Today's ominously sinister age - beyond worldviews
Thank God for our Christian apologists! They stand up to a world that's determined to make short work of us Christians; and that is a very tough calling indeed.
Last week I obtained a copy of Ravi Zacharias' latest book Why Jesus?, and I began reading it immediately. I've read and loved many of Ravi's books, some of them so finely crafted that they minister so tenderly to people like me.
Ravi and others of his ilk - John Lennox, William Lane Craig, Stuart McAllister, Alistair McGrath, just to name a few - their area of maximum effectiveness, in a manner of speaking, is the marketplace of "worldviews". They do address people, yes, but they appeal to a person's heart through his or her worldview. It is true that every person HAS a worldview, a set of ideas, tenets, beliefs, whatever, that they really do consider inviolable and (dare I use the word) sacred, and which form a lens through which their world is interpreted and becomes comprehensible to them. Worldviews are shaped right from infanthood, actually, and begin to take rather unshakeable forms close to middle-age.
With all due respect to Ravi and others like him, though, and giving God His due in raising up men like Ravi, there is something that I find profoundly sinister among people today. There was an age when worldviews were held fondly and people would discuss them, even be fervent about them in public debate and private living. Frankly, however, that age seems to have moved on.
I'm not saying people do not have worldviews anymore; they certainly do. The frightening thing today is that people are beginning to forget this and live like they don't have a worldview. This is an age for being passionate about SELF, yes; but it is a sterile self which neither cares what it believes, nor how the world looks to it - it is a self determined to do what it wants no matter who or what gets in the way.
There is really no such thing as a "cause" anymore; people can rationalise just about anything. People will get very upset if any person's views are violated, except when they are doing the violating. In an age where "tolerance" is paid very vehement lip-service and is considered something to protect at any cost, there is very little real tolerance for anyone except self. Anyone who thinks differently from me really doesn't matter to me, really, till I see SOMEONE ELSE being intolerant to that person. When I am the one being intolerant, "tolerance" is just a platitude to me.
There's worse. Today all people do is live for themselves. Okay - I agree this was always the case with human beings ever since Genesis 3:6. But at least there was some respect for others. Today there is none. I am not saying people are NOT respectful anymore. I am saying that today respect itself is not something we even know or care about. We do not respect the elderly; if we did, we would not dump them in old-age homes. We do not respect young people; if we truly did, we would be very careful indeed what messages our lives gave them. We do not respect peers anymore; if we did, we would be learning from each other a lot more.
Today's average working person has emasculated all passion from his or her life. There is nothing so worthwhile as to sacrifice something for it, except my own peace of mind and well-being. There is nothing worth talking about to anyone anymore, unless we can manipulate that person to give us something we want. There is nothing "noble", really; if someone tries to act noble, you can be sure it's either self-serving or an obvious sham. In the end, we really will watch the news and see "things" happening; we will not care to call these things "bad" or "good". Good and evil will not exist, at least in our minds and hearts. That frightens me, because it is the ultimate heart of stone which nothing on earth can melt, no emotion can reach. It will be robot-like; we will start to live like automatons. We would have truly lost OURSELVES! At that point, distinctions such as "YOU" and "ME" will be obliterated, because I am like you and you are like me - encased in hearts of stone.
**********************************************
Hearts. Of stone.
How do you tell automatons about Jesus? What apologetic can cut through the radiation-resistant lead fortresses that block up hearts today? Ravi Zacharias can make a dent, perhaps, if a person admits to a worldview. How will you reach a person who doesn't care if he has a worldview or not?
This is not to say Jesus CANNOT penetrate hearts of stone - it's His specialty and indeed a small thing for Him to do. I am only asking, what apologetic can we use? It might have to be direct Divine intervention alone - time for the Lord to do what He said He would through the prophet Ezekiel:
I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. (Ezekiel 11:19)
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. (Ezekiel 36:26)
In James Cameron's Terminator II - Judgement Day, the automaton called the T800 finds the little boy whom it is trying to protect crying, and sees his tears. It asks him, "what is wrong with your eyes?" The boy answers, "Nothing", too hurt to explain. On another occasion, the automaton asks him, "why do you cry?" and the boy answers saying human beings cry when they hurt; the automaton tries to assimilate this as best it can. Cameron's film was made not in this century, but in the previous one, mind you.
