauss for example, rally all over the world to
try to persuade people that they can be free from God. It is easier now to persuade people because it
is a shallow generation. Just please them,
and it is easy to please them, which is to give what they want, and they will be
persuaded. Just give them the license to
sin, and they will turn. Once they believe
that God doesn’t exist, it is easier to believe that the universe comes from big
bang and billions of years of evolution. Once they believe in evolution it is easier to
shatter any ethical framework. Sin? What sin? There is only transaction between members of the
community. If a certain conduct is considered
harmful to the community, so the conduct is forbidden. But one conduct may be harmful to some but not
to others. How to solve it? Voila, voting. The majority rules. So minority will always lose. How to regulate majority law? 51/49, there, mathematics! So if there is 510 million people vote yes, and
490 million people vote no, in a community of 1 billion people, the 510 million
may rule over the 490 million. What an amazing
solution, is it? If 510 million vote yes
to “murder is not a crime,” whereas the 490 million vote no, then the 490 million
have no right to refuse, do they? Anything
goes as long as you own the majority. How
does it then differ than the law of the jungle? The strong rules over the weak? Interesting, the most “evolved” being on earth
behave like the animals of the jungle. Is
it evolution or devolution? If this is so,
why then condemn Hitler? Did he not also
believe in the same rule? The strong may
rule over the weak? Oh oh, the strong may
rule the weak as long as you are not the weak, isn’t it true? This is what happens if God is eliminated. This is how shallow man will be if God is not in
the picture. Dawkins and Krauss have not
realized that what they are doing is evil and shallow. They will only bring ruin to humanity. Humans without God don’t exist.
Life to the fullest can only be attained through having root
in the word of God. The word of God is the
foundation of healthy living. The word of
God is the source of life. It is not opium,
but instead it is the lifeline of all humans. Without it man withers and dies. Without it man becomes like wild animals in the
jungle. Without it man is shallow. Proverbs 29:18 says:
18 Where there is no prophetic vision the
people cast off restraint,
but blessed is he who keeps the law.
Without revelation or vision from
God, humans cannot do anything meaningful. Without the wisdom from God, humans will only do
harmful things. Neglecting God’s word will
only result in their doom. So God gives man
the words of eternal life. No more sign is
necessary. The greatest sign has been given.
The “sign of Jonah.” Jesus’ death and resurrection is the most important
sign of all. Every generation has no excuse.
They may not plea ignorance. For the sign has been given. The cross is the testimony of the death and resurrection
of the Son of God. The question is: “Are
you among the shallow generation or are you among the wise one?” The wise believe. The shallow remain in unbelief.
9Wisdom has built her house;
she has hewn her
seven pillars.
2 She has slaughtered her beasts; she has
mixed her wine;
she has also set
her table.
3 She has sent out her young women to
call
from the highest
places in the town,
4 “Whoever is simple, let him turn in
here!”
To him who lacks
sense she says,
5 “Come, eat of my bread
and drink of the
wine I have mixed.
6 Leave your simple ways, and live,
and walk in the
way of insight.”
7 Whoever corrects a scoffer gets himself
abuse,
and he who
reproves a wicked man incurs injury.
8 Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will
hate you;
reprove a wise
man, and he will love you.
9 Give instruction to a wise man, and he
will be still wiser;
teach a righteous
man, and he will increase in learning.
10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
and the knowledge
of the Holy One is insight.
11 For by me your days will be multiplied,
and years will be
added to your life.
12 If you are wise, you are wise for
yourself;
if you scoff, you
alone will bear it.
13 The woman Folly is loud;
she is seductive
and knows nothing.
14 She sits at the door of her house;
she takes a seat
on the highest places of the town,
15 calling to those who pass by,
who are going
straight on their way,
16 “Whoever is simple, let him turn in
here!”
And to him who
lacks sense she says,
17 “Stolen water is sweet,
and bread eaten in
secret is pleasant.”
18 But he does not know that the dead are
there,
that her guests
are in the depths of Sheol.
(Proverbs 9)
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