Why Depravity Reigns

Chris Andersen of the Denver Nuggets

"Somehow, it's become cool to act like where you came from. But that's not cool at all."--Isiah Thomas

Nearly 2,000 years ago, the apostle Paul revealed that the last days on earth directly preceding the return of Jesus Christ would not be good times. Here's Paul's prophecy: "But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days." (2 Timothy 3:1)

What specifically will make the last days on earth so terrible? Paul expounded:  "People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God--having a form of godliness but denying its power." (2 Timothy 3:1-5)

There's a cause and effect relationship for just about everything that happens in life. The cause of moral depravity that Paul revealed will be prevalent throughout the end-time world is directly related to the declining influence of Judeo-Christianity. For example, King Solomon taught this important lesson: "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline." (Proverbs 1:7)

Solomon revealed an ultimate truth; that when people fear God they honor and respect His power. And they make it their business to learn his laws, commandments and statutes. When one fears God, one understands that he is directly accountable to God for his thoughts, actions and words. That also manifests in obedience to civil laws and respect for the welfare of others.

But when one either doesn't believe in God or doesn't believe that he's held personally accountable to God for his behavior, then literally anything goes and chaos usually prevails. Absent the fear of God, society quickly descends into the sewer of depravity. 

Two incidents recently happened that underscore the growing cesspool of depravity that is relentlessly destroying western civilization. The first incident involved an NFL football player named Jovan Belcher (Kansas City Chiefs) who shot his girlfriend to death at the home they shared in Kansas City before he later turned his gun on himself and committed suicide. Belcher evidently got into a violent argument with his girlfriend over his out-of-control lifestyle that involved drinking, drugs and womanizing. 

The second incident occurred in a New York City subway tunnel where a man died after he was hit by a train. The man evidently had been pushed onto the tracks by another man during an altercation. What made the incident especially tragic was the fact that an amateur photographer witnessed the incident and decided to snap some photos of the man desperately trying to climb back onto the platform before he was struck and killed by the train. Instead of trying to save the man's life, the photographer thought only of himself and the fame he might gain by taking pictures of a helpless man about to die. When people no longer believe in God, they become nihilistic and life becomes extremely cheap and meaningless. 

I've often said that professional sports provides an accurate reflection of society as a whole. Chris Andersen, the basketball player pictured above, is one such reflection. He's a terrible role model who glorifies the malignant "Gangsta Culture" that swallowed up Jovan Belcher. Andersen may claim that he has a right to paint his body full of tattoos and wear outrageous clothing. And he indeed has that right. But he also has an obligation as a professional athlete to set a good example for young kids who look to professional athletes such as him for inspiration.

When that inspiration involves looking and acting like an inner-city gangbanger, then thousands of kids will think that's cool and emulate Andersen's persona. Belcher also emulated the gangbanger culture with its loose women, drugs, alcohol and guns. And it destroyed him. 

But ultimately, Andersen, Belcher and that amateur photographer who declined to rescue a helpless man are the tragic reflections of an evil, post-Christian world that the apostle Paul warned us would come. And now it's here.