Babylon is eating everyone alive. You might feel like running away, but this is not a path that works. Babylon can be escaped, but not by running away. Babylon can only be escaped by pushing for the Kingdom of God.

You’re in a forest. You encounter a wolf. It look hungry, and it’s making threatening sounds. You run away 10 steps. Are you safe yet? You’ve bought yourself some time, but the wolf can easily catch up. You run away 100 steps. Will you sit down and meditate? Hopefully not. The wolf is right around the corner. What about a mile? You might have saved yourself today, but the wolf will be back. It’s still out there. Running is a short-term solution. You’re putting off the problem until later. If you want to be safe from the wolf, you need a long-term solution. You can kill the wolf. But even better than that, you can transform the wolf. You can make it your friend. This is how we got dogs. The wolf becomes a dog. Now in won’t hurt you. In fact, it will help you, and you will help it.

Running away from your problems might give you time, but it’s a short-term solution. If you live in the same world as evil, it will eventually find you. You might think, “But then I’ll die, so I won’t have to deal with it.” Sure, you’ll die, but your consciousness will still be there. It keeps going. Your consciousness will exist in the same world as evil, and you’ll have the same problem as before. Babylon will eventually find you. Maybe not today, or tomorrow. Maybe not in 100 years. But it will find you. One way or another.

So when you encounter a system which oppresses everyone spiritually and materially, then be prepared to fight to transform it. Whoever spreads life will be surrounded by it. Whoever doesn’t spread life, death will surround them. Death is knocking at your door, and soon it’ll kick the door open. You can ignore it, but it’ll break in and kill you. There’s a choice for you to make, but there’s no sitting on the sidelines. You’re either growing, or falling apart. You’re either pushing for the Kingdom of God, or Babylon is pushing you off a cliff.

Some people want to escape the world by themselves. They notice all the evils of Babylon, and all the death. They chose to separate themselves from it. They might go to a cave by themselves. They immerse themselves in meditation. They think, “I can’t do anything about the world, but maybe I can save myself.” They’ve bought themselves time, but not a solution. Soon, Babylon will find them, and their meditation will be for nothing.

And others want to escape the world with a few other people. They think, “I can’t do anything about the world, but I can make a community of like-minded individuals.” They’ve done well to make a community. But if the community doesn’t attempt to transform Babylon, then Babylon will transform the community. Then, you’re back to square one. You can carve out a small corner of the world with other people. You’d be on the right track, but your job isn’t done. You still haven’t found a solution to the problem. This is still a game of hide-and-seek.

There’s a wildfire that’s been raging for years. The fire consumes everything in its path. All the homes in its path are burnt down. There haven’t been attempts to fight the fire. Some people increase the air conditioning in their houses. Others make a lot of money by selling water bottles. Some say that the government should pay for people’s air conditioning. Others complain about the degeneration of society. “People no longer donate. They’re not building new houses for those who’ve lost theirs”. All the while, the fire is burning everything down. It looks like it will consume the world. A few people try to escape the fire. Their homes were burnt down. Now, they build a little community of homes a mile away from the fire. In this community, they all share expenses for air conditioning, and everyone has access to water. How long do you think it will be until their homes are burnt down? A day? A week? A year? 10 years?

The solution is firefighting. The fire must be stopped, or their lives will be destroyed. It’s good that they’re sharing expenses for air conditioning. Very good. And it’s also very good that everyone has access to water. But what good is it if none of that water is used to stop the fire. If they build their community, and stop the fire, then they found a solution. But the solution isn’t to build a community without stopping the fire.

Fight the fire, and live the four methods: togetherness, prayer, fasting, and giving. Remember the three parts of life: God, children, and work. Choose the Kingdom of God, not Babylon. God is waiting for us in his garden.