Amen, castalot! All the things that we think mean SO much to us now - reputation, respect, money, power, influence, wealth, things that make everything EASY for us .... will one day be a total non-factor, and the things you cite, plus a few more essentials that'll last for all eternity, WILL matter .... a LOT! The only hard part is putting that realization to use, and we tend to SO easily tire and fall by the wayside, when really, nothing is preventing us from staying on course except that we simply tire of being "good," when we've defined good all wrong, by making it out to be the most boring and uninteresting thing we could! REAL Christianity is as exciting and challenging and frustrating as it's ever been, IF we really PRACTICE what we've been taught, and that we so often preach. I think you hit the nail squarely on the head. We need to look at ourselves for any real explanation for why our nation and our world in in the shape it's in today. If we'd done 1/10th as good as we like to think we've done, how could our world be the way it is today? Our message is the most solid and rational message anyone has ever had to deliver to our fellow man. And yet, we shy away from doing our due diligence to the one who has Redeemed us all! We need to get up off our arses and DO what we were charged to DO. That's my take on it, and some will disagree, I know, but I believe to the marrow of my bones that I'm right, even if it doesn't please me to admit it. "For all have fallen short of the glory of God," and St. Pete may have called himself "chief among sinners," but I guarantee, I can run him one FINE race in that one! I suspect most of us could?
It frustrates me to no end to see good, more knowledgable Christains than me, sitting and letting the nay-sayers and unbelievers take over where we should rightfully predominate! I've had enough of it! I'll risk being wrong and making a fool and an **** of myself for the sake of my Lord ANY day. And sometimes I do just that. But for me, it's kind'a like the old joke about the farmer who drove up with his livestock trailer, and let his new, huge, mean and very angry bull into the meadow with the rest of the herd. It immediately dashed out to a prominent open spot, snorting like a freight train and pawing huge chunks of grass and dirt up, sending them flying in the air! Two young bulls looked up, saw this huge behemouth, snorting and scratching, and their eyes opened wide with instant fear! Then, one of them nervously walked forward, and started snorting and pawing its mightiest, which was still pretty pitiful. The first bull shouted out to him, "Are you CRAZY? What are you doing? Trying to get yourself killed????" Then the brave young bull looked back with a wink, and said, "Nope. I just want THAT bull to know I'M a bull TOO!"
And that's sometimes the situation we all get put in from time to time. We may not be quite adequate to the cause at hand, but if we're all that's willing to cast our hand in the game, then the right thing to do, no matter the trepidation and difficulty, and no matter the "likely outcome," the right thing to do whenever our faith is put to the test is to fight the good fight, not look for excuses to turn and run away. Christ never ran away when He wanted to. Should we do any less for Him?