Sunday Sermons
What is Collapsing?
What is Collapsing?
There have always been people throughout the ages who have been predicting the demise of Christianity. Those who have been reading the Bible and are spiritually alert know that God’s truth has never been popular in any age, “if the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you” (John 15:18). In light of clear Bible teaching on the small minority saved during the flood (eight souls), or the mere two adult men who entered the Promised Land, or the 7000 Israelites still faithful during the time of Elijah, I am not surprised when I find that Christians are in the minority. What surprises me is how many faithful Christians are still kicking! Added to this, are the spin doctors accurate when they proclaim a decline of religious belief?
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96 percent of the American population continues to belief in some kind of God.
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In spite of the fact that the teaching of Evolution has virtually no competition in the public schools, universities and in the mainstream media, 45 percent of the American public believes that God created human beings in virtually their present form at one time within the last 10,000 years or so. Only 13 percent of the American population believes that we are the product of purely materialistic causes (See The Language of God, Francis Collins, p. 147).
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American Presidents and almost every other government leader often make statements such as “God bless America”.
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What Paul said to the citizens of Athens, is true of our country as well, “I observe that you are very religious in all respects” (Acts 17:22).
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In view of statements like Ephesians 4:5 “there is... one faith”, our problem from a Divine viewpoint is not a lack of religious interest, but our problem is that we have too many faiths – when we should only have one, that is, the one that God revealed in Scripture.
The Collapse of Reason
In the book Belief, a collection of readings from famous individuals on their reasoning for having faith, a particular article that caught my attention was written by G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936) and was entitled “The Suicide of Thought”. Here he states:
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“The modern world is full of the old Christian virtues gone mad. The virtues have gone mad because they have been isolated from each other and are wandering alone. Thus some scientists care for truth; and their truth is pitiless. Thus some humanitarians only care for pity; and their pity is often untruthful”(p. 282).
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“The old humility made a man doubtful about his efforts, which might make him work harder. But the new humility makes a man doubtful about his aims, which will make him stop working altogether” (p. 283). Thus we have an entire generation walking around saying, “I may be wrong” – and then not doing anything about it, like making sure. It is intellectual helplessness.
Faith and Reason
“It is idle to talk always of the alternative of reason and faith. Reason itself is a matter of faith. It is an act of faith to assert that our thoughts have any relation to reality at all. If you are merely a skeptic, you must sooner or later ask yourself the question, ‘Why should anything go right; even observation and deduction? Why should not good logic be as misleading as bad logic? (p. 284). The writer is correct, reason is impossible without faith, just like real science is impossible without faith. It only makes sense to study this world, if an all-wise God made it, for then we know things will make sense and be logical. It only makes sense to “think” and put any confidence in our thinking abilities if we are indeed created in the image of God. Or, as the Hebrew writer said, “By faith we understand…” (Hebrews 11:3).
When you attack Faith
“In the act of destroying the idea of Divine authority we have largely destroyed the idea of that human authority by which we do a long-division sum” (p. 285). Or, in other words, when people attack faith, the first thing that will go is not faith, but reason and the importance of logic. Thus, it is no accident that when people started to attack the authority of the Scriptures, that what they arrived at was not the end of Christianity, rather it was a statement which said:
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“There is no absolute truth”. First and foremost, this is an attack upon reason and well as the existence of truth, for the statement is saying that reason is completely unable to discover the final truth. Yet this statement is a complete violation of logic and man’s reasoning ability, for the statement itself is an “absolute statement” – yet people believe it.
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“What is true for you is not necessary true for me”: This does not make any sense. We are not all living in different realities or universes. An event in history either did or did not happen. A geographical place is either located at a precise point or not. The times tables are not different for each person. Opinion might be different for all sorts of people – but not truth. Truth is what really is.
