The world we live in...

"10 As it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one." Romans 3:10-12, NIV.
"1 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 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," 2nd Timothy 3:1-3 NIV.
These verses have been brought home to me lately as I watch the news. Like many of you I shake my head at what appears to be a total disregard for anything that is good. To many stories of children being abused, stories of abuse inside compounds. It seems as if civilization is just giving up and giving in to any desire that comes into it's mind.
Before I get really self-righteous however, Romans 3 comes to me like a 2x4 across my head. My sins come into focus. I realize I'm guilty, just as guilty as anyone else I can think of. I need grace and mercy. I'm a sinner, made well only because a perfect man died in my place.
I have thought a lot lately about the compound mentality. That people form a group, then believe that if they separate themselves from the rest of humanity, they will be less likely to fall into temptation.
Well it hasn't worked.
The reason is obvious, Romans 3. Man cannot be good, he simply doesn't have it. The only thing he does by creating a compound is that he makes it easier to sin. He creates a culture that allows himself to do what he really wants. Without accountability to anyone else, he can let his desires run wild.
Jesus never taught separation, He taught that His people were to be light and salt. To do that there has to be contact with what needs light and what needs to be flavored. The Bible teaches that the world needs to see our good works, not put up a wall that says keep out.
Even our churches become sub cultures when we don't engage the world around us. In some ways we do the same things as those who build walls. Our walls may not be physical, but the church as a whole has turned more inward. We believe, as those that create compounds believe, that if we just keep to ourselves, that we can control what happens, who comes into our communities, our church will operate much more safely.
That hasn't worked either, since the Bible makes two things very clear. There are wolves among the sheep, and that the church was never designed to be a compound.
I become discouraged when I read stories of men and women, some of whom are pillars in churches, do horrible things. When we remove accountability, when we turn a blind eye, when we are not vigilant, Satan will use people to destroy God's message.
But as depressed as I get about the struggles of the church and of people, God always leads me out of it. This mornings devotions helped me. In Hosea I find a God who makes a strong case for Israel to be wiped out. They have constantly disobeyed and turned away (maybe like you and I have) and you sense how badly God's heart is broken by it. Yet in chapter 11 of Hosea we see God has a parent of a problem child, that while His heart is broken He stands ready to take them back. Verse 8 reveals God's heart, "How can I give you up, Ephraim?". God is saying that to you and me, to His church. It breaks His heart to see His creation disobey, but He offers hope.
He just can't give up on us.
We know one day that God will finally say enough, and bring His people home. Until then we need to be sharing His message of hope.
Thank you God for not giving up on me.