Do You Sometimes Feel Like an Alien in Your Own World?

I was shopping in Walmart before Christmas when I observed an elderly lady trying to check out in the electronics department. She was a small woman, thin and very plainly dressed. She had a small hat, one of those round  ones you might have seen women wearing in the 1950s. She had written a check for her items. The clerk looked at it; trying to remember what to do with a check. Finally, the clerk ran it through the cash register (I don't even know if that's what they are called any more. Does anyone actually use cash?)

The clerk asked the lady to approve the amount. The old woman just stared at her. She didn't understand. The clerk told the woman to press the screen on her side of the counter. The woman didn't know what to do. The clerk walked around the counter and showed her what to push. The lady did so. Then, the clerk asked her to sign it. Again, the lady didn't know what to do. And again, the clerk walked around the counter and showed her how to sign the electronic pad. The woman retrieved her bagged purchase with her receipt and shuffled toward the front of the store.

I thought, "The world has changed so much for this dear lady in her lifetime that she is like an alien who must make visits to it but is never really a part of this world."

No doubt, she does very fine in her own home. She probably doesn't know why her tv doesn't work since things went digital. She has no idea what the internet is. She reads books, believes everything written in the paper and makes weekly trips to the grocery store. Her joy is found in working in her yard and the infrequent visits made by her children who are grandparents themselves. She goes to her Sunday School class and worship at her church but has an increasingly hard time understanding the sermons. The preacher talks of "youtube, facebook, email, websites and twitter." She has no idea what he is talking about.

When will our world change like hers has? Will we be aliens in our own country? I think it has already happened in spiritual things.

Our technology has grown at an alarming rate while growing churches have worked diligently to increase the number in attendance. The church has struggled to stay in the technology race. It has worked hard to get the attention of a people who are more fascinated with "reality shows" than reality. Honestly, the church is losing.

Right is becoming wrong and wrong is becoming right in our society. Righteousness has no meaning to the average church attender. God is something that happens on some Sundays. Any other athletic or entertainment activity can take His place on any given Sunday.

Marriage is an optional arrangement for raising children. Dependence on the government, union or employer has replaced a dependence upon God. People have become devoted to their political party in place of their church. Parents abdicate their role while children are dictating the direction of the family. Morality is governed by whether or not people will get caught. Sins have become addictions in which we must be cured rather than convicted.

Frankly, I sometimes feel like this elderly lady in Walmart. My world has changed so much that I am an alien.

My only hope has remain steady, however. It is in Jesus Christ. It is in a Holy Spirit revival. It is in a visit by God in these difficult times.

God will let us go our own direction. I pray that we will awaken and come home to Him.

Romans 1:28 (NIV)
²⁸  Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.