En(d)titlement: Trade a Culture of Shame for a Life Marked by Grace

by Chuck Ammons

This is more than a dude with red horns and a pitch fork whom we can blame all of our problems on. The demonic is a system of thought that is rooted in pride, aimed at enticing humanity to make our entire worlds about ourselves, so that we release brokenness upon the world instead of beauty. The devil loves to get us to stop seeing faces and to reduce people down to stances we can categorize, talk about, and oppose. Every moment, you and I are either playing the game or joining our Savior to tear the system down. There is no middle ground. The game is being played on every corner of the globe among every race, age, background, and political persuasion. The enemy baits those on the right side of the aisle and the left with equal fervency. And this is nothing new. I often hear people say, “Well, the world’s just getting worse and worse and worse…we’re going to hell in a handbasket (whatever in the world that means)!” If you have developed a view that the world is sinking and we’re just waiting for a heavenly Uber to fly us outta here, I want to tell you two reasons I believe that is just not true. The first is that Jesus already rode into town on a donkey declaring a new era where the rightful King is making everything new. In Matthew 6, He didn’t teach us to pray, “Save us from hell one day,” but instead “Your kingdom come today on earth as it is in heaven” (emphasis added). Second, the effect of sin on the human heart is the same today as when we fell. The depth of our b...