BIG IDEA: The way of the Lamb is better than the bankruptcy of Babylon.
Revelation calls us to change our lifestyle, not necessarily our location. It reveals how we enter Babylon’s bed whenever we value profit over people, use others as steppingstones for our ambitions, or have consumer appetites that ignore supply chain slavery. How do we exit (separate from) Babylon? Apparently, this involves auditing career ambitions and consumer appetites to ensure we’re not climbing ladders built from the bones of exploited image-bearers. It’s certainly not about hunkering down or sheltering in place until Christ’s return. Instead, we’re to be like the Lamb who brought healing to earth by engaging it with heaven’s values!
Ultimately, Revelation reveals 2 ways to build a life: Either build on the lasting foundation of The Lamb’s New Jerusalem or end up sinking in the sands of Babylon’s exploitive shores.
This is good news for all creation, worthy of celebration! The Resurrected Slain Lamb is dismantling and destroying satanically inspired systems of people who think themselves wiser than God. Therefore, Jesus isn’t just a better personal choice, He’s the Lamb who threw Himself into the sea of God's wrath like a millstone so that we could be fished out of Babylon's slave market. Jesus did not just rescue our vertical relationship with God--He entered our broken, predatory world, suffered under a corrupt Roman system, and paid the ultimate price to deliver us from being both the victims and the perpetrators of systemic exploitation. As you ponder all this with God’s people, remember, next steps need not be taken alone--Christ’s church can become your supportive family!
