What does your bumper sticker say?

Yesterday I was in town and parked next to a car that I've seen many times around town even though I don't know who owns it; and every time I see that car I feel sadness. Why? That car has two noticeable bumper stickers that indicate what is in the owner's heart. One says "There's a sucker "born again" every minute. The other says something about the uselessness of prayer. Not everyone advertises what they believe so noticeably but our words and actions certainly indicate what's in our hearts.

Lately, it seems everywhere I turn, I'm hearing about spiritual warfare. I hear it in messages on Sunday. I pick up a novel and that happens to be the main story line. I pick up a devotional and voila, there it is again. I read Scripture and am reminded that "we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against the evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world..." (Eph 6:12)

The last session we had at our Missions Conference was on Sunday morning (a couple of weeks ago) and we heard from a missionary to Hungary, Steve Zub. He was mild-mannered and soft-spoken and an unlikely candidate for the hard-hitting message we were to hear. He made no bones about it like we do so often in our talking and thinking. He pointed out that we are evil and society is evil.

"Man's heart is "most deceitful and desperately wicked" (Jer 17:9) Man's true condition is that he has no use for God; an enemy of God. Evolution is a lie - we're not improving over time. Humanism is a lie - human beings are not the center of the universe or in control of their destiny. Moral relativism is a lie - there is an ethical standard beyond ourselves. Relativism is a lie - there is truth and it is absolutely true.

But he pointed out something I'd never noticed before. Many cases where Jesus called someone evil, he was speaking to religious leaders, his own disciples and believers. Paul starts off the first chapter of Romans talking about how God gives up people to their evil ways and here's the list of evil he speaks of: every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, fighting, deception, malicious behaviour, and gossip...backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, pround and boastful...they refuse to understand, break their promises, and are heartless and unforgiving. Then when all the believers were comfortable thinking of how they are so glad they are not so evil as that Paul turns around and says this:"

"You may be saying, "What terrible people you have been talking about!" But you are just as bad, and you have no excuse!""

Can you imagine the shock that congregation in Rome felt when they read this letter?

It is clearly not enough to believe in God. We have an enemy. And that enemy is out to destroy us: our relationships, our families, our lives. The person who hates Christianity like the one who makes it clear with bumper stickers is not the one we need to be careful of. It's the enemy of our soul who wants to ultimately destroy us. He is the one who encourages us in our rebellion against God. And as we listen to him, we become like him - evil.

Isn't that a little harsh? It sure sounds that way but it's not until we get the true picture of what's in our hearts and the seriousness of it that we see the need to repent, to turn away from it and cry out to God for help. We do live in an evil generation but what would the bumper sticker say on our car if it showed the true picture of our hearts? Would we mirror our generation or would we show something altogether different? Would anyone see God?