Traits Of The Present Era

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Traits Of The Present Era
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Introduction

• The Christian now has to live in a society which
  is very different from the society of Bible
  times.
• But human nature is, as ever, fallen and lost.
• We will look briefly at some of the
  classifications of present day life and how they
  affect the Christian.

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Post Christian

• Western nations are said to be in a Post
  Christian era, but what does this mean?    
• Perhaps the  term "Post Christian" says most
  about the attitude of those who use it.    
• But perhaps it is a fair description of the state
  of the church in our nations.  
• To understand what I mean by this let us look at
  some "isms" which have influenced the times we
  live in.

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Post Christian

• Materialism Living for the physical world,
  shopping around, (including shopping around for a
  church or style of worship)
• Hedonism The pursuit of pleasure, happiness and
  comfort
• Secularism Religion is a private, leisure
  interest
• These three may, more or less, have rubbed off on
  Christians.

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Post Christian

• Our world-view 500 years ago there was no
  dispute - Truth was from God
• Rationalism (The Enlightenment) Truth is
  discovered by man by the use of the mind - Only
  the scientifically provable is true
• Romanticism Truth is discovered by man through
  the heart, intuitively, by feelings
• Relativism Truth is discovered by man by the use
  of the will, choice, preference.   

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Post Christian

• There is no absolute truth or error - only shades
  of grey.   
• What is true for you is not true for me, but we
  can "dialogue" while respecting each other's
  beliefs.   
• This carried over into morality and behavior 
  right and wrong.
• Anybody claiming to have "truth" is regarded as a
  extremist

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Post Christian

• And in religion
• Pluralism We live in a multi-cultural, 
  multi-faith society (fact)
• This has been extended from a fact into a virtue
  or an imperative.
• All religions are equally valid
• The most desirable qualities are Tact and
  Tolerance   -  Political Correctness is built on
  these,  but neither is Biblical.

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Post Christian

• Syncretism The coming together of all religions
  for a common purpose. Not for God, but for man to
  achieve the common benefit for mankind (or the
  earth - the environment)
• We must talk of "the faith community" so we must
  work together to spread "faith" (not our faith)

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Post Christian

• Humanism  Humanism encompasses atheists and
  agnostics, but prefers not to be defined by
  negative beliefs but by the belief that people
  can build a society in which the human being,
  with his needs, is central.  
• Secular humanism emphasizes reason , individual
  freedom, tolerance, and the rejection of
  supernatural and authoritarian beliefs. 

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Democracy

• We are led to assume that Democracy is an
  essential product of our "Christian" Western
  civilization.   Why should this be true?
• In practice it seems that democracy is better
  than the available alternatives but it actually
  means government by appeal to the preferences of
  the majority.  
• We see the results in the decay of moral
  standards in the West as legislation follows the
  desires of the vocal forces of immorality and
  greed.  
• The golden rule for the government of the Lord
  Jesus Christ will not be a democracy but
  Theocracy the reign of a just and righteous
  king God.

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Tolerance

• Tolerance is a very positive word but is it
  commendable or desirable?
• We should not be critical but should be
  accepting, multi-cultural and multi-faith we are
  told.
• The Bible does indeed teach that we should love
  others and the Lord Jesus Christ is the best
  possible example in his compassion for us lost
  sinners.
• But the Lord Jesus Christ did not accept sin,
  rebellion, and error and call it good. 

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Tolerance

• Christianity and Judaism teach us that there is
  only one God and that He will not accept us
  giving allegiance to another.
• The Bible sets out the moral code by which we
  should live and allows for no do-it-yourself
  moral codes.
• The Christian should follow the example of the
  Lord Jesus Christ and be more than just tolerant
  of the individual but should not be tolerant of
  sin and error.

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Relative Morality

• Relative Morality is a characteristic of our
  society today.  
• It is old fashioned to accept a higher authority
  laying down absolute standards.  
• Man has always justified himself by making
  comparisons with those worse than himself.   
• He does not compare himself with Gods
  standard.   
• "There is a way that seems right to a man, But
  its end is the way of death"   (Proverbs 1412)

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Relative Morality

• We should not be expecting to be nice and
  tolerant to everybody and have them like us not
  if we wish to follow the Lord Jesus Christ.  
• St. Paul mentioned in Hebrew 13 11-14,  "For the
  bodies of those animals, whose blood is brought
  into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin,
  are burned outside the camp. Therefore Jesus
  also, that He might sanctify the people with His
  own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore
  let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing
  His reproach. For here we have no continuing
  city, but we seek the one to come.

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Political Correctness

• Political Correctness has become a humanistic
  constraint which forbids the holding of absolute
  values, which some people find challenging to
  their chosen lifestyle.  
• Political Correctness may (arguably) have been
  commendable in overcoming racial intolerance but
  it has been taken over.    
• Do not be seduced into assuming that it is a
  "Christian" value.

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Post Modernism

• Post Modernism is a term used to categorize of
  the way society functions in the period after the
  "Modern" Art and Architecture period.
• This is what we live in today you may recognize
  it.
• Post modern life is Fragmented, Frivolous,
  Consumer driven, Fun, Throw-away, and Now
  (instant gratification).   
• The best illustration of this is an advertisement
  break on TV.  

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Post Modernism

• Enormous technical expertise is put into the
  generation of glossy entertainment, which is a
  substitute for life in the real world.  
• Even News and Current Affairs programmers now use
  the same techniques.  
• By inference, Post Modern life is selfish and has
  no room for commitment, long term objectives,
  facing unpleasant realities and the pursuit of
  things that will be costly but that will last.  

