Dear New Life in Christ Church Family,

A few Sundays ago, we studied Matthew 6:25-34 and learned about Breaking Free From the Prison of Anxiety

Matthew 6:25, 33-34 - “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? ... But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

I was thinking about how the world tries to make us anxious. The world around us will actively work to stoke up those fears within us.

It usually uses bad news to generate anxiety within you.

I have the Weather Channel app on my phone. Maybe you have it too. I don’t know about you, but it is easy to forget that the app exists on a bright and sunny day. But when I hear a hurricane is coming, or when I hear a snowstorm is coming, what do I do? I check it a few times a day. Guess what happens then? The Weather Channel makes money for advertising. They don’t make any money from me when I think the weather is okay, but if I want to check on the hurricane, or the blizzard, or the global warming of the planet, they can make money. The world lives off of bad news. The Weather Channel only makes money on me when I am worried about a hurricane.

That's how it works ... People will make money off of your fear ... they will use your fear to get something from you ...

If you are anxious you will usually pay whatever price you need to pay to get out of it. Maybe it is a pill. Or maybe it is something else you can buy.

Since this is the season we are in, this is the biggest method of political campaigns. They WANT you to be anxious so that you get spun up, and so you will buy into their message. They stir up fear, "Do you know what will happen if they get elected?!" I remember one time I listened to a talk radio show. (I mostly listen to sermons, but I made an exception this day). I remember how many advertisements I heard that were selling gold. It sounded like the show was practically designed to stir people up so they would be anxious enough to buy the product.

Back in 1999, there was the Y2K panic where people worried, “Oh, all the computers are going to go down as the clocks switch from December 31, 1999 to January 1, 2000. The world is going to be in chaos. You better buy gold to protect your family.” I remember how they used fear to sell their product. I know at least one person than bought it. I am not saying that gold is a good or bad investment, but I think he felt a little foolish.

My point is that when people want to make money from you, they will often do it by generating anxiety. Every gold investment seems to use this tactic. And I know those on the left do it as well.

Literally, if people make money off of you, websites, political campaigns, television, there is a good chance they raise money through using anxiety and worry as a tactic. So you can probably tell what your greatest anxieties are, based on the web pages you visit, the news you watch, or the people you listen to.

This is especially true as we get anxious about current events that we have little or no control over. We might even think about the upcoming election. Depending on who you listen to the results of the election are either going to bring in soviet-style communism or fascist Nazi-ism.

The world uses anxiety and worry to shift you the way it wants you to go. But we need a bigger principle. We need to "seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness". We must not be directed by fear but by the hopes of the gospel, the goodness of God's Law, and the hope of love to our world.

Here is the thing none of us knows what the future holds. God does. God often restrains the ambitions of even the most energetic leaders. The Bible reminds us how the decisions of kings are under His sovereign control. Every king is limited, and much more our national leaders.

Elections certainly have consequences, and those can be contrary to our convictions and values as followers of Christ, but we must remember that God is in control and refuse to give into the anxieties of our political age.

Faithfully Yours,
Pastor Sean