It's not very far to the day when we will ask each other that, in all sinister innocence. Will we then be able to explain why we hurt? The truly chilling thing is, if asking the question is frightening enough, the failure to answer it will be even more terrifying to contemplate.
**********************************************
The flicker on the dial
Let's get closer home. Is there anything at all that really moves you today? Forget mere emotions and feelings. Is there something that you want BEYOND what you can get for yourself in this world? Can you recognise that some longings are truly eternal and they are in you for a purpose?
Do you feel purposeful about your life? Or do you think there is no such thing as "purpose"? If you were asked to name the ONE THING (only one, to the exclusion of all others) you believe you are living for today? First of all, would you answer the question honestly and candidly or with small talk? Secondly, would you tell the truth? We must soberly recognise that when we lie often enough to others, there is all the danger that we ourselves will ultimately believe our own lies and not know it.
What do you really think about people out there? Do you think about them at all? The lonely, the homeless, the diseased, the destitute, the hungry, the despised, the rejected, the depressed, the insane? Is there anything at all you can do that you really want to do but haven't done yet? Or do you only think about the normal course of your own life - study, work, marry, have children, get them educated and married? Oh yes and the most important thing - seek your comfort and prosperity? A little greed perhaps? A little greed goes a long way in this world, you know.
*************************************************
Jesus is His own best apologetic
Now we're almost home.
Jesus.
I can guess many don't want to come to this point. Jesus is equated with religion and since we reject religion as the one thing that divides human beings (how did we suddenly start feeling strongly about something like that? I wonder...), Jesus is bracketed with religion and rejected as a package deal.
Have you ever thought about this God-Man? Who He is, what He came to do, how He lived among us, things He said. Does He fascinate you? Do you see anything unique about Him at all?
Think about Him. I challenge you. Think about Him seriously and then see if you still have a heart of stone.
A word here. Forget what the preacher said. Forget what the church says. Go back to the Bible. See for yourself. Let no one deceive you. I myself here, in this piece of writing, will write nothing to prejudice your thinking.
Meet Him.
Thank God for our Christian apologists! They stand up to a world that's determined to make short work of us Christians; and that is a very tough calling indeed.
Last week I obtained a copy of Ravi Zacharias' latest book Why Jesus?, and I began reading it immediately. I've read and loved many of Ravi's books, some of them so finely crafted that they minister so tenderly to people like me.
Ravi and others of his ilk - John Lennox, William Lane Craig, Stuart McAllister, Alistair McGrath, just to name a few - their area of maximum effectiveness, in a manner of speaking, is the marketplace of "worldviews". They do address people, yes, but they appeal to a person's heart through his or her worldview. It is true that every person HAS a worldview, a set of ideas, tenets, beliefs, whatever, that they really do consider inviolable and (dare I use the word) sacred, and which form a lens through which their world is interpreted and becomes comprehensible to them. Worldviews are shaped right from infanthood, actually, and begin to take rather unshakeable forms close to middle-age.
With all due respect to Ravi and others like him, though, and giving God His due in raising up men like Ravi, there is something that I find profoundly sinister among people today. There was an age when worldviews were held fondly and people would discuss them, even be fervent about them in public debate and private living. Frankly, however, that age seems to have moved on.
I'm not saying people do not have worldviews anymore; they certainly do. The frightening thing today is that people are beginning to forget this and live like they don't have a worldview. This is an age for being passionate about SELF, yes; but it is a sterile self which neither cares what it believes, nor how the world looks to it - it is a self determined to do what it wants no matter who or what gets in the way.
There is really no such thing as a "cause" anymore; people can rationalise just about anything. People will get very upset if any person's views are violated, except when they are doing the violating. In an age where "tolerance" is paid very vehement lip-service and is considered something to protect at any cost, there is very little real tolerance for anyone except self. Anyone who thinks differently from me really doesn't matter to me, really, till I see SOMEONE ELSE being intolerant to that person. When I am the one being intolerant, "tolerance" is just a platitude to me.
