"Be more positive!"

Some people say to me, I should be more positive. “End your posts with something uplifting”.

Why?

Why should I do that? Why would you even suggest that? Are you so conditioned by the Hollywood movie formula that prescribes a guaranteed happy ending? The guy gets the girl, they walk off into the sunset and live happily ever after.

Perhaps you know too well you are living in a crooked world but you would rather go on living in self denial because that's easier to accommodate. “Tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies” sang Fleetwood Mac.

Maybe you're in that group of believers that says “I'm a believer, God's in control, she'll be right mate”, then you go back to your Facespace page or the sportspage in the back of the Telegraph (don't distract me whilst I'm being distracted).

How about the “Jesus is returning soon, I'll just let him sort it out” rapture-ready worldview? What a cop-out.

On the other hand, could it be that your faith is so weak that you can't be left alone with a problem of evil that I present to you? Do you feel powerless to respond? God couldn't possibly want to involve you, yes you, in the establishment of his kingdom. He wouldn't equip you or give you the resources or skills to take the fight to the lord of this world? If you feel powerless in the face of evil then you've got some fundamental limitations in your Christianity and understanding of the Kingdom. It's like you've got the demo version of the game and you wonder why it your experience isn't the same as the paid-for/registered version.

Yes, as Christians and believers we know we are on the winning side of human history. Jesus will return one day to put the demons in the pit and God's will shall be done on earth as in heaven. Yes, there is a happy ending, but folks, we're not there yet. We are still in the final fight scene where Luke Skywalker is fighting to the death with Darth Vadar. There is a battle being waged between God vs Devil, good vs evil, truth vs lies, freedom vs slavery, life vs death. The thing is, we are not watching a video. Life on Earth is a David Attenborough series you can hire from Blockbuster, but the real Life on Earth is a live performance. You, my friend, are in the cast and you have some lines to deliver.

Again, just imagine if you took Jesus aside during one of his sermons... “JC, you really should be more positive, you can't talk about Hell and judgement like that, it's a conversation killer”. What if you were to admonish Daniel for depressing people with his prophecies of doom? I'm sure he would say something like “Hey buddy, I'm just the messenger.”

Like many of us “watchmen”, we simply stand at the parapets and call it as we see it. We are staring at the horizon though a looking glass, trying to focus on what we see heading our way. An early warning system, so to speak. If there's a threat, we warn. If there is an obvious line of action to be taken, we can recommend that you take that action. If there's a deception being peddled we try to shine the light of truth. However, we don't have all the answers and nor should we. Someone else out there may be better equipped to give the better solution or response.

At the end of the day, I'm just a $10 smoke detector that's smelling smoke and sounding the alarm. You can choose to lie in bed because you'd rather go on sleeping. You can fob yourself off by thinking it's just a false alarm. You could wait for Jesus to attend to it. You can even wait for the battery to go flat. Alternatively, you could do what your duty demands of you and get up and check for yourself whether or not your house is really on fire and you need to take action.

Just don't ask me to "be positive" if I can see your butt's on fire :o)