After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illumined by his splendor. He called out with a mighty voice, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! It has become a dwelling place of demons, a haunt of every foul spirit, a haunt of every foul bird, a haunt of every foul and hateful beast. For all the nations have fallen from the wine of the wrath of her prostitution, and the kings of the earth have engaged in sexual immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxury.” Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, so that you do not take part in her sins and so that you do not share in her plagues, for her sins are heaped high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. Render to her as she herself has rendered, and repay her double for her deeds; mix a double dose for her in the cup she mixed. As she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, so give her a like measure of torment and grief. Since in her heart she says, ‘I rule as a queen; I am no widow, and I will never see grief,’ therefore her plagues will come in a single day— pestilence and mourning and famine— and she will be burned with fire, for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.” And the kings of the earth, who engaged in sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her, will weep and wail over her when they see the smoke of her burning; they will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say, “Alas, alas, the great city, Babylon, the mighty city! For in one hour your judgment has come.” And they threw dust on their heads as they wept and mourned, crying out, “Alas, alas, the great city, where all who had ships at sea grew rich by her wealth! For in one hour she has been laid waste.” Rejoice over her, O heaven, you saints and apostles and prophets! For God has condemned her condemnation of you. (Revelation 18:1-10, 19-20, NRSVue)
And they threw dust on their heads as they wept and mourned, crying out, “Alas, alas, the great city, where all who had ships at sea grew rich by her wealth! For in one hour she has been laid waste.” Rejoice over her, O heaven, you saints and apostles and prophets! For God has condemned her condemnation of you. (Revelation 18:1-10, 19-20, NRSVue)
As followers of Christ, we are to be in and not of this world. We are living in this space, but not participating in what is happening around us. We stand in opposition to the whims of society when they go against the will og God.
Yet, even today, we see those who profess to be Christian following the ways of society and using God to get their way.
Do not be a part of the whims of the world when they clearly do not follow the path God has set for us to be on.
Love like Jesus. Loud and against the norms of the world.