There's worse. Today all people do is live for themselves. Okay - I agree this was always the case with human beings ever since Genesis 3:6. But at least there was some respect for others. Today there is none. I am not saying people are NOT respectful anymore. I am saying that today respect itself is not something we even know or care about. We do not respect the elderly; if we did, we would not dump them in old-age homes. We do not respect young people; if we truly did, we would be very careful indeed what messages our lives gave them. We do not respect peers anymore; if we did, we would be learning from each other a lot more.
Today's average working person has emasculated all passion from his or her life. There is nothing so worthwhile as to sacrifice something for it, except my own peace of mind and well-being. There is nothing worth talking about to anyone anymore, unless we can manipulate that person to give us something we want. There is nothing "noble", really; if someone tries to act noble, you can be sure it's either self-serving or an obvious sham. In the end, we really will watch the news and see "things" happening; we will not care to call these things "bad" or "good". Good and evil will not exist, at least in our minds and hearts. That frightens me, because it is the ultimate heart of stone which nothing on earth can melt, no emotion can reach. It will be robot-like; we will start to live like automatons. We would have truly lost OURSELVES! At that point, distinctions such as "YOU" and "ME" will be obliterated, because I am like you and you are like me - encased in hearts of stone.
**********************************************
Hearts. Of stone.
How do you tell automatons about Jesus? What apologetic can cut through the radiation-resistant lead fortresses that block up hearts today? Ravi Zacharias can make a dent, perhaps, if a person admits to a worldview. How will you reach a person who doesn't care if he has a worldview or not?
This is not to say Jesus CANNOT penetrate hearts of stone - it's His specialty and indeed a small thing for Him to do. I am only asking, what apologetic can we use? It might have to be direct Divine intervention alone - time for the Lord to do what He said He would through the prophet Ezekiel:
I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. (Ezekiel 11:19)
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. (Ezekiel 36:26)
In James Cameron's Terminator II - Judgement Day, the automaton called the T800 finds the little boy whom it is trying to protect crying, and sees his tears. It asks him, "what is wrong with your eyes?" The boy answers, "Nothing", too hurt to explain. On another occasion, the automaton asks him, "why do you cry?" and the boy answers saying human beings cry when they hurt; the automaton tries to assimilate this as best it can. Cameron's film was made not in this century, but in the previous one, mind you.
It's not very far to the day when we will ask each other that, in all sinister innocence. Will we then be able to explain why we hurt? The truly chilling thing is, if asking the question is frightening enough, the failure to answer it will be even more terrifying to contemplate.
**********************************************
The flicker on the dial
Let's get closer home. Is there anything at all that really moves you today? Forget mere emotions and feelings. Is there something that you want BEYOND what you can get for yourself in this world? Can you recognise that some longings are truly eternal and they are in you for a purpose?
Do you feel purposeful about your life? Or do you think there is no such thing as "purpose"? If you were asked to name the ONE THING (only one, to the exclusion of all others) you believe you are living for today? First of all, would you answer the question honestly and candidly or with small talk? Secondly, would you tell the truth? We must soberly recognise that when we lie often enough to others, there is all the danger that we ourselves will ultimately believe our own lies and not know it.
What do you really think about people out there? Do you think about them at all? The lonely, the homeless, the diseased, the destitute, the hungry, the despised, the rejected, the depressed, the insane? Is there anything at all you can do that you really want to do but haven't done yet? Or do you only think about the normal course of your own life - study, work, marry, have children, get them educated and married? Oh yes and the most important thing - seek your comfort and prosperity? A little greed perhaps? A little greed goes a long way in this world, you know.
*************************************************
Jesus is His own best apologetic
Now we're almost home.
Jesus.
I can guess many don't want to come to this point. Jesus is equated with religion and since we reject religion as the one thing that divides human beings (how did we suddenly start feeling strongly about something like that? I wonder...), Jesus is bracketed with religion and rejected as a package deal.
Have you ever thought about this God-Man? Who He is, what He came to do, how He lived among us, things He said. Does He fascinate you? Do you see anything unique about Him at all?
Think about Him. I challenge you. Think about Him seriously and then see if you still have a heart of stone.
A word here. Forget what the preacher said. Forget what the church says. Go back to the Bible. See for yourself. Let no one deceive you. I myself here, in this piece of writing, will write nothing to prejudice your thinking.
Meet Him.
