Culture
The First Election in Post Christian America?
The Super Tuesday results are in and both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are leading their respective parties.
This means we are on the verge of having an entire presidential election built on anger and envy.
Today I want to define the bigger cultural problem we’re facing in America. Next week I will propose the short-term and long term solutions.
But first I want you to ponder the following:
Is this the first major election in post-Christian America?
One year ago I was very excited about the 2016 race. After seven dreary years of watching America be divided and transformed by a secular progressive ideological administration. I was heartened that many good people had stepped up. 2016 looked like a great year to point the American electorate back to a freedom agenda.
The Republican side included a number of good-to-excellent governors, two sharp US senators, and a couple of successful business people–with at least four of them being “outsiders” (Trump, Fiorina, Carson and Cruz). They were also a great racial mix of America–black, Hispanic, Indian (Bobbie Jindal) and white.
The Republicans had become the “Big Tent” Party. On the other side stood two old white insiders.
I likened my initial excitement to the beginning of football season. There’d be many contests, then the playoffs, and in the end, the best candidate would prevail.
Because most of the contenders were God-fearing, conservative-oriented people, I assumed that one of them would rise to the top. That’s still possible, but not in the case of the current front-runner who could be the Republican nominee.
Let’s first look at the main remaining candidates and then size up the Church and electorate.
Hillary Clinton
It appears after Super Tuesday that she is sailing toward the Democrat nomination–though she’s a non-inspiring campaigner, a political camelion of sorts, a voice from the past, and appears to have a problem with integrity and truth-telling.
When she was asked by an NBC journalist whether she’s ever lied to the public, she looked flustered and blurted out, “I try not to!”
Try telling your wife you “try not to commit adultery.”
There’s a good chance Hillary will be indicted in the next six months for breaking the law and compromising the security of the United States with her e-mails. If not before the election, then maybe after she becomes president–whereas she can be the first POTUS in history to pardon herself.
Richard Nixon must be rolling in his grave.
Bernie Sanders
If the world were made up of utopian college students, then Bernie would be crowned emperor. You have to like his sincerity about wanting to give everybody free stuff. He’s a modern day Robin Hood (take from the rich and give to the poor) teamed up with Santa Claus.
I wanted to write an article about him naming it “Santa Hood,” but it sounded too inner-city.
Then there’s the problem with socialism: The second “S” in USSR stood for “Socialist” and that nation imploded economically. Cuba has been exporting socialism for years and it’s the basket case of the Caribbean. Socialist Venezuela is on the verge of collapse.
Yes, I know that Europe has many smaller social democracies. But they’re dying spiritually and economically under the paws of government control. Is that that the path that America wants to take?
Managed “socialist” economies only produce one thing over time: equal poverty for all (except for a few elites). Yet, it’s been hilarious to listen to Bernie’s college-age followers talk about socialism. Some even think it’s a form of social media!
Memo to America: It’s time to break up the monopoly of public education and begin teaching liberty again. Ignorance is not bliss. It leads to less opportunity, lower standards of living and ultimately tyranny.
Marco Rubio
He’s young, articulate, charismatic, and Hispanic. He stumbled when attacked by Chris Christie, but has rebounded and just won his first state (Minnesota). In my view he would make a young Ronald Reagan in the 21st century–a good president. He’s not as rigidly principled as Ted Cruz–but thoroughly conservative.
It’s unfair to call him establishment. He became a senator via the Tea Party.
Ted Cruz
He’s probably the only true outsider in the race who is hated by Washington, D.C. for his principled stands. Though not as humble or charismatic as Rubio, his lawyerly, constitutional approach is refreshing. He now has three states under his belt including the large, critical state of Texas.
Howevr, notice that both the secular press and Washington power brokers hate Ted Cruz. That tells you who would make an excellent 45th president.
Donald Trump
Right now he’s the likely Republican nominee, and in my view, that’s concerning. Though I appreciate him initially taking on the entrenched Washington and political correctness, his true character has come out over the past few months and it’s not presidential.
In temperament, he’s simply a junior high bully. He’s says he’s conservative now, but lived most of his adult life as a pragmatic liberal. As president, we don’t know what we’d get. There are no core principles in Donald Trump except self expression.
