The Sensitive Soul
By Dr. T.D. Worthington
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We are living in a messed up world. It seems as if the things that should bother us don’t, while the things that should not bother us will prompt us to choose up sides and go brain dead.
For example, a troublesome fish known as the Asian carp may get a new name. You see some folks in Minnesota think the name may place people from Asian cultures in a negative light. Good grief! I suppose the white perch and black drum will be next on the list while the Spanish mackerel better find a more acceptable moniker.
Then we learn of the Principal of a Portland school who has determined that eating a sandwich made with bread is racist. Do I have this right, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich is racist? Apparently so, the enlightened principal states that certain students belonging to minority groups may not have culturally eaten bread, but instead used things like tortas, or pitas. So, we need to scrap our bread in order to remove what she calls “white privilege.” Can somebody say “get a life?”
As many office workers know, when utilizing two or more networked computers we often call one the “master” and all others the “slaves”. However, Los Angeles officials have asked manufacturers, suppliers, and contractors to stop using those terms saying such words are unacceptable and offensive. Apparently, some unidentified worker spotted a videotape machine carrying devices labeled “master” and “slave” and filed a discrimination complaint. It is ironic that the master is also called the “server,” but I am not sure how that fits in. Perhaps it’s time for the servers to demand their rights from the parasitic slaves, also.
Lately we have learned that anything even remotely associated with the War Between the States or the Confederate battle flag is now taboo. The “Dukes of Hazard” is offensive, while much of the evil heroes touted on the toy isle and witches and goblins of Halloween are perfectly fine.
Nike got in trouble for putting a design on a shoe that some Muslims thought resembled the name Allah. Nike eventually negotiated a settlement with a leading Muslim group. They apologized for any unintentional offense, recalled all products carrying the design, introduced training for Nike designers in Islamic imagery, and agreed to investigate how the offensive design was not caught before production was started. I guess the shoes didn’t have quite enough soul to merit such an image.
McDonald’s is another corporation that committed a social and religious goof. In fear of offending Muslims, the Singapore restaurants pre-emptively deleted a pig from a series of promotional animal toys it had created to depict every sign in the Chinese zodiac. This time it was the Chinese who were infuriated. Those born under the sign of the pig were upset. They demanded their beloved pig be reinstated, and blasted McDonald’s for cultural insensitivity. It is an example of a classic “no-win-scenario.”
Good grief! You have got to be kidding. We’re talking about pigs. We’ve gone far beyond cultural sensitivity and taken residence directly into the hysterical kingdom of Nutdom. It all makes us look so juvenile and stupid. It appears we can no longer handle any differences in opinion or taste and let’s face it; that’s just pathetic.
The politically correct mandate is that if you are a white, male, Christian or Jewish, heterosexual, financially stable, able-bodied, politically conservative, mentally competent, relatively attractive, non-abused, English-speaking legal American citizen who has a job and feels you were born with the correct body parts; then you are, by default, biased, prejudiced, and oppressively racist. Anything you say or any opinion you may have only serves to marginalize and harm everyone else. So, it is always best for you to just stay quiet.
By default, the less you are like the person just described the more valuable your opinions become. This is why it is unacceptable to say something bad about someone “less privileged,” even if they are looting stores, strapping bombs to children, or beheading Christians.
A Desensitized Culture.
What does it say about our culture when abortion is acceptable but wishing someone a Merry Christmas is not? We are sensitive to the wrong stuff while being totally insensitive to issues of greater importance. For example, when the graphic video of a Planned Parenthood executive describing how abortionists intentionally dismantle children in order to sell their organs to the highest bidder was released, you would expect normal people with one ounce of morality to demand action. But, it didn’t happen. How did our discernment of the important get so far off?
Suppose you woke up one morning and you noticed that your arm was numb. At first, you might assume you just slept on it the wrong way, but if the numbness persisted your concern would likely lead you to visit a physician. What do you suppose your doctor might do? Would he take your numbness seriously and order a battery of tests to find out the root of the problem, or would he inform you that your numbness should be considered a blessing because your arm would never hurt again? The answer is obvious.
However, not only do we have a physical nervous system, we also have a spiritual nervous system and numbness in either one is a sign of a problem. Just as our body registers pain should we touch something hot, our spiritual nervous system sounds an alarm when exposed to error. The trouble is we have become desensitized to sin. Curse words that used to shock us ceased shocking us years ago, and now even the most deviant behavior often escapes our notice. The legitimate moral center of our culture has eroded.
A Desensitized Church.
Some people believe that religion is what is needed to restore our moral compass. However, it is obvious to most of us that the modern church is just as mixed up as the rest of the world. We have digressed so far from the fundamentals of the faith, that the modern church bears little resemblance to her historic roots. Modern perverted Bibles fill many pews and pulpits, the marriage and ordaining of gays has been declared the will of God, while politically correct socialist theology has become the modern minister’s message. Furthermore, simply paying our debts has become the great commission of many churches.
Perhaps we could call the syndrome a form of burnout. Burnout is the consequence of a continual exposure to something which eventually produces a form of numbness. It is like listening to the same song over and over until you become tired of hearing the same sound patterns and combinations, eventually you will cease to really “listen.” When the Holy Spirit speaks and we ignore Him, He will usually speak again. However, if we continue to ignore His voice, even if He continues speaking, it will become easier and easier to tune out His words.
