Kingdom's Keys Fellowship
Where God's Kingdom Meets Man's Heart.
Pentecost 50 The Pandemic of 'Optionitis'
Pentecost 50 The Pandemic of “Optionitis’
Multi-tasking, out-sourcing, overload, burnout, specialization and a host of similar terms describe the pressures individuals experience everyday. We live in a world so fragmented that we wonder from one minute to the next exactly who we are and what we are here for.
If we probe even further we discover that we live in a world of social diseases that are not physical but spiritual. One of those is what I call ‘optionitis.’ It comes from the incredible number of choices that lie before us everyday. Take cable TV for instance. There are hundreds of channels available. Which one do we go to? If we go to buy a car the makes and models seem endless. Supermarkets and malls on TV and in our neighborhoods are breeders of ‘optionitis.’ Buy, buy, buy. From the most upscale store to bargain basements the weight of multiplicity is increasingly heavier. We live in an environment infected by options. Wherever we go, variety is the expanding reality and ‘optionitis’ is the result. Specialized schools and colleges, clothing styles, cosmetic looks, outdoor activities, new and developing kinds of sports, vacation and leisure lures and of course the technological explosion gripping the edges of imagination.
What are the symptoms of ‘optionitis?’ Well, there is decreased attention span, increasing dissatisfaction with others and self, impatience, feeling less peaceful, the need for more novelty, frequent irritability, being argumentative and opinionated, mood swings and the more constant demand for instant gratification. Things don’t happen fast enough. We want change and we want it now. It isn’t just change based on something but on anything. The idea is that if we just keep changing, something good will happen.
One of the most prevalent symptoms is erosion of morality. What have been standards that bridged generations are fading into whatever feels good or whatever strategy works for the moment. Rationalization and self-justification in the moment cause an individual to ease away from past principles that maintained order in the social interaction we call society. It can be addictive and is contagious.
The danger of ‘optionitis’ can be found even in religious systems. One of the symptoms is the idea that all religions head us to the same place and have the same moral principles. In this atmosphere Jesus is just another option among the many out there. This may make one feel comfortable but in the end its conclusions can be found extremely dangerous in that surface similarities are founded on entirely different dynamics and premises. The idea of religion itself is the opposite of what Jesus offers. Religion offers us a system of thinking and behavior that requires earning some vague deity’s approval. Jesus offers us Himself in a relationship in which He has taken away the problem that separates us in order to bring us back to Him and His well-defined Father. It is a personal relationship with God versus an empty institutional system originating in man’s mind to satisfy his need to understand the unseen.
One of the wonderful effects of being a disciple of Jesus is that we know He is the same yesterday, today and forever. A relationship with Him is the measure for weighing all options. ‘Optionitis’ is a spiritual disease resulting from sin. In Jesus we are not overcome by the presence of options, tempted by their pull or drawn into their emptiness. Even if we succumb to the ‘optionitis’ virus our cure is to take a dose of the Sermon on the Mount, a memory check on who saved us and offer Him our prayer of repentance. Then everything falls back into place and we regain our spiritual foothold making us again available to let Him reconcile the world through us.
“Our firm decision is to work from this focused center: One man died for everyone. That puts everyone in the same boat. He included everyone in his death so that everyone could also be included in his life, a resurrection life, a far better life than people ever lived on their own (2Cor.5:14-15 Message Bible).”
Tomorrow---Inside Out, Upside Down, Right Side U
Stay tuned……..
Multi-tasking, out-sourcing, overload, burnout, specialization and a host of similar terms describe the pressures individuals experience everyday. We live in a world so fragmented that we wonder from one minute to the next exactly who we are and what we are here for.
If we probe even further we discover that we live in a world of social diseases that are not physical but spiritual. One of those is what I call ‘optionitis.’ It comes from the incredible number of choices that lie before us everyday. Take cable TV for instance. There are hundreds of channels available. Which one do we go to? If we go to buy a car the makes and models seem endless. Supermarkets and malls on TV and in our neighborhoods are breeders of ‘optionitis.’ Buy, buy, buy. From the most upscale store to bargain basements the weight of multiplicity is increasingly heavier. We live in an environment infected by options. Wherever we go, variety is the expanding reality and ‘optionitis’ is the result. Specialized schools and colleges, clothing styles, cosmetic looks, outdoor activities, new and developing kinds of sports, vacation and leisure lures and of course the technological explosion gripping the edges of imagination.
What are the symptoms of ‘optionitis?’ Well, there is decreased attention span, increasing dissatisfaction with others and self, impatience, feeling less peaceful, the need for more novelty, frequent irritability, being argumentative and opinionated, mood swings and the more constant demand for instant gratification. Things don’t happen fast enough. We want change and we want it now. It isn’t just change based on something but on anything. The idea is that if we just keep changing, something good will happen.
One of the most prevalent symptoms is erosion of morality. What have been standards that bridged generations are fading into whatever feels good or whatever strategy works for the moment. Rationalization and self-justification in the moment cause an individual to ease away from past principles that maintained order in the social interaction we call society. It can be addictive and is contagious.
The danger of ‘optionitis’ can be found even in religious systems. One of the symptoms is the idea that all religions head us to the same place and have the same moral principles. In this atmosphere Jesus is just another option among the many out there. This may make one feel comfortable but in the end its conclusions can be found extremely dangerous in that surface similarities are founded on entirely different dynamics and premises. The idea of religion itself is the opposite of what Jesus offers. Religion offers us a system of thinking and behavior that requires earning some vague deity’s approval. Jesus offers us Himself in a relationship in which He has taken away the problem that separates us in order to bring us back to Him and His well-defined Father. It is a personal relationship with God versus an empty institutional system originating in man’s mind to satisfy his need to understand the unseen.
One of the wonderful effects of being a disciple of Jesus is that we know He is the same yesterday, today and forever. A relationship with Him is the measure for weighing all options. ‘Optionitis’ is a spiritual disease resulting from sin. In Jesus we are not overcome by the presence of options, tempted by their pull or drawn into their emptiness. Even if we succumb to the ‘optionitis’ virus our cure is to take a dose of the Sermon on the Mount, a memory check on who saved us and offer Him our prayer of repentance. Then everything falls back into place and we regain our spiritual foothold making us again available to let Him reconcile the world through us.
“Our firm decision is to work from this focused center: One man died for everyone. That puts everyone in the same boat. He included everyone in his death so that everyone could also be included in his life, a resurrection life, a far better life than people ever lived on their own (2Cor.5:14-15 Message Bible).”
Tomorrow---Inside Out, Upside Down, Right Side U
Stay tuned……..
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