I used to sing on the platform at a church I once attended. We were having a crusade of sorts, just a few services at a local community center with a guest speaker. He was an older gentleman, a popular preacher in our church circuit, so it was to be a treat. The second night I was up on stage with the other girls waiting for the Worship to begin and he was sitting directly in front of us, waiting as well.
I don’t remember exactly what it was, but something rather shocking had recently been in the news, so me and the girls were quietly talking it over, exclaiming about our shock and horror over it, when the old preacher suddenly turned around and said something to the effect of, “Don’t be so shocked. Sinners do what sinners do and we should expect it.”
We felt as if we’d just been chastened, so we stopped talking and waited for the music to begin. The preacher turned back around, his mission accomplished, and the service went on as planned.
I get what he meant, I really do, but over the years I’ve found myself in disagreement with his sentiment. Of course, the Bible states that there is nothing new under the sun (Ecc. 1:9). So really, shouldn’t we expect sinners to sin? Shouldn’t we not be surprised when the world acts ugly?
Yes…and no.
While it’s true that nothing is new under the sun, I don’t believe that I, as a Christian, should be so callous as to not be shocked at anything that happens. Because honestly, especially of late, there has been so much to be shocked at.
I’ve found that that sense of surprise at the ugliness of the world, that shock over the things that people do to each other, the horror at just how awful sinners doing what sinners do can be, has been the single most motivation that God has used to urge me into prayer.
God can’t use a callous heart.
When there’s no softness, there’s very little compassion. When there’s no surprise, empathy is lost. When the heart can no longer be broken over what people do to each other, it no longer matters whether I pray or not because my heart is just not in it.
I don’t want to face this world in cold indifference. I don’t want to become so numbed by what happens around me that I neglect the very heart that God gave me. I want my heart to be God’s heart and so, while there are those who say I shouldn’t be shocked at the world around me, I say, shock me.
It’s true. Sinners will do what sinners do. But the moment my heart hardens, I’ve lost the heart of God.