How to Face an Increasingly Secular Society?

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How to Face and Increasingly Secular and Anti-Christian Society?

I love the United States. I love his country, a country that has given me much, a land where my two little girls were born. Where I have grown as a person, where my Church is, where lifelong friends live. This is my home, and it hurts to see how our culture is in fast moral decay. It really does.

It pains me to see how up to 75% of our youth, born in a christian home, abandon christianity because they had a borrowed faith.

It pains me to see the erosion of family values and marriage.

It pains me to see churches embracing the prosperity gospel.

It pains me to see the indifference to 55+ million abortions in the US alone.

It pains me to see the secularization of Europe.

It pains me to see the how much evangelism there is yet to do and how few workers and missionaries are doing the work.

It pains me to see how much of our youth has embraced poor ideas and logic about religion and christianity and Scripture.

All of this pains me and it is easy to lose heart. Especially when we think of what the future holds for our children.

It pains me…

And here the question is obvious. What are christians to do? How is christianity to face the challenges of an increasingly secular and anti-Christian culture?

And the more I pondered on this the more obvious the response became. We shouldn’t be doing anything different... How so? Well, exactly as I said: we SHOULDN’T be doing anything different…that is…if we are doing what Jesus commanded of us. (ouch!).

Jesus did not command us or his disciples to change opinions by force.

Jesus did not command us to fight with culture on social media.

Jesus did not command us to become enraged at the government.

Jesus did not command us to isolate ourselves from society.

Jesus did not command us to judge hypocritically.

If not this then what did Jesus command us to do?

Jesus commanded us to make disciples (Matt 28:19) and to be SALT within our culture (Matt 5:13). As soon as people become disciples, their opinions will change naturally.

Jesus commanded us to be LIGHT (Matt 5:15) in an increasingly dark culture.

Jesus commanded us to let our children come near him (Matt 19:14).

Jesus commanded us to judge with fair judgement  ( John. 7:24) and to expose evil and the works of darkness (Ef. 5:11).

And thus, my dear friend and brother, if we are doing all of these things we need do NOT MUCH MORE. We are already doing the most important things he commanded of us. The Issue lies in the fact that we are not doing our job.

THAT is the Problem.

Some have said: but isn’t it prophesied that things will get worse?

Yes, exactly, and I suspect that it is precisely because God knew we would do a pitiful job at following his commands that it has been prophesied. It doesn’t follow that this is the way things should be. If we will think that way then we should stop proclaiming the gospel now! After all it has been prophesized… That is just faulty logic. We do have a clear direction from Scripture about what to do and what God wants us to do..

But why are we in the middle of a dark and putrid culture; devoid of salt and light?

Because we have not educated our children in the ways of the Lord and prepared them for the  spiritual war looming ahead.

Because we don’t pray with our children enough, or disciple them.

Because we don’t live a dignified life in Christ; our children simply don’t believe what we preach.

Because our “christian” marriages are falling apart.

Because we don’t read books with Biblical depth, apologetics and theology–and much less the Bible–available in the great tradition of the last 2000 years of christianity. Instead we prefer shallow prosperity gospel books and shallow philosophies disguised as christianity, as long as they make us feel good.

Because we (and our children) spend 6-12 hours at school or working absorbing secularist culture and when we come home we spend 2-6 hours watching sitcoms and garbage that has indoctrinated us to see sin as something normal and worthy of celebration.

Because we are happy to see high numbers at church, even if there isn’t much christ-likeness in most of those folks. The grand majority seek to obtain favor from God instead of being obedient and loving servants of Christ.

Because we know the names of dozens of “christian” singers and musicians (many of them leaving orthodox doctrine), but we ignore the books from Blaise Pascal, John Wesley, C.S. Lewis, John Calvin, Martin Luther, Norman Geisler, Willaim Lane Craig, Craig Evans, N. T. Wright, John Lennox, Ravi Zacharias, John Frame, Paul Copan, J.I. Packer, Al Mohler, Alvin Plantinga, Tim Keller, J. P. Moreland, D. A. Carson…etc..etc.

And the challenge for us is to reflect on this:

1. ¿How many people have I discipled in the last 5 years?
2. ¿Am I salt and light in the world?
3. ¿What do I watch on TV and for how long?
4. ¿Am I training my children to be disciples and am I a good role model to them?
5. ¿Do I have a marriage that glorifies God and is a refuge to my children?
6. ¿Am I voting for God-fearing officials or at least for those who hold to judeo-christian values or do I vote for those that will provide me with an immediate benefit regardless of their morals?
7. ¿Am I reading deep theology and apologetics to get equipped to provide a reason for the hope within me (1 Peter 3:15)?
8. ¿Do I read the Bible?
9. ¿Do I pray regularly?

This is not rocket science. We live in exactly the society that we have created. And we know the answers to this questions, at least generally. And we have failed. Most of us at least.

And the solution is clearly visible in the problem. And the solution is this: I need to correct points 1-9 IN MY LIFE, remembering above all that Christ is Risen, he has CONQUERED THE WORLD even if we may be afflicted here for some time. 

Jesus is still sitting at the right hand of God and the Father is still sitting in His Throne of Glory and no power shall overcome His reign. But one day we will face Him and he will ask a report from us. ¿Are we going to be let into his presence “by fire” or shall we hear the most glorious words a human can receive?

“Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.” (Matt: 25:21).

The choice is ours.

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Recommended Study Books:

Libros (Español).

Biblia de Estudio de Apologetica.

1. Guia Holman de Apologetica Cristiana, Doug Powell.
2. El Caso de Cristo, Lee Strobel.
3. Como Piensan: Los Incredulos que Tanto Quiero, Lee Strobel.
4. El Caso del Creador, Lee Strobel.
5. Excelente Para Niños: “Como es Dios” del Dr. William Lane Craig

English (Ingles).

1. The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus, Mike Licona & Gary Habermas
2. Reasonable Faith, William Lane Craig
3. Tactics, Greg Koukl
4. Is God a Moral Monster, Paul Copan
5. I don’t have Enough Faith to be an Atheist, Normal Geisler & Frank Turek
6. Mere Christianity, The Problem of Pain. C.S. Lewis
7. (For Children) Book Series “What is God Like”