Godlessness or ‘godfullness’?

Do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realising that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance? (Romans 2:4)

Read Romans 1:28 – 2:11

What have you been watching on TV lately? Are you binge-watching the latest Netflix drama? Or secretly enjoying watching people embarrass themselves on a reality TV series?

Why don’t we take a few steps back from our viewing to look dispassionately at the content on our screens? Because ‘they have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They [show] gossips, slanderers, God-haters; insolent, arrogant and boastful …’ (Romans 1:29,30).

This is certainly not The Waltons.

In case you think I’m targeting your favourite series, I put up my hand too. I’ve also gone along with the descent into degradation. It’s what happens when we don’t ‘think it worthwhile retaining the knowledge of God’ (Romans 1:28). God has let our culture follow its desires, and it has led to a depraved collective mind.

Paul is holding up that mirror again, showing us ourselves.

But maybe some of us are thinking, ‘I refuse to watch bad TV shows. Why do people watch this stuff? I only watch quality TV.’

Ah, Paul has words for us, too. ‘You there, passing judgement on someone else: you’re condemning yourself because you do the same things.’ What are my secret viewing vices?

Of course, our screen time is just a symptom of the much deeper godlessness in our world. Ironically, our screens are reflecting our own degradation back at us – giving us what we want. Maybe what we are.

Where is God in all this? The Creator God who delighted in making a beautiful world and making it good? Watching us humans – letting us – pervert and disorder and uglify it all. And ourselves: the crown of his creation, made in his image.

God’s anger, his wrath, must be rising. Paul reminds us that God’s judgement will come: he will bring this degradation to an end.

But Paul wants us to hear the most important truth: God is rich in kindness, tolerance and patience – calling us to repentance, leading us back to himself to ‘godfullness’. His Son came to find us, rescue us from destruction and return us to our home in God.

This is Paul’s good news. Hear it again, rejoice in it again, and share it with anyone who will listen: God’s gospel for his broken world.

Loving God, have mercy on us and our culture. You know how easily we descend into godlessness. In your grace, wake us up and lead us back to you. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Pauline lives in sight of the ranges in the beautiful Manawatu region of New Zealand with her husband, Roger, and two cats. She leads a small Bible College there and offers spiritual direction and supervision to people from a wide range of backgrounds and denominations.