<%@LANGUAGE="JAVASCRIPT" CODEPAGE="1252"%> Untitled Document A Straight Line in a Crooked World

In a book about historical figures, Jeff O’Leary described Sir Thomas More (1478-1535), an English lawyer, scholar, and statesman as “a straight stick in a crooked world.”

I immediately thought of how that this should describe Christians. To the saints at Philippi, Paul wrote, “That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither labored in vain” (Philippians 2.15; cf. Deuteronomy 32.5). Please note that these saints were living in a crooked and perverse world. Crooked means bent, curved, or twisted. It is from the Greek word skolios. You may have heard of scoliosis, the medical condition which involves an abnormal curvature or misalignment of the spine. The saints at Philippi were living in a morally bent and spiritually twisted world. Their world was filled with darkness and soot. In the midst of this world, they were to shine as lights and to be without spot (Matthew 5.14-16; James 1.27).

Peter wrote, “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2.9). Please note that these saints had been called out of darkness. They were supposed to be peculiar or different. They were supposed to be holy.

Obviously, our world is much like that described by Paul and Peter. It is crooked and perverse and dark. As Christians, we must not bend to it. We must stand strong (Ephesians 6.10-17). We must be a straight line in a crooked world.

Wade Webster


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