Right from the beginning of man’s history, as soon as sin entered this world, man has had a habit of refusing to face reality. When the Lord confronted Adam with his sin, he tried to transfer the responsibility to Eve, and he even blamed God for giving her to him. Cain lied and made excuses for the murder of his brother Abel. So it has been all down through the ages. In the broader sense, man has always tended to have grandiose ideas and ambitions that had no hope of fulfillment. The Lord Jesus used this tendency as an illustration in Luke 14:28-3028For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? 29Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, 30Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish. (Luke 14:28‑30), where a man began to build a tower, but, having failed to count the cost, was unable to finish it. Today, with a few clicks on your mouse, you can edit your photos, air-brush away your defects, and describe your “would-be” abilities. A Facebook page or résumé letter appears, but it is far from reality!
All of us are very reluctant to admit our besetting sins and bad character traits, even to ourselves. As another has remarked, sometimes the truth is so awful that we refuse to face it, and this is never more true than when the truth involves facing what our old sinful self is capable of thinking or doing. How often we make excuses, cover up, rationalize, or even deny what we are by nature.
The Fantasy World
In the last few years, however, I would suggest that this penchant for failing to face reality has been greatly multiplied. Television has been with us for more than 60 years, and it has done a good job of injecting fantasy into the human mind. This is particularly true of young children, whose minds are not always capable of separating fantasy from reality. More recently, entities like the Internet, Facebook, computer games, and movies have compounded the problem. Even the world recognizes this, as is evidenced by the following quotation from an Internet site devoted to healthy living:
“Alas, the TV is not the only fantasy world that people live in; it is just the most common. Included in this fantasy world of our minds are movies, Internet games and chat rooms, comics, kids’ cartoons, Xbox, Playstation, Wii, and, to a lesser degree, novels.
“None of the above is necessary for a successful, fulfilling life, and when they begin to take over our time, relationships, work, health and imaginations, it becomes quite serious. The issue is that people are happy to watch, listen, and read about others’ lives while letting their own drift meaninglessly by. In the meantime, they are missing out on life in all its fullness!”
As the author states in this quotation, the problem lies in the fact that these things that promote fantasy and “living in an unreal world” may well take over our lives. Our time is spent on that which is not real, and thus little time is left for that which is real. As believers, we ought to be increasingly sensitive to this trend, for what goes on in the world inevitably has its effect on the church of God. A lack of reality can pervade our thinking as believers, who have so much more available to us in Christ. This can happen in the matter of earthly possessions. Paul could tell Timothy to enjoin those who were rich not to “trust on the uncertainty of riches; but in the God who affords us all things richly for our enjoyment; to do good, to be rich in good works, to be liberal in distributing, disposed to communicate, laying by for themselves a good foundation for the future, that they may lay hold of what is really life” (1 Tim. 6:17-19 JND). It is only in looking on the realities, not only as to ourselves in this life, but also as to eternity, that we can lay hold of “what is really life.”
False Armor
The individual who fails to face reality can never really honor God, nor can he really be happy. The unbeliever who refuses the knowledge of God in the gospel must of necessity live in an unreal world, where a false armor protects him from the nagging consideration of truth. The Word of God is the only book in the world that gives us reality, not only in that which can be seen, but also in those things that are not seen. Thus a believer who will not face reality must also have a false armor around him, as, for example, if he refuses to obey that which the Spirit of God may have brought before him from the Word of God. Or, the believer may not want to confess his sin and failure to the Lord, and thus rob himself of the joy of the Lord. As another has aptly said, God will always meet us where we are, if we are willing to admit where we are. It is when we pretend to be what we are not that God must occupy our hearts with our false attitude.
A Vision of Hope
Does this mean that we are never to desire a situation which is not immediately in our possession? Are we never to have a dream of something that, for the moment, God has not given us? I would suggest that Scripture does not say this at all. Rather, we read that “where there is no vision, the people cast off restraint” (Prov. 29:1818Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. (Proverbs 29:18) JND). This verse is being fulfilled today, as men look back with nostalgia to the past but, seeing no hope for the future, are casting off all restraint and living only for present gratification. It is right for the believer to have a vision, but that vision must be founded on the Word of God and with the Lord before us, not self. How many believers have been encouraged by the example of Jabez, who, in the midst of difficulties, had a vision of blessing for his own life! Not only did he want the Lord to bless him and enlarge his coast (1 Chron. 4:10), but he also wanted to be kept from evil. It is recorded that “God granted him that which he requested” (1 Chron. 4:10). He had a vision, and because it was according to the mind of God, it was granted. We too can have a vision of that which we would like, and the Lord wants us to have such farsightedness. But it must be connected with Himself and produced in us by His Spirit. He who lacks the enjoyment of the “great and precious promises” God has given us will not be able to escape “the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:4), but rather is described as blind and one who “cannot see afar off” (2 Peter 1:9). It is when our vision is clouded that we cannot see afar off, and then present things take over in our souls.
In these last days, with the world living increasingly in denial and refusing to face reality, it is more and more important for believers to be real. First of all, we must be real in our relationship with the Lord, then in our relationships with other believers, and, finally, in our relationships with the world around us. If our relationship with the Lord is right, then the others will easily fall into place. The world around us looks for those who, with peace in their hearts as to both eternity and the present, can live Christ and preach Christ. It is a privilege and responsibility for all of us.
W. J. Prost