Why is the Church not flourishing in this crazy world of American extremes? Why do we see entire denominations taking very unChristian stands on controversial issues? Why do we have clergy afraid to speak boldly like Jesus spoke? I recently had the privilege of meeting the amazing pastor/author Alistair Begg – and I thanked him for his simple, yet powerful threefold mnemonic which answers the above questions: The Culture is Collapsing, The Church is Confused, and The Clergy are Cowards.
Today’s blog looks at the first of Begg’s three answers, The Culture is Collapsing, and future blogs will tackle the other two. One need only look at the last 25 years to see how incredibly different our culture is today! The changes seem flowing in warp-speed!
We have grade schoolers being taught that they can choose which gender they want to be, parents who support such life-altering decisions, and a medical profession quick to step up with procedures and medications to help the child change into their desired gender! Just today the national news dropped a bomb on us Americans with the announcement that a huge % of illegal migrants crossing our borders are criminals—true or false? We have two major political parties in our country which seem to literally hate the other, which leads to simply awful family gatherings around the Thanksgiving or Christmas tables!
Given the above it usually seems wisest, certainly easiest, just to ignore these topics. I look at how Jesus dealt with his first century culture and I come away with hope that all may not be lost. But clearly, as Bob Dylan sang, “The times they are a changing.” The French historian/politician Alexis de Tocqueville had great insights into American Christianity – listen to this from the 1850s:
In the United States … almost all Americans believe in or at least respect Christianity, with the result that ‘everything is certain and fixed in the moral world’.
I doubt he would say the same for 21st century America where nothing seems “certain and fixed in the moral world.” For over a decade I have belonged to, believed in, and ministered with, a conservative congregation which belongs to an uber-liberal denomination. I was shocked to learn of the denomination’s official actions.
Here is one thing that Jesus said which, if we Christ-followers can engage with, then maybe, just maybe, the Church might be the antidote to The Culture is Collapsing!
He who is without sin, let him cast the first stone. [John 8:7] Jesus was teaching in the temple when some Jewish leaders of the day dragged a woman caught in the act of adultery before him, demanding that this sinful woman be stoned to death. When they heard the above words of Jesus, they all dropped their stones and walked away. And isn’t it interesting, and instructive, that John notes the older, more mature, Jewish leaders were the first to leave! Then we hear Jesus tell the woman, “Go and sin no more”! Simple, yet profound, and certainly a real antidote for The Culture is Collapsing!
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