I likewise find that people who hold to the above views do so only when such views benefit them personally. I never find people holding to them consistently: The very fact that classes in high school, college and graduate school issue grades is clear evidence that people do believe that (1) Truth exists and that (2) All are expected to see it alike. You either got the question right or you didn’t. You either understood the concept, or you didn’t. With the recent tax season, we were reminded that the Federal and State Government equally hold to both absolute truths and that such absolutes apply to all. No one is allowed to have their own private opinion of the tax code which disagrees with the IRS. Why would scientists study – if truth does not exist? Anytime you see someone arguing or defending their position they are admitting that truth exists – and they are arguing that you and everyone else should be able to see it – just as they see it. Every debate that has ever taken place, even ones with atheists and skeptics only makes sense if both parties agree that there is an absolute truth, that can be found, and that all can see. Why even debate an issue if you firmly believe that only “you” can see it? Every book written, even those which deny that truth is absolute or that truth cannot understood alike, admits the opposite. For why would anyone write a book that pressed a certain point, if one firmly believed that no one else could see that point? And why press a point so strongly – if no one is sure if such a point even exists?
Good Reminders about Truth
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There are worldly views of truth: Some believe faith is true because is works (pragmatism), because they feel it is true in their experience (subjectivism), or because they sincerely believe it is true for them (relativism).
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“In the biblical view, truth is that which is ultimately, finally, and absolutely real, or the ‘way it is’, and therefore is utterly trustworthy and dependable, being grounded and anchored in God’s own reality and truthfulness” (Os Guinness).
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Believing in something does not make it true; only reality makes a belief true.
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“All truth is God’s truth and is true everywhere, for everyone, under all conditions... Created by God, not us, it is partly discovered and partly disclosed (Psalm 19:1-7). It is singular (truth), not plural (truths); certain, not doubtful; absolute and unconditional, not relative; and grounded in God’s infinite knowing, not in our tiny capacity to know anything” (Os Guinness).
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“Christian faith is not true because it works; it works because it is true. It is not true because we experience it; we experience it – deeply and gloriously – because it is true. It is not simply ‘true for us’; it is true for any who seek in order to find, because truth is true even if nobody believes it and falsehood is false even if everyone believes it. That is why truth does not yield to opinion, fashion, numbers, office, or sincerity – it is simply true and that is the end of it” (Os Guinness).
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“A lie is still a lie, even if you have been believing it for 40 years; and the truth is still the truth, even if you have been believing it for only two weeks” (Andree Seu).
The Collapse of Freedom
“Freedom, Berlin stressed, is both negative and positive. Negative freedom, or ‘freedom from’, has an obvious appeal in the modern world. Teenagers, for example, are famous for acting as if all freedom is freedom from parents, from teachers, and from supervision. Many adults make the same mistake. Many Americans equate freedom with privacy... ’the right to be left alone’. Yet negative freedom is always limited and incomplete without positive freedom. ‘Freedom from’ requires the complement of ‘freedom for’. That is why, long ago, the Roman poet Tacticus wrote, ‘The more corrupt the state, the more laws’. That is what Benjamin Franklin meant when he wrote, ‘Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom’” (Belief, Readings on the reason for faith, Francis S. Collins; The Meaning of Truth, Os Guinness). Therefore, in today’s world “freedom of speech” primarily means “the freedom to offend”, and rights are granted without any responsibilities. The higher and harder freedom is what inspires obedience “to the unenforceable”. “Freedom has a requirement: The true, the good, and the free have to be lined up together” (Os Guinness). Long ago, Jesus had said the same thing (John 8:31-34). Thus, no one can ever be free while believing a lie, remaining in sin, acting selfishly, and being less than what God wants one to be. Remember – when truth is ignored, freedom will vanish. “Those who set out to do what they like usually end up not liking what they’ve done” (Os Guinness). Let’s instead acknowledge God’s truth, and reap the benefits of living in that truth both in this world and in eternity.
Mark Dunagan/Beaverton Church of Christ/503-644-9017
www.beavertonchurchofchrist.net