For example, if we ignore the voice of the Holy Spirit when He says, “You need to be more faithful in church” or “You should be tithing,” we will be prone to ignore that same voice when He says “That music does not glorify Christ” or “That man is not preaching the truth.” You see, the Holy Spirit does not raise His voice or shout, therefore if we ignore His still small voice in small things we will be desensitized to hearing His voice regarding more important things. That is why we call it “burnout.” Many marriages and churches are in trouble today because we ignored the Lord in what we might call smaller things, thus we failed to hear His voice in things more important. Perhaps the leaders of our country have fallen into the same trap.
Without sensitivity to the Holy Spirit there is no fear of the Lord. There is no excitement in His Word, in His grace, or in His sacrifice. We will receive no abiding instruction to use as our guide in the confusing maze of life. Sure we believe in God, but compromise has flooded the church. Compromise entered one perverted Bible at a time, one song at a time, one doctrine at a time, one person at a time, and proceeded to uproot the solid foundations of the faith.
Of course, a church is more than an organization, it is a living organism. The church retreated from its biblical roots because individuals in the church became desensitized to the voice of the Spirit.
Violence Desensitized Us.
We have seen so much violence we have developed a burnout, an insensitivity to it. Murders once made headlines for weeks. But now we are bombarded by horrific images every day. The ability to use computer generated life-like images has allowed video game creators and movie producers to create incredibly realistic violence. As Christians, we sometimes judge this as being acceptable since it isn’t real, but it still damages our discernment while increasing our appetite for violence. Every time someone is appalled by something, it will take something worse to thrill them the next time. That is the nature of burnout. Of course, more violence is apparently what we want. If more people would watch cows grazing in the meadow than people shooting each other, that is what the video game and movie producers would create.
Do you remember Alfred Hitchcock? This strange fellow could frighten people out of their skin without the use of gore. However, that doesn’t work anymore. Edgar Allen Poe once frightened adults, now his stories are read by school students. The Twilight Zone used to freak people out, but that is kindergarten stuff compared with what we have today. Parents used to protect their children from these scenes, but now choose violent video games as an acceptable means of childhood entertainment.
Of course, most people playing video games or watching a blood bath in a movie will never resort to real violence, yet the point is that we have become so desensitized to the violence that it doesn’t bother us anymore. That is a form of burnout.
Sexuality Desensitized Us.
Less than eighty years ago a woman in a one piece bathing suit was considered to be immodestly dressed. Then about 70 years ago, most moral people were appalled by a swimsuit called the bikini. Today, many Christians allow their teenage daughters to wear them. To be honest, today we see school children attending class in clothing that would have been against school policy just a few years ago. Modesty is the product of a by-gone era.
Even pornography of the past was relatively mild when compared to the graphic movies of today. Again, this is caused by burnout. A young man might look at relatively mild pictures until they no longer excite him. So, the pornographers accommodate by displaying more graphic scenes just to produce the same thrill. Instant internet pornography gives a good example of burnout. Some men have reported that after years of addiction to pornography, they become completely desensitized so they must move into harder and harder content just to get the same feeling. Eventually, nothing will satisfy their lust, including real romantic relationships. We can only wonder how many marriages are suffering today in their intimate relationships because the man has become desensitized and cannot find thrill in a non-fictionalized air brushed relationship.
Materialism Desensitized Us.
People used to find joy in simple things. There was a time when children could find joy in building a make-believe world with a few sticks and empty tin cans. Today, even for our children, it takes more and more to get that sense of joy that simple things used to give.
Then, as we grow up we need elaborate toys to produce even a meager amount of enjoyment. We have experienced a form of pleasure burnout. It might do us well to remember that normal middle class people live better than royalty lived a few hundred years ago. Yet, somehow that is not enough to make us happy.
The Work of the Holy Spirit.
What kind of people are so desensitized that ripping babies apart for personal profit seems acceptable? Could it be they are sociopaths suffering from a form of mental illness that has perverted their sense of right and wrong? Are these sick souls’ mere reprobates who are so mentally dysfunctional they cannot recognize common decency? How did the moral compass of some of the leaders of our society become so far off? Then, what might be done to stop them from dragging our whole nation into judgment?
It is also difficult to witness many of our young people making foolish and destructive decisions. The choices they often make are immature and irresponsible. Yet, they take no thought of their actions and the consequences they will face (consider the student loan dilemma). Eventually, the law of sowing and reaping will come into play. How can we help them?
As always, the answer lies in the house of God. Lost people do not have our ability to recognize and correct foolishness and indiscretions. As God’s people, we have also been desensitized, but we don’t have to remain that way. With some dedicated work, our conscience can be re-trained. We must get back to the basic truths of God’s Word. We must find a quiet place and retune our hearts to hear the voice of God. Our Lord didn’t neglect giving us the guidance we would need in order to remain sensitive in distinguishing good from evil, even in today’s wicked world. We have simply neglected to recognize our numbness and pursue the cure. We have grown accustomed to applying the Word of God to only a narrow slice of life, this must change.
The danger is real. It is already affecting our families, our churches, and our nation. The more desensitized and incapable of rational thought we become, the easier it will become to be controlled by evil influences; some from the physical world and others from the spiritual. Our goal is to be controlled by the Holy Spirit which will grant us the mind of Christ. Being so equipped, we will be sensitive to the way of truth even in a desensitized world.