Could it be that we have lulled ourselves into a false sense of spirituality?

Maybe that's why God is trying to get our attention so much. Mass shooting after mass shooting have us shaking our heads wondering why there is so much evil in the world. We see an act of terrorism and we wonder and we worry. But maybe instead of worrying so much about the evil out there we should be doing a little "worshipful worrying." Maybe we should be more concerned about the evil within us.

We are constantly amazed at what evil does. Really? Why? Each one of us contains a sinful nature that is just as capable of horrific acts of violence as anyone else. Sure it maybe just plays out in our heads as we imagine the guy in traffic who just cut us off smashing his car into a tree, but it's just as evil.

But the point really isn't about how evil we can be. It's that we are sinful minded people. We are not the kind of people God wants us to be.

And then a church season like Advent comes along. It pulls at our hearts and souls. It tells us to get ready because Christ is coming. It shows us God's answer to the sinfulness in our hearts. And then all the trouble in the world and in my life and yours reminds us of why we need Christ to come. We need rescue. We need help. We need a savior. And that's exactly what we have. In Christ all the evil in the world is paid for. In Christ all the evil in my heart is taken to the cross. And we are saved.

Look at the world and take notice. The evil there is the same evil inside. So let's take Christ's message seriously. Let's take his offer of forgiveness and be done with evil. That's a real spirituality that we never want to take for granted.