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Post Modernism

• In contrast, the Lord Jesus Christ said in
  Matthew 6 19-21 do not lay up for yourselves
  treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy
  and where thieves break in and steal but lay up
  for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither
  moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not
  break in and steal. For where your treasure is,
  there your heart will be also"

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The New Age

• New Age ideas flow smoothly from relative
  morality and draw together an eclectic mixture of
  old pagan beliefs from all around the world, with
  a modern pseudo-scientific spin.  
• There is a spectrum of belief and practice from
  watered down Christianity right through the
  occult to Wicca, Witchcraft, and Satanism.  

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The New Age

• An Internet search on "wicca"  will find sites
  ranging from traditional herbal remedies and FAQ
  pages explaining how Wicca is a benign belief
  system in tune with the Earth, practiced by all
  sorts of ordinary people - through to sinister
  witchcraft and black magic sites.
• Witchcraft is the darker end of the whole "green"
  eco-friendly modern awareness of the earth
  movement, as well as the feminist movement. 
  (Much occult belief is about feminine deities)

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The New Age

• The New Age ?  Mother Earth ? Earth Spirits  ? 
  Paganism  ?  Magic.
• There shall not be found among you anyone who
  makes his son or his daughter pass through the
  fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a
  soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a
  sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a
  medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the
  dead. For all who do these things are an
  abomination to the Lord, and because of these
  abominations the Lord your God drives them out
  from before you (Deuteronomy 1810-12).

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The New Age

• As the prophecy of Zechariah draws to its climax
  we read, in (Zech 132-6)   "It shall be in that
  day, says the Lord of hosts, that I will cut off
  the names of the idols from the land, and they
  shall no longer be remembered. I will also cause
  the prophets and the unclean spirit to depart
  from the land. It shall come to pass that if
  anyone still prophesies, then his father and
  mother who begot him will say to him, You shall
  not live, because you have spoken lies in the
  name of the Lord.' And his father and mother who
  begot him shall thrust him through when he
  prophesies. And it shall be in that day that
  every prophet will be ashamed of his vision when
  he prophesies they will not wear a robe of
  coarse hair to deceive. But he will say, I am no
  prophet, I am a farmer for a man taught me to
  keep cattle from my youth. And one will say to
  him, What are these wounds between your arms?'
  Then he will answer, Those with which I was
  wounded in the house of my friends.  

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The New Age

• This refers to the prophets / ministers of pagan
  cults and their practices (self inflicted wounds
  of idol worshippers Deut 141 - 1 Kings 1828),
  and how those involved will finally be dealt
  with. 
• The End Times will be full of New Age Religion,
  mediums and occult practice.
• The New Age is presented as very tolerant of any
  faith.  
• In fact this tolerance becomes the rejection of
  any exclusive faith  (Christianity which say
  there is only one way to salvation through only
  one God).   
• The long term aim of the New Age movement is the
  replacement  of all other religions with one
  "world-state religion".       

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The New Age

• The Green and Ecology movement is supported by
  many concerned people, but it also has many
  adherents who lean towards "Mother Earth" worship
  and paganism. 
• "Green"  thinking can undermine sound
  Christian life if allowed to go beyond concepts
  of common sense, good stewardship and challenges
  to extensive consumerism.

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The New Age

• The Spirituality if the New Age Have you noticed
  the desire for so called "spiritual" lifestyles,
  divorced from faith in God but part of a "chilled
  out" lifestyle of gentle music, candles, soft
  colors, and all that sort of stuff?
• In the USA it is forbidden to teach religion in
  public schools - including Christianity - but 
  Wicca and the occult gets a good exposure through
  the reading of Harry Potter stories.  
• Those who question this practice are labeled as
  hysterical book-burners like those of the Dark
  Ages who burned women they did not like as
  witches.  

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The New Age

• In the USA, Wicca is not just the interest of a
  few eccentrics but a recognized religion with tax
  exempt status and chaplains in the armed
  services.
• The Harry Potter phenomenon is very much a
  product of our present society but God is just as
  concerned as He ever was that we avoid occult
  suggestions  "have no fellowship with the
  unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose
  them"   (Ephesians 511)

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The New Age

• Nobody disputes the amount of witchcraft and
  occult material in the Harry Potter stories, even
  if the spells are not authentic.  
• One noticeable difference from the witches in
  traditional children's tales is that some 
  witches are good guys and not just bad guys.  
• We must points out six suggestions implicit in
  Harry Potter, in addition to the obvious danger
  of getting children fascinated by the occult.
• A vision of a better world  link main characters
  to pagan practices.
• Rebellion against Biblical authority  link
  traditional authority figures to intolerant
  "muggles"   (non magicians)

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The New Age

• An idealized view of Paganism  link occult
  images to "good wizards".
• A pagan alternative to Christian values   link
  courage and loyalty to a common quest for occult
  empowerment.
• Mystical experiences that excite the emotions 
  link "good" spells to victory in the timeless
  battle between good and evil.
• Relative Morality The good and evil, right and
  wrong are very relative in Harry Potter's world 
  he is rewarded for rebelling and lying when it
  produces a positive outcome.

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Conclusion

• The Christian should be aware that he is living
  in a war zone just as much as, or more than the
  Bible saints. 
• Ephesians 610 -13  says, Finally, my brethren,
  be strong in the Lord and in the power of His
  might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you
  may be able to stand against the wiles of the
  devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and
  blood, but against principalities, against
  powers, against the rulers of the darkness of
  this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness
  in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the
  whole armor of God, that you may be able to
  withstand in the evil day, and having done all,
  to stand.    
• Perhaps we in the Church have largely forgotten
  that we should be living and fighting in
  Spiritual Power through the Holy Spirit and
  concentrated too much on adopting Post Modernist
  methods to appeal to contemporary society.