Born
into
a Battle
Living
a
Christian way of life in a secular society
by Jerry
Munk
A person who joined the church in the early
days of its development knew that he or she
was making a radical decision. In the first
place, society was hostile to Christians. One
who believed in Christ faced loss of status,
of livelihood, of property, and, perhaps, the
loss of life itself.
Beyond this, the Christian was also embracing
a new way of life, a way of life very
different from their neighbors. How they
looked at science, history, marriage,
politics, family relationships, morality, even
their concept of human existence was different
from, and often opposed to, the thinking of
the majority. Indeed, intrinsic to following
the “way of Christ” was the idea that one
would be consciously different: that they
would be in the world but not of it.
Secularization
Western society remains basically secular. It
is not following God, and it is opposed to
those who do. Most Christians today have also
become secularized.
Let's look at the evidence:
Atheism
Doubles Among Generation Z
"It may come as no surprise that the
influence of Christianity in the
United States is waning. Rates of
church attendance, religious
affiliation, belief in God, prayer and
Bible-reading have been dropping for
decades. Americans’ beliefs are
becoming more post-Christian and,
concurrently, religious identity is
changing. Enter Generation Z: Born
between 1999 and 2015, they are the
first truly “post-Christian”
generation.
"More than any other generation before
them, Gen Z does not assert a
religious identity. They might be
drawn to things spiritual, but with a
vastly different starting point from
previous generations, many of whom
received a basic education on the
Bible and Christianity. And it shows:
The percentage of Gen Z that
identifies as atheist is double that
of the U.S. adult population.
Atheism on
the rise
"For Gen Z,
“atheist” is no longer a dirty word:
The percentage of teens who identify
as such is double that of the general
population (13% vs. 6% of all adults).
The proportion that identifies as
Christian likewise drops from
generation to generation. Three out of
four Boomers are Protestant or
Catholic Christians (75%), while just
three in five 13- to 18-year-olds say
they are some kind of Christian
(59%)."
An
Increasingly Elusive Truth
More than one-third of Gen Z (37%)
believes it is not possible to know
for sure if God is real, compared to
32 percent of all adults. On the other
side of the coin, teens who do believe
one can know God exists are less
likely than adults to say they are
very convinced that is true (54% vs.
64% all adults who believe in God).
For many teens, truth seems relative
at best and, at worst, altogether
unknowable.
[See full Barna
report at https://www.barna.com/research/atheism-doubles-among-generation-z/]
|
A Biblical world-view
survey
An earlier nationwide survey in the US
conducted by The
Barna
Group among a representative sample of
adults explored how many have what might be
considered a “biblical worldview.” The report
from Barna compared current results to the
outcomes from a similar survey the company
conducted in 1995, 2000 and 2005.
For the purposes of the survey, a “biblical
worldview” was defined as believing that
absolute moral truth exists; the Bible is
totally accurate in all of the principles it
teaches; Satan is considered to be a real
being or force, not merely symbolic; a person
cannot earn their way into Heaven by trying to
be good or do good works; Jesus Christ lived a
sinless life on earth; and God is the
all-knowing, all-powerful creator of the world
who still rules the universe today. In the
research, anyone who held all of those beliefs
was said to have a biblical worldview.
Overall, the current research revealed that only
9% of all American adults have a biblical
worldview. The research data showed that
one pattern emerged loud and clear: young
adults rarely possess a biblical worldview.
The current study found that less than
one-half of one percent of adults aged 18 to
23 have a biblical worldview, compared to
about one out of every nine older adults.
Now, let's look at compliance.
God’s Commands
(Note: The numbering of the
commandments in this article follows the
pattern of the Orthodox Church, as this
article was written originally for an
Orthodox audience.) The
first two of God's commands teach us to
worship and value God before all else, and
that we shall not worship the works of our
hands. Rather than valuing worship of God, our
society concentrates on material accumulation
and personal fulfillment. We are next
commanded to revere the names of God and not
abuse them, but His names have become standard
swear words. The Sabbath, the Lord's Day, is
now a time for pleasure and yard work, but God
intended it for worship and rest, He commands
us to honor father and mother, but society has
devalued traditional family structure in favor
of career advancement while the government is
systematically stripping parents of their
authority and responsibility, The Sixth
Commandment says “Thou shall not kill,” but
millions of lives have been lost to abortion,
“Right to die” legislation now threatens the
elderly and infirm as well.
Sexual Morality
The Bible clearly teaches that sex has a very
special and protected place – inside the
covenant of marriage, Today, however, half of
all marriages end in divorce while adultery
touches over half of those which don't. A 2007
study
in the US found that the average age at which
teenagers have their first sexual experience
steadily decreased during the 1990s, and now
almost half of American adolescents report
that they have had sex by the time they
graduate from high school.
God says, “Do not steal,” but cheating on our
income tax has become an American art form
(economists estimate that 10 to 30% of
transactions are unreported). We are also
commanded not to bear false witness, but
slander and innuendo are standard "reporting
techniques" in the media, while gossip fills
work place and neighborhood. Finally, we are
told not to covet what God has given another,
yet popular TV shows that promote the
lifestyles of the rich and famous have
no problem finding viewers.
