Episode 287: I’m Talkin. . .Oblivious

I’m Talkin’, episode 287, for October 15th, 2023.

This is Joel from the I’m Talkin’ microcast, where I share my thoughts on a topic that has piqued my interest this past week.

This week we’re talking oblivious.

This seems like a fairly simple word, and I think it is, but because of that I thought I would actually look up the definition and make sure we knew what we were talking about.

In general, the definition says, not aware or not concerned.

I think that’s what we all think of oblivious.

So why the word oblivious?

I think it goes to why people are the way they are in this world.

I think we raise people to be independent, to be their own, and I think that’s good.

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that, but in being our own person, we tend to be oblivious to those around us.

We want to set our own rules.

We want to be the law in and of ourselves.

No one gets to tell us what to do, and in that we become oblivious to the world around us, to other people’s feelings, to other people’s comfort.

We become oblivious to much except for us, and that really tops out, I guess.

It is at its peak when we decide that we are our own God, and we don’t need God.

We don’t need anybody.

We don’t need anything, and we become real oblivious to the realities of the world.

We only care maybe about the United States.

I may even fall in that sometimes and become oblivious to the pain of others around the world.

We may only care about the group of people that live in the same house with us and are oblivious to the cares and needs and joys of others around us, and we really work at being oblivious without saying the word, and that is a challenge for those of us who call ourselves Christians.

The challenge for those of us who call ourselves Christians is twofold.

One is we don’t want to live that way, so turn the tide or turn the page or however you want to look at it.

Much of the world thinks we are oblivious to reality, that the way we believe and what we believe and who we believe in makes us oblivious to the realities of the world.

Where we stand, we say, no, we are observing the world around us.

We see God’s hand in everything.

We recognize the creator for who he is.

We recognize God for being omnipotent, omniscient, and we recognize that he is the only one worthy of our praise, but we have to make sure that we aren’t living oblivious to the world because then we will never reach them, and that is the second point of what I want to talk about here in a minute.

How do we reach an oblivious world?

How do we reach a world who has no interest in God, who wants to be their own law, their own God, their own person, nobody gets to tell me what to do, oblivious to the truth of God’s word?

Here’s the true and simple fact of that question.

We can’t and we don’t.

That is not our job.

Our job as Christians is to live a life that demonstrates what we believe and who we believe, and also to be ready to give an answer for our hope, for our joy, for our life, and in that let the Holy Spirit work on that other person’s oblivion.

We are not going to change anybody.

That is not possible.

That only happens through the work of the Holy Spirit.

That only happens because of the power of God.

We as Christians just need to be the tool in God’s hands.

We need to be ready with an answer.

We need to live a life that draws people to Jesus Christ and cures their obliviousness.

Is that a word?

Until next week, this is Joel from the I’m Talking Microcast.