Vince Deagler |
Lead pastor at Prescott Church, Modesto. A theological mind with a relatable life. |
i was amused last week by all the hoopla surrounding the cover of newsweek magazine (the decline and fall of christian america) coupled with the pronouncement of president obama while in turkey that america does not consider itself a christian nation. i am not gonna go into all that because in my opinion i’m not sure it will do any good. to some, because god is not explicitly mentioned in the constitution, america is by default a secular nation. it is funny because those same people completely disregard the constitution in other areas. to them the constitution seems to be nothing more than a tool to utilize when it agrees with their position and something to be ignored when it does not. i will leave this topic with just one thought from justice sandra o’connor of the supreme court concurring on an opinion from a 2004 case. “the court should not deny that our history has left its mark on our national traditions. it is unsurprising that a nation founded by religious refugees and dedicated to religious freedom should find references to divinity in its symbols, songs, mottos, and oaths. eradicating such references would sever ties to a history that sustains this nation even today.” the only history that denies america was founded as a christian nation is a revisionist history.
but that isn’t so much what i wanted to address. you see when you dig into the newsweek article which stems from the ARIS report (american religious identification survey) america is said to be “post-christian”. what that means is there is more of an emphasis on spirituality of any type or form than on religion, the rejection of any kind of spiritual absolutes and binding authorities, and its not so much a declaration of the death of god as much as its about the birth of many gods. in fact god becomes whoever or whatever we want him or her to be. the reality of a “post-christian” worldview is that it is nothing more than a re-packaged secularism where god is removed and man is elevated to take his place. any worldview that does not look to a moral authority or absolute outside of themselves is simply secularism…humanism. it is not new, and it does not work.
i say that because any worldview that wants to supplant a christian worldview must have some basic answers, those answers must be able to stand up to scrutiney, and they must work. what answers does secularism offer? now remember, secularism is presented to us as being intellectually superior because it does not rely on a feeble superstitious belief in god. no, it is based in science. and then with scientific certainty they state everything came from nothing because they do not have an answer for origins. that is not only unscientific, it is intellectually dishonest, and completely ridiculous. but that is all they have. in fact the founder of evolutionary theory, charles darwin, said that if 2 things were true, his theory could not possibly be true. he referred to substantiation in the fossil record, we are still waiting…in fact the more we discover the less likely it is that evolution could be the answer. he also referred to the idea of irreducible complexity, and again, based on what he said and what has since been discovered evolution can not be a viable answer. but instead of owning up to the reality that secularism has no answer, they insist it all must be true despite all the evidence to the contrary.
based on this flawed theory they then start to wax eloquently on the reality that everything we see is little more than blind fate, random cosmic coincidence, a collossal accident of nature, nothing more than chance. and as such there is no purpose, there is no morality, no authority, and no absolute truth. now stay with me because this is where they go right over the edge. secularism claims to have everything under control, it claims to offer the answers we need for life, it has life figured out, it knows how life works. earth to secularist…you cannot claim randomness, fate, chance, cosmic coincidence and control at the same time. they are mutually exclusive realities. accidents, chance, randomness by definition is outside of control. and this is verified over and over again by the reality we live in. here is what i mean…
what answer does secularism offer for our problems as individuals or within society. what about the pain that stems from those problems. and then there are people, without authority and absolutes outside of themselves, they will always act as a default reaction in their own self interest. the idea that we have an answer for any of this is contrary to reality. we claim control, but reality says otherwise. so what am i to make of secularism? it is a delusion. the answers it offers do not conform to reality, cannot hold up to scrutiney, and do not work.
in contrast we have the message of jesus, the hope of christianity. where secularism sees nothing more than chance, fate, randomness, the christian sees god writing ”his story” (history). it started in the garden, continues to be written today, and will play out exactly as god intends. now i am not in denial. in this story there is an awful lot of problems and pain. many people have rejected christianity because of this pain. they have heard god is good, god is love, god is in control, etc. but then they look at their life experience, they see all the pain and disappointment and because they cannot reconcile that with a good, loving, in control god, they reject him. well, there is no doubt the world is filled with problems…but lets ask the million dollar question…why. the answer is not because of god, its because we have rejected him. when man lived in the garden under gods rule everything he could ever want or possibly need was provided within the context of his personal relationship with god. but then man decided to rebel against gods rule, to live life where he was in charge, and from that point forward there have been nothing but problems and pain. it stems from what satan said. the day you eat that fruit your eyes will be opened and you will know good and evil. up till then they had known only good. but since that choice, evil has been our reality. and it is that evil that secularism has no answer for. but god offers us a second chance. it is the message of easter. very simplistically our disconnection from god has resulted in nothing but problems, pain, and death. but connection to god offers life. jesus died and rose again to make that reconnection available to everyone of us…even the secularist. and he describes that life in john 10:10 as life to its very full.
now, don’t get me wrong. god is not promising a romanticized happily after after existence. after we commit our life to christ by re-connecting with him we still live in the same body, in the same world, and among the same people. so we will still deal with problems and pain. but 3 things are true. by following jesus the amount of self inflicted wounds will decrease. i will have jesus to help me deal with the problems and pain i do face. he really is an expert having entered into our pain by becoming one of us. in this incredible understanding he invites us to come to him for grace to help in our time of need, and promises he will never leave us, that he is with us always, and he will empower us to successfully meet every challange life throws at us. and then, when we come to the end of our life…and we all will…its one of those inescapable realities that secularism has no answer for…god will take us to live with him forever in a perfect place. that is when we will for the first time experience life as he intended all along. the only thing we have experienced so far is the mess that has resulted from our rebellion against and disconnection from him, in other words, secularism.
so, if having read all this you believe life and the universe are more than an accident. if you believe life is beyond your ability to control, its bigger and more complicated than you can handle. that god makes sense and you need him in your life. then let me invite you to pray a simple prayer.
dear god, i come before you and acknowledge that i am a sinner and ask you to forgive me. i am sorry for living life on my own terms, for doing my own thing. i want you to be the leader of my life. i no longer want to be in control. please come into my life as my savior and king. thank you. in jesus name. amen.
now if you prayed that prayer, could you drop me a line so i could send you some info on how you can maximize this decision to follow jesus.
thanks for reading. blessings. vince