What’s the
Standard
What this evidence shows is that our culture
has moved away from the Judeo-Christian
morality and has embraced some other ethic
against which it measures right and
wrong.
It is interesting that many people describe
their moral ethic as the Ten Commandments, but
upon close examination it is obvious that the
Ten Commandments are, in fact, not guiding the
conduct of society. Secular society, it would
seem, is involved in some kind of mass
rationalization and self deception where moral
values no longer line up with specific
scriptural standards, but people, through
ignorance and personal justification, fail to
see or admit that fact.
A Radical Decision
My reason for developing this argument is
quite simple – to alert us to the fact that
our society is indeed not “Christian.” We need
to realize that if we truly follow the way of
Christ, our lives will look considerably
different from those of our neighbors. We live
in a situation that is quite similar to that
of the early believers. While most of us will
not face physical persecution because of our
beliefs (although some will), choosing to
faithfully follow Christ means that how we
look at science, history, marriage, politics,
family relationships, morality, and even human
existence will be different from, and often
opposed to, the thinking of the majority.
Indeed, following the way of Christ still
means being consciously different – being
in the world but not of it. We need to know
that the decision to follow Christ is still a
radical one.
Taking a Stand
What concerns me is how very few Christians
seem to be aware of how bad the situation is.
We have lost the notion that giving our lives
to God through Christ is supposed to make a
difference. We accept the world's values and
the world's ethics as our own with seeming
little understanding that in doing so we are
rejecting the Lord we claim to serve.
Statisticians cannot find a discernable
difference between Christian and secular
behavior. Just as many Christians engage in
premarital sex; just as many Christian
marriages are broken by divorce; just as many
Christians end up in jail. Rather than
standing against the tide of secularization,
firmly anchored to the revealed word of God,
many, many Christians are choosing to go with
the flow.
Born Into a Battle
Whether we like it or not, whether we realize it
or not, each one of us is born into a battle. On
one side stands Jesus Christ and his followers.
On the other side is Satan and those who follow
him. There is no middle ground. Jesus said, “He
who is not with me is against me” (Matthew
12:30). Subscribing to a comfortable, but
meaningless, “social Christianity” is not
standing with Jesus. Casual Christians become
Christian casualties. He calls for a total
giving over of our lives to him: “Whoever comes
to me cannot be my disciple unless he hates his
father and mother, his wife and children, his
brothers and sisters, and himself as well.”
Nothing, absolutely nothing, can stand between
us and our Lord.
An Army At War
The body of Christ has been likened to an
army. Indeed, we are an army at war. There is
a spiritual battle going on right now: a
battle for the souls of men and women, for the
spiritual destinies of our children, and for
the control of society. The general
disobedience to God's laws mentioned earlier
is not simply an interesting social
phenomenon. There are spiritual forces at work
here. In the book of Ephesians (6: 12) we
read: “We are not contending against flesh and
blood, but against the wicked spiritual forces
in the heavenly world, the rulers,
authorities, and cosmic powers of this dark
age.”
Church Militant
In the midst of this battle, the people who
constitute the church militant are strangely
complacent. The average Christian seems not to
know that he or she is a member of an army,
let alone that there is a war going on, The
quest for worldly peace and prosperity have
lulled us to sleep, and while we slumber, the
evil one has been at work. Territory once won
for Christ has been lost. Satan is making
advances. Entire nations that were once
considered Christian have been snatched away
by the enemy.
As Christian men and women, as members of
God's army, we need to be clear about where we
stand. We are in the midst of a battle. God
has assured us that he and his church shall
be, indeed, already are, victorious. But it is
equally clear that in the course of the battle
there will be casualties. I believe that in
the parable of the sower (Matthew 13:3-23),
the seeds that fell among the thorns
especially apply to our day and time. We have
received the Word of God and have begun to
grow, but the cares of this world and the
deceitfulness of riches choke us, and many
have become unfruitful.
Let each one of us examine our live. Have we
made a radical commitment for Jesus? Are we
willing to be different, to stand against the
tide for the sake of Christ? Will we embrace
God's standards as our own, and when we fall
short, will we respond with repentance, not
rationalization? Are we willing to invest the
time and effort necessary to lead our children
to Christ and train them to serve as his
soldiers also?
The Apostle Paul challenges us, “Offer
yourselves as a living sacrifice to God,
dedicated to his service and pleasing to him.
Do not conform to the standards of this world,
but let God transform you by a complete
renewal of your mind” (Romans 12:1,2).
[This
article first appeared in Theosis:
Newsletter for Orthodox Spiritual Renewal,
May/June 1987. This version has been updated
by the author.]
Jerry Munk is a member of
Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church and
recently elected senior coordinator in
the Work
of
Christ Community, Lansing,
Michigan, USA. He and his wife Jan
have three grown children, all
actively participating in the
community.
