COPING WITH CULTURAL SHIFT IN POST-CHRISTIAN AMERICA (Part 2)

In this issue we want to continue our conversation about Coping With Cultural Shifts in Post-Christian America. A quick refresher as we get started: We see Post-Christian as a term referencing the period of time we live in where Christianity is no longer the dominant influence it once was. It’s a worldview (how we look at the world) people hold.

The reality for most of us is we live in a world where secularism rules the day, a time when many people have moved past the idea of God or their need of Him. God and His organized Church are a non-factor for those who see the world through this lens.

Continuing the conversation of what post-Christian culture is about we offer another piece to the puzzle. Are you ready?

Post-Christian thought is wrapped up in the “gospel of self.”

The “gospel of self “may best be observed through the lens of the extreme individualism of our times. It shows up in everyday ways and found everywhere.

For example: It is John who would rather go home alone and play video games online than meet up with some friends in person. Instead, he sees his friendships virtually than in a face-to-face reality. This kind of relationship is easier to control and manage. and it requires less emotional involvement to maintain.

We find Sarah who is interested in a spiritual life and has studied multiple world religions, picking out pieces she likes from several of them. These selected beliefs and practices have become “her truth” to help her pursuit of faith. Sarah listens to her Christian friend share about what she has discovered, “her friend’s truth,” but it ends there. They each have what works for them, and it isn’t either of their places to try and change each other.

Ultimately, in this “gospel of self,” we serve ourselves best and most often, rather than consider how our decisions might be affecting others in our community of people. In short, we look out for ourselves the most.

During the pandemic we started working at home and reduced what little inter-relational interactions we did have. Now that we can return to our places of work, people want to continue in their isolated environments where they can be safe and more easily control whatever interactions they will have in real time and space with others.

We live isolated in our own worlds in order to remain in control.

What we are experiencing around us isn’t so much the eradication of God from the Western mind as it is the enthroning of self as the greatest authority. We have switched roles with the Most High and created a god who serves our every whim.

It’s simply the original sin repackaged and put back out there to tempt whoever will take the bait. Our enemy is real and his tactics haven’t changed much.

What we are saying about this post-Christian world we live in is, “We are our own lords.” We increasingly relegate God more and more to the role of the servant.

The real kicker in this Post-Christian culture of the self-absorbed is that it’s shaped by an ancient Christian heresy called Gnosticism. Gnosticism views God as being distant and flawed. Therefore, it seeks to move beyond God and believes we possess the ability to attain a place of utopia on our own. As an example, think “nirvana.”

What this means in a post-Christian secularist mind is that we don’t really need God. We live for and unto ourselves … we are lord rather than needing Jesus to be Lord. It’s the extreme individualism of our day on steroids. We may have never seen or understood the connection, but that doesn’t make it any less real.

The remedy for such a view on life is simply this: Jesus is Lord and people desperately need Him. How we guide people to the remedy is the bigger question to explore.

The reality for the average humanist philosopher is they are not that good or able to bring about the utopian world they dream about. Their declaration of independence in this “gospel of self” actually keeps those who see the world this way from the good life they want to experience.

The only Way is the life Jesus promised to all who believe and follow Him. Think about it: a worldview summed up in three simple words … Jesus is Lord!