Burning indignation has seized me, because of the wicked who forsake Your law. 

Psalms 119:53 (NASB)

Does wickedness even bother us anymore? Some of the most recent events in the news have caused me to wonder about this. The FBI released three million pages of documents, pictures and videos of some of the most outrageous crimes against children that have ever been committed. And while it is true that some of the information is little more than gossip and anonymous tips without any evidence that are unworthy of prosecution, much of the documentation is quite supported by evidence and corroboration from multiple witnesses. The FBI says that they released the information to provide full transparency, but they have no plans to go after these serial child abusers.

Our own President, a man whom I have voted for three times, has said that this is old news and it is time to move on.

Does wickedness, even bother us anymore.

At the halftime "performance" of yesterday's Superbowl was a singer who self-identifies as something called "gender fluid". He likes to wear dresses and engage in vulgarities that used to offend people. Today, such activity is so celebrated that the heads of the NFL and television stations thought this was the best of the best when it comes to entertainment and decided to spend millions of dollars to make sure that you and your children could enjoy it.

It might even be appropriate to mention that our own nation casually disposes of its unwanted babies at a rate of more than a million a year - but I guess that's old news too.

These types of activities occur on a daily basis in the world in which we live, and I guess you would have to conclude that wickedness no longer bothers us - it entertains us. It's not the first time such a wickedness has descended upon the masses of the population. Read Jeremiah 3:3, Jeremiah 6:15, and Jermiah 8:12, when you get a chance. There is much to read within each context and space does not permit that it all be shared, but it can be summed up in this way: Israel, God's chosen people, have become so wicked that God tells them they have the "brazen look of a prostitute". In each passage He has Jermiah point out that the people no longer blush at such wicked behavior. Indeed, they have forgotten how to blush!

Because of this, and because the people refused to punish those who were involved in wicked activity, God decided to punish the entire nation.

Jesus pointed out something along a similar vein: He said it would be better to have a millstone tied around your neck and be drowned in the sea than to sin against or cause a little one to sin. Yet in our world, we glorify sin and put it on display. Or, because the people who are harming children are giving us what we want in other areas, we turn a blind eye to their horrific crimes. And make no mistake; these crimes against children are so evil that in just about every society in the history of this world, when people were caught harming children - they were killed!

Yet we, in our society are not gripped with indignation - we don't even particularly want justice. We just want to be left alone - they can have our children, as long as these children are not our own flesh and blood.

In Jeremiah's time the people were given an ultimatum: Repent or die. It was the same in Sodom and Gomorrah. It was the same with the world before the flood. And whether we like to be confronted with the reality of God or not, it is the same now.

Does wickedness even bother us anymore? I believe it is time for those who wear the name of Christ to answer that question. Until we do, the innocent will continue to suffer, those who deserve punishment will continue to go unpunished, and our own punishment, that is so richly deserved because of our inactivity and refusal to protect the innocent, will be waiting for us at the Judgment Day.

Perhaps we should learn from God's Word what it means to have righteous indignation before it is too late... does wickedness even bother us anymore? I think it is time that it did, don't you?