Church and culture

 I am reading a very interesting book that explores how people perceive God. I won't mention the name of the book because, although I find it interesting, it is not one I would necessarily recommend. I am finding some good information in it, but there are also some significant problems with how the author understands God.

The author is a neuroscientist who studies how people think about God, their meditative practices, and how people pursue spirituality and an understanding of God. I am still in the first third of the book as it is not a quick read.

Not surprisingly, his studies find that people are moving away from a traditional understanding of who God is. The research he has done finds that many people think of God as a feeling or an idea but not as a personal God who can be known. This should not come as a surprise to anyone who has seen our culture shifting away from traditional Christian teaching. While this is troubling enough, the author suggests that churches will respond to this in the same way it has always done - by reinventing themselves to meet the expectations and desires of the culture. Of course, we have already seen this as mainline churches have become more liberal in their theology and evangelical churches have moved away from much of their traditional views to be more accepting to "seekers." Go into many churches today and you will be hard pressed to know if you are in a worship service or a self-help seminar.

The church is to impact the culture in which it lives, not allow the culture to shape it into something it prefers. The New Testament church had such an impact on its culture it became known as the people who turned the world upside-down. That could not be said of today's church. Instead, the world has turned the church upside-down. Too many churches seek to be politically correct rather than doctrinally sound. We prefer to tickle the ears of our supporters than to speak biblical truth that lives might be changed. If our culture is dysfunctional as many claim, the church is an enabler for that dysfunction. Smoke machines and strobe lights on the stage won't cure our culture's dysfunctions. Only the power of God can do that, and until the truth of God's Word is boldly proclaimed in the church and marketplace His power will not be experienced.

For years we have been warned that the church must not violate the separation of church and state. For those who do not know their history, the First Amendment was written to keep the government out of the church, not to keep the church out of government or the public arena. It is a lie that says that the church cannot be involved in public affairs or speak to the moral issues facing our culture. For too long we have bowed down to those liberal organizations who seek to silence the church and Christian people in order to promote their own evil ideas and beliefs.

Our nation is facing serious problems, and until the Christian church is prepared to address them they will only get worse. Someone asked me earlier this week what God had to say to those nations that turned from following Him. He nodded as I said that those nations would not survive. I then went on to remind him that those nations were always destroyed from within before they destroyed from invaders from without. We are seeing that internal destruction occurring today. If our nation is to be saved the church must begin to pray, repent of its sins, seek the face of God, and boldly proclaim His word to the nation.