The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. – 2 Corinthians 4:4

My opening statement this morning, at our Tuesday men’s Bible-study, went something like this:

“I have been thinking about what my goal is here, what I am most motivated to see happen every time we meet together. I want us to encourage one another in our journey as men committed to following Jesus, absolutely, and then I want to help spark a passionate engagement with God’s good word. I want you all to leave here every week excited about the scriptures and looking forward to exploring them more on your own.”

And today’s selections, from 2 Corinthians 4 and 5, are certainly great examples of scripture passages just brimming with life and light and goodness and inspiration. Talk about an unforgettable collection of soundbites.

However, rather than list them all, let me talk about one that I had not intended to discuss, but that turned out to be really important once Bill referenced it. It illustrated beautifully why we learn more when we listen to each other.

“I have trouble with the idea that God blinds the minds of unbelievers” (v 4), he said.

Not “god” but “God”

“I understand,” I replied, not looking at the text but hearing the word God when Paul had clearly written god. “I asked the same question about God ‘hardening the hearts’ of the Egyptians back in Exodus.”

Fortunately, Steve chimed in and pointed out the lower-case “g” in the text.

“Thank you, Steve,” I said. “Mea culpa! That makes all the difference. What was blinding their hearts and minds was not Creator God, but all the false gods they followed – the gods of wealth, power, excess, self-interest and more. And we often find ourselves in exactly the same place today…”

This is a huge problem, and it is destroying credibility in so much of “Christian” witness today. In our time it’s not so much the “unbelievers” who are blinded by “the gods of this age” as it is some of the loudest voices among the leaders of The Church.

And “the gods of this age” seem to be most active – and blinded to the love of Jesus – on the extremes, both on the right and on the left.

We have this treasure

Instead of me answering all of this, I will defer to the Apostle Paul, who wrote: “We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed” (v 7-9).

I may be a frail vessel like a clay jar, but the all-surpassing power and glory of God lives in me! So long as I keep the spotlight on Jesus I am going to be okay. In fact, “As grace increases to benefit more and more people, it will cause gratitude to increase, which results in God’s glory” (v 15).

God’s grace…. to our gratitude… to God’s glory….

This is more than enough for today, so I will leave us with the following:

“We don’t preach about ourselves. Instead, we preach about Jesus Christ as Lord… God said that light should shine out of the darkness. He is the same one who shone in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory in the face of Jesus Christ.” – 2 Corinthians 4:5-6

If the expression of faith is not in the spirit of Jesus, then your god has a lower-case “g” – and it is past time to make a change! – DEREK