I recently heard it said, “the church changes the culture or the culture changes the church.”
This is not an insignificant statement because we all want to live in an ordered and peaceful society - but something changed many years ago and now our protective cultural institutions and structures are broken. They either don’t work like they should or they are hostile to us. The interesting question for me is to what extent has the loss of faith lead to a demoralised and tired society that is slowly losing its way? Instead of purring along like a like a well-oiled engine our country feels like an unbalanced flywheel, its gyrations becoming increasingly pronounced shaking the fabric of our society to destruction. Is the choice as stark as ‘Christ or Chaos’?
Despite what you may hear, belief in God is not a minority pursuit. They estimate that over 80% of the world’s population acknowledge the existence of a higher power. Now of course in the West - academe and the experts have reaffirmed Nietzsche’s pronouncement that ‘God is dead’. He is a figment of our imagination because we now have science and universal values which will usher in a new utopia and the baser instincts of man will be shaped through education and technological control.
The trouble is, I don’t think that it is going according to plan.
As I speak with people who have a different outlook to me, there is an extraordinary level of denial. They admit we are in a rough spot, but they believe, in time things will only get better. We just need more government, more money spent on the right things or just to be more open minded - then we will continue on our arc of improvement. My view is more pessimistic; without reformation and putting God back into the heart of our society, we will continue to watch it vomiting up the dregs of its rejectionist philosophy and the terminal decline will continue.
Without reformation and putting God back into the heart of our society, we will continue to watch it vomiting up the dregs of its rejectionist philosophy and the terminal decline will continue.
What we are witnessing is nothing new. I’m sad of course to see our great heritage collapse but this happens to cultures and societies throughout the ages. They rise and fall. When they ascend, they have a purpose and a confidence, When they decline, hope and sense of mission is lost and “everyone does what is right in his own eyes” This last quote is from the book of Judges in the Bible which is making for interesting reading (Judges 17 v 6).
In summary, it tells of a nation over a span of 340 years who when they obeyed God’s instruction saw much blessing but when they disobeyed - usually by getting sucked into the sensual pagan culture around them - they paid a price. Back and forth it went. Reading this we are reminded that there is definitively a righteous way to live, the effects of which compound virtuously into the wider culture and the society. It starts with putting God first, self-mastery, keeping the moral law with limited but necessary governmental structures. (family, church and state)
I firmly believe the church has an answer to what ails us - Although in recent times the church is not in the best shape to be offering advice - we have allowed the culture to change us - but the exciting news is that there is a re-awaking with the reformed wing leading the charge and the evangelicals are taking note.
If my experience is typical - I saw my faith as a choice which had more to do with the afterlife than it did with this life. - I really believed the secular dictum, that faith is only for the private sphere and Jesus is no longer appropriate for the in the public sphere. What changed my mind? A few things; but not least the famous words of the early 20th century Dutch politician, theologian and polymath, Abraham Kuyper. He said “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!” Boom - this got me interested - So Jesus is relevant in politics, education, defence of the realm - yes, so it seems!
That is right, Christ is Lord over everything, He doesn’t expect to be kept in a box - when we profess faith and submit our lives to him, part of the deal is getting into the mission. If you have any doubts about this read Matthew 28, and tell me he has not left us a job to do:
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.
And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Indeed, don’t we pray - “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven”? Shouldn’t we want God’s will be done on earth? Yet we are prepared to accept the thin gruel served up to us by the secular society. We are watching the experts carry out a slow motion car crash and yet we think nothing can or should be done to upset the apple cart, when plainly this apple cart is taking to us to a literal and metaphorical hell.
As we look at our dying and self-immolating society, we do so with a tender heart. We have a strong medicine which comes with a revivifying power and a hopeful message. “Repent, change your ways, trust Jesus for your Salvation and live an ordered and righteous life.” So much of what is wrong in our land is that we have forsaken our first love and been enticed by 'foreign gods' - like the Israelites in the book of Judges.
We love ourselves and our money - we have become boastful, proud abusive and disobedient - we are ungrateful and unholy. When you look at it this way - it is easy to see how the rot set in, and this only describes the state of some Christian’s today what hope for the rest of our nation?
So the kingdom mission for the church starts in hearts of each of us, first a personal repentance and then a proper understanding of what we are supposed to be doing.
At this moment many Christians in the West feel our best days are behind us: some are doing their best to be faithful in uncertain times and others are trying to cut a deal with the surrounding society hoping they will be ‘eaten last’.
I don’t know the Lord’s plans but I’m confident at very least we have a ‘hot ember’ to pass on to the next generation - because we know that in the fullness of time, “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea”. Hab 2 v14. That time has not yet fully come - but if we are faithful, we can be a thread, in the quilt of that great unfolding story. We can do our duty.
I smile at those who think we are going extinct. Any rejoicing is premature. As CK Chesterton said - “Christendom has had a series of revolutions and in each one of them Christianity has died. Christianity has died many times and risen again; for it had a god who knew the way out of the grave.”
“Christendom has had a series of revolutions and in each one of them Christianity has died. Christianity has died many times and risen again; for it had a god who knew the way out of the grave.”