Good Day, Meetpastordan Readers…For those of you who are regular readers of my blog, you know I have written many times about the fallen state of our culture. It is an easy topic to write about, because with each passing day, it seems that we sink deeper and deeper into the morass of hopelessness and despair. Jerry Lee captured this unfulfilled state in his popular song of the 1980’s, “Lookin’ For Love in All the Wrong Places”. Well, I’ve spent a lifetime lookin’ for you; singles bars and good time lovers were never true. Playin’ a fools game hopin’ to win; and tellin’ those sweet lies and losin’ again. I was lookin’ for love in all the wrong places, Lookin’ for love in too many faces, searchin’ their eyes and lookin’ for traces, of what I’m dreamin’ of.” We could just as easily substitute “identity,” “fulfillment”, or “acceptance” for the term “love”, because the search is for that “elusive something” we’re “dreamin’ of” to make us feel whole; to fill that proverbial hole in our soul.
No doubt we are a culture that has lost its civil bearing, its moral compass, and its sense of pride and responsibility. Consequently, we’ve become susceptible to the lure of false gods, those captivating avenues of escape that promise nirvana, but instead steal our souls. These current statistics substantiate that claim: addiction rates are at an all-time high; the suicide rate is sky-rocketing; divorce rates are at their highest; psychosomatic illnesses such as stress, depression, and anxiety are escalating, and STD rates are soaring. So, why do you think this is happening? I’m not asking this as a rhetorical question. I, of course, have my own opinion, which I will share momentarily, but I welcome your reply with input on this matter. The more input, the better.
A principle of modern-day psychology is this simple statement: “What we put in our heads sets up an expectation, and an action most almost always follows.” Since our culture has rebelled against the Judeo-Christian principles on which this great country was founded, secularism, based on the teaching of Man and worldly philosophies with a bias against Christian teaching, has become the norm. When that happens, it doesn’t take long for chaos to rear its ugly head. (A direct result of the information we put in our heads.)
In fact, our culture is looking more and more like the Israelites in the wilderness. They too rebelled against God and His ways (remember the golden calf?), only to suffer the consequences of disobedience. Without a standard of Truth on which to rely, (God’s Word), false gods become more alluring. The secular teachings of today are leading us down that same path of disobedience. Therefore, the brokenness we are witnessing in today’s culture is the consequence of yielding to the same lie that seduced Eve in the Garden; “You don’t need God, you can be your own god.”
So, what are false gods? The answer is simple: They are gods of “self”. They exalt self, they pleasure self, and they promote self. Anything that we put in place of the one true God Jehovah, anything else that captures our worship, is a false god. God was very explicit about this on Mt. Sinai. “You shall have no other God but me!” and, “You shall not make for yourself any idol, nor bow down to it or worship it.” (Exodus 20:2-17)
Because today’s culture has chosen to expunge God from its midst, the false gods of wealth, power, control, pleasure, convenience and self-aggrandizement have taken center stage. That has been encouraged by our secular culture, the liberal media, the entertainment industry, and a powerful marketing industry that tells us if we just had the next latest, greatest, newest and biggest gadget, we would be happy. The truth is, those things may satisfy for the moment, but they are temporal; sooner or later we have to look for the next shinny object to fill that never-satisfied God-shaped hole in our soul. In other words, culturally speaking, we are living the myths found in Jerry Lee’s song: “We’re playin’ the fools game hopin’ to win”, but the good times were never true.” Why? Because we have been looking for love, acceptance, identity, significance, joy, peace and serenity in all the wrong places.
When God created Man, He created us in His image. (Ref: Genesis 1:26-27) He created us for a relationship with Himself, and Man was spiritually connected to Him. Adam and Eve lived in the Garden (Paradise), and they wanted for nothing; God communed with them and provided for all of their needs. That was His plan, and that’s the way it all began. (But there is a nugget of truth that must be stated here.) We are told in Ephesians 1: 4-5, “Long ago, even before God created the world (and Man), He loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes. His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ. And this gave Him great pleasure.” This was ALWAYS His plan!
Do you get that? Let that soak in for a moment. Because one of God’s majestic qualities is omniscience (He knows all; He can look into the future), He knew, even before He created us, that we were going to go astray. He knew we were going to drift off the path that He had planned for us, and that Sin was going to enter the world, but He created us anyway! Yes indeed, He created us knowing full-well that He would have to provide a Redeemer, Jesus Christ, to do for us what He already knew we could not do for ourselves.
What an incredible display of unconditional, unending, unfailing love by our immutable God. Talk about Good News, this is it: God’s plan for our redemption is still in effect today! Now, add this to the good news…He also foresaw the rise and fall of our country, and the resultant deplorable state of our culture right now.
History has shown, throughout both the Old and New Testaments, that when cultures fall away from their moral foundation, secularism quickly takes root. And what is the antithesis of this worldly movement? The Word of God. Therefore, there has always been a concerted effort to marginalize, to demean and even ridicule the credibility of those old, outdated Truths. “And why is that?” you might ask. Because those time-honored Truths fly in the face of the self-serving motivation and agendas of the new power structure.
Take for example the move toward Socialism, which now defines what once was the Democrat Party. Right here – on display for all to see – are the false gods of wealth, power, control, and self-aggrandizement. And just like all other evil agendas, their promises are wrapped in a most appealing, yet elusive manner: Medicare for all, free college for all, equality for all. Their new battle cry is, “Depend on “our” government to take care of all of your needs!” Sounds great, right? What more could we want? Well, keep reading.
Mark J. Perry, concurrently a scholar at American Enterprise Institute and professor of economics and finance at University of Michigan wrote an article in 2005 entitled, “Why Socialism Fails.” His opening statements included these two indictments: “Socialism is the ‘Big Lie’ of the twentieth century. While it promises prosperity, equality, and security, it delivered poverty, misery, and tyranny. Even if there are initial signs of success, those signs quickly fade as the fundamental deficiencies are exposed. It is the initial illusion of success that gives government intervention its pernicious, seductive appeal. In the long run, however, socialism has always proven to be a formula for tyranny and misery. Equality was achieved only in the sense that everyone was equal in his or her misery.”
At this point you may be thinking, “What is the answer to this sad dilemma?” And I would conclude, the answer is the same answer Apostle Paul gave at the end of his rant in Romans 7:25: “The answer is Jesus Christ.” The truth is… the love, acceptance, identity, significance, joy, peace and serenity that everyone is longing for today, is found a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. No other religion or philosophy offers forgiveness of sin, a new life right here and now, and eternal life. But that is exactly what God’s Gift of Grace offers! When our culture of hopelessness and despair comes face to face with the truth of God’s love, mercy and grace, it will be a no brainer. Only under the outstretched arms of God, not the strong arm of government, will we be in the “right” place to find the love we’ve been searchin’ for. Church, the body of Christ, the land is yours for the taking!
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May God Bless You Abundantly,
Dan Presgrave (a.k.a. Pastor Dan)
Thought provoking article. Jesus is the answer! I choose to live under the wing of God in my own room with the Holy Spirit. Since God puts the rulers in their places i accept whatever comes. Since God is in charge I trust he knows what he is doing. The Bible tells us to work at resting so each fear is an opportunity to practice rest. Since we have accepted Christ we have grace, love and protection and eternal life. We good. Everything else is dung. I’m still wearing my Fauci Lied t-shirt though.