A Clash of Worldviews
Western Civilization on the Brink?
We are arguably facing the greatest threat to our nation and the foundation of Western civilization. It is an existential threat; hence, it cannot be ignored. Addressing it actively or passively is, in effect, addressing it nonetheless. The direction we take in the near future can have considerable and potentially dire consequences for the Christian community in the nation, as well as repercussions for Christians throughout the world.
We are no longer talking about mere politics, or conservative versus liberal as it was perceived in the past. It is no longer a matter of two different views on how to get to the same goal; namely, what is best for the most citizens. We are facing a clash of two diametrically opposed worldviews; hence, compromise is largely impossible since they have no common ground. We are looking at a left, liberal, progressive, maybe Marxist (call it what you will), certainly by all measures, radical and godless element that has been eroding the Judeo-Christian worldview in our country for decades and is razor close to taking control of the nation such that it will not be relinquished without a great struggle. We are inching ever closer to the achievement of a movement begun to carry out its vision of fundamentally changing America and the face of Western civilization. While the proximity is recent, this movement is not new. It is rooted in a secular worldview undergirded by the theory of organic evolution and coalesced around an existential philosophy that has ushered in the postmodern world.
We have seen the Judeo-Christian influence significantly eroded over the last half century. Witness: the Supreme Court declared prayer in schools as unconstitutional on June 25, 1962. Roe vs. Wade in 1973 legalized abortion, the modern world’s equivalent of Israel’s Valley of Hinnom. In 2004 Massachusetts allowed the first same-sex marriage, giving LGBTQ social acceptance and a springboard with which to assault the institution of marriage and the traditional nuclear family. Existential philosophy permeates all areas of education where feelings take precedence over reason, wisdom, experience, biology, and common sense, leading to an epidemic of adultery, divorce, and fornication; an ever expanding population claiming victimhood; rejection of personal responsibility and accountability; and a nebulous, ever-changing political policy called social justice.
If the progressives gain full power, the world will change so dramatically the stress of COVID 19 with its consequent isolation and social distancing will seem like a picnic. We are threatened with opening prisons as well as borders; defunding the police, which will lead to a nationalized police force to restore order; elimination of charitable deductions for churches, taxation of contributions received by churches, and classifying churches as places of public accommodation subjecting them to laws requiring unisex restroom facilities and other LBGTQ mandates; Federal oversight of all education, including private and home schools; and the rejection, isolation, or elimination of capitalists, conservatives, and, most of all, Christians as threats to a well-ordered society.
Because of the magnitude of the threat and arguably the most important election in the history of this nation coming up soon, I want to issue a call to take this historical moment seriously and to bring it to the forefront of prayers. There is a sentiment among some Christians that God is in control and this is a political issue; hence, we should ignore it. I do not take issue with the idea that God is in control. But, He was in control when His judgment came down on Israel at the hands of their pagan neighbors. Israel’s fate was “the sword and famine and wild beast and pestilence” (Ezekiel 14:21). Jeremiah described the realization of his prophecy, “The tongue of the infant clings to the roof of its mouth for thirst; the young children ask for bread, but no one breaks it for them. . . . The hands of compassionate women have cooked their own children. They became food for them in the destruction of the daughter of my people” (Lamentations 4:4, 10). He concluded, “The punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom” (Lamentations 4:6). God was in control through it all.
Jeremiah anguished over what he witnessed in Lamentations. Yes, he recovered hope, writing, “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:20-23), but that period of time was ugly and Jeremiah experienced it with his people. Furthermore, the judgment that fell upon Israel ultimately fell upon the pagan nations of that region who were the enemies of Israel. God ignores neither His nation nor the nations that are not His people. He has compassion on all the oppressed, ill-used, and suffering of this world, and He brings judgment on wrong-doing in His own good time and in His own way.
I think we need to give greater attention to this historic moment and give our present social/political distress serious thought and prayer. We cannot assume that God will work all things out for us just because of who we are or who we think we are. God expects us to bring our needs to Him, not merely assume He will work out complex matters without even asking.
When Haman maneuvered the King of Persia into a decree that would destroy the Jews remaining in Persia, Mordecai, a faithful Jew by all accounts, did not dismiss the occasion with “God is in control,” but “tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city. He cried out with a loud and bitter cry” (Esther 4:1). When the Jews in Persia heard of the king’s decree, they mourned with fasting, weeping, and wailing with many dressing in sackcloth and ashes (Esther 4:3). Mordecai and the Jews appealed to God that this terrible thing might pass from them. We cannot just assume that we will pass unscathed into our future or that the present distress is not, at least in part, our fault. It is possible by God’s hand, but we cannot merely assume it.
Some argue that we are not of this world and should not pay any attention to politics. But this is more than politics. It is first and foremost a battle of worldviews. Paul called upon Christians to confront and repudiate worldviews that conflict with God’s. He wrote:
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:3-6)
Certainly, Christians are not of this world, but we still live in it. Furthermore, too often the world becomes a part of us. The world is in many of us enough to validly raise the question whether our present distress has anything to do with ourselves. Even if we conclude it is not us, and I am not sure that we can, we still have a responsibility to look to the needs of our fellow man and relieve what suffering we can that the world may bring upon the brethren.
Consider the Parable of the Good Samaritan. A man fell victim to a band of thieves who robbed him, beat him, and left him for dead. A priest and later a Levite came by, but both continued on without helping the man. A Samaritan came along and took compassion upon the man, tended to his wounds, took him to a place to heal, and paid for his needs. God’s people need to look to the well-being of others, as well as themselves, when the need is obvious and act when we are able to do something. In all our prayers, do we even mention the horrors that abound about us or have we become accustomed to the evil so that it no longer bothers us? Have we become inured to sin because we accept sin among ourselves? Let us at least resolve to keep the needs of the masses; the poor, the oppressed, the innocent, the temporal hope of the world which has its spiritual benefits, and the potential threat to Christians as part of our daily prayers. Remember: “To him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin” (James 4:17).
Please, let us make the well-being of our nation, our president, representatives, judges, and our Judeo-Christian heritage be a part of our daily prayers (cf. 1 Timothy 2:1-6; 1 Peter 3:13-17). The United States of America is not a redemptive agent for mankind, but it has been a shining light on a hill for the world; a defender of the helpless, a compassionate source of aid for those who have experienced disaster, and a hope for a better life for those around the globe. Our nation is as flawed as the people who inhabit it, but the system of government has benefited more of its citizens than any form ever devised. Pray that it may survive. Pray that it may be better tomorrow than in the past. Pray that we may prosper by God’s grace whatever the future may hold. It would be good to vote, not according to political party, tradition, personalities, or self-serving interests, but according to the worldview that best aligns itself with the principles of Christ.
Jim Hyest
St. Clairsville, OH