Billy Joel
If you’re a Gen Xer like I am, I’m going to make the assumption that you know by heart at least part of the song, “We didn’t start the fire,” by Billy Joel. I heard that song the other day and it really made me start to think. I remember once hearing about the reason why he wrote the song. It was because he heard so many kids complaining about how so many awful things were happening at the time. And that it was all unprecedented. He set out to prove them all wrong by writing this song, all about history.
I think we need to add a few stanzas to Billy Joel’s song to account for the last couple of decades. And then we need to tell not only our children, but remind all of us that neither did we start the fire.
Reality
It’s easy to get discouraged about the world right now. It certainly feels as if after 2020, the world just sort of collectively lost its mind. But I think what actually happened was that, at least for me, I finally started to pay attention. Perhaps the manifestation of sin is more out in the open these past few years. But our world has always been crazy, ever since sinful, broken people have lived in it.
As Billy Joel crooned all those years ago, each generation has had their issues to face. Sometimes it’s a problem that has been lingering for decades (i.e. class divide, poverty, etc.) or it’s a unique problem of our time (i.e. sexual identity, abortion, etc).
Often we look back at the past with rose colored glasses, thinking to ourselves that the people who lived at that time didn’t have to face nearly the problems we have today. Or else, we swing to the other extreme and throw on some seriously dark shades and think to ourselves that back then, everyone was stupid and unenlightened. Thank God we live in the here and now when we are so much more informed and wise.
Thankful for this moment
I think at the end of the day, we need to be thankful for the time the LORD has given us on this earth. This specific time, with all its insanity. The LORD allowed each generation of people to be born at the specific time He wanted. We shouldn’t look back at our ancestors to pine for that time or look down our noses at them. Rather, we should learn from them and live in the here and now.
I don’t understand a lot of things, but I know that we can trust the LORD and His timing. We were created for this specific time. We don’t have to agree with God or understand. But as His children, we do need to stand in faith and obey Him, according to His Word. That will inevitably make us enemies of the world (James 4:4). But that’s OK.
Men and women of faith
For a great children’s book, Amy Carmichael talks about how she lived at a time when young girls in India were enslaved to their local temple. Families would sell them to the temple to work, so that at least, their bellies would be full. What a dark time that must have been. But praise the LORD that Amy Carmichael stepped into what the LORD had for her at that time. I can’t imagine it was easy. However, it was an incredible blessing for those girls and most certainly for Carmichael herself.
Upper elementary or MS children would enjoy reading about Johann Gutenberg in Ink on His Fingers. All Gutenberg wanted to do was share God’s Word with other people. But he encountered many problems as he set about doing what he knew the LORD wanted him to do.
I’m in the middle of reading Sword and Scimitar. I’m hoping to write that book review soon! It’s not for lack of interest that I haven’t gotten through the book faster. It’s fascinating and terrifying at the same time. There was so much blood shed and pillaging and injustice hundreds of years ago. I truly don’t understand why the LORD allowed such tremendous suffering. The consequences of what happened at that time still affect us today. It’s all mind blowing. But again, those men and women who lived during that time were perfectly created for such a time as that.
God is still faithful
So no. We didn’t start the fire. It all started thousands of years ago when Eve sparked the fire with that first bite. Adam fanned it into a flame. It’s been a roaring fire ever since. But in these fires, the LORD is right there. Guiding His people and unmistakably leaving His fingerprints everywhere. If it were up to us, that first flame would have engulfed Adam and Eve and none of us would have been here to know any different. But the LORD in His sovereignty, allowed the fire to continue.
I have so many questions. But even as we wrestle through our questions, we can praise God that in His mercy He hasn’t put the fire out yet. There are things yet to do.
Necessary fires
I find it incredible that controlled forest fires are actually necessary to maintain a healthy forest. It seems so counterintuitive. But it’s true. Obviously, fire is capable of great destruction. But fire can also purify, cook our food, warm our bodies, and give us light.
It’s not that we should sit in front of our cultural fire and warm ourselves, ambivalent to the fact that this same fire can get unwieldy and destructive if we don’t attempt to control it. Nor should we despair as we realize that there is no way on God’s green earth that we can stop the fire ourselves. I pray that the LORD will give us the wisdom and strength to navigate this cultural moment even when we get burned, frustrated, and ready to give up. We need to be reminded that we were made for such a time as this (Esther 4:14). Father God, help us not underestimate or devalue what that means. Give us direction as we stomp out the fires we can, and not touch the other fires that need to be there.