Here’s the most thoughtful article I’ve seen on the Donald, written by missiologist/revivalist friend George Otis, Jr.
It is well worth your time.
The real draw of Donald Trump is a frightened and angry American electorate that is fed up with the corrupt staus quo (that’s a good thing), but is looking for a King. Trump is tall, brash, and monarch-like. And he also embodies the secrets loves (idols) of many Americans: 1) He’s rich (money). 2) He has a supermodel wife (sex), and 3) He’s an entertainer (fame).
That’s what many Americans desire. They personify their longing in the towering personality of Donald Trump. Hence the powerful draw of his populist message and secular messiah image.
I’m extremely worried about Trump choosing the next Supreme Court justice. That goes for many other areas of public policy. I have no such concerns with Ted Cruz or Marco Rubio.
The American Church
My greatest disappointment over the past months has been with Christian leaders and conservative pundits who have joined the Trump bandwagon. They, too, are so upset at the political establishment that they seem willing to support anything that will crush it.
But I would remind them of this simple truth: the end doesn’t justify the means. The goal of renewing our government is not worth it if done through a foul-mouthed, temper-tantrum bully who doesn’t even believe in the essence of biblical faith–needing God’s forgiveness.
That’s horrendous compromise. It will not have a good ending. Think of King Saul in the Old Testament.
One of the saddest statistics is the number of “evangelicals” that are voting for Donald Trump (and Hillary Clinton). That tells you much about the state of the Church. We already know that many liberal denominations no longer teach God’s truth. But evangelicals have withstood the progressive tide in the past because of their born again values and biblical worldview–taught in the Bible-believing churches.
However, a Rubicon of sorts was passed in 2008 and ’12 when many Christians sat out the election or voted for Barack Obama because of his charisma. In 2016, many evangelicals are joining the Trump tsunami–which reveals one thing: a stunning failure of discipleship on the part of the Church.
(Click here to read a good article by Bill Blankshaen on Christians voting for Trump.)
The American Electorate
There are 323 million people in the United States (third largest country on earth) who are not easy to classify. But it’s increasingly clear that this generation isn’t attuned to the values of their fore bearers. A large segment of our nation fails to understand liberty, does not love or respect God, live for worldly pursuits, and nearly half the nation is receiving some kind of government support–and liking it.
Elections in free nations are cultural “mirrors”: what the people value, they will elect. Right now the majority of voters seem to be valuing a Republican Bully and a Democrat Liar. The voters appear frightened, angry, and envious of others.
Those are not the values of a free and virtuous people.
We’ve had 45 presidential elections in our 240 years as a republic. Yes, we’ve elected some pretty bad leaders during that time (think James Buchannon, Warren Harding, Andrew Johnson, and even Richard Nixon). But during those eras, spiritual awakenings and the Judeo-Christian ethics of the people held the nation together.
We are now in vastly different territory under a mountain of moral and financial debt where virtue and knowledge are no longer the bulwark of freedom. We are about to nominate a worldly bully and a corrupt liar to run against each other for president.
Thomas Sowell agrees. Read his sobering assessment here.
Both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton call themselves Christians. But the proof is in the fruit. Both are extremely weak in character–with Trump being childish and Hillary, devious. Clinton’s worldview is clearly secular progressive and Trump’s is all over the map. Both of these disqualify them from guiding a free nation.
But currently they are leading the pack due to another discomforting possibility:
We may be witnessing the first election in Post-Christian America.
(Next week: “Hope Can Be Found in the Way of the Cross.”)
Will the Cult of Self Take Down Western Civilization?
One of the advantages of older age is being a ring-side spectator to change–over a lifetime.
You saw things when you were young. You encountered change in your middle years. And in the latter portion of your life, you have a much bigger perspective on how cultures and nations go through powerful changes over time.
During my lifespan, both the United States and, indeed, our entire Western culture, has morphed from one worldview and its norms to another that is threatening its very existence.
To put it simply, we’ve retreated from being God-centered (or respecting) societies to self-centered ones.
Will this cult of self eventually take down Western Civilization?
There are voluminous examples I could use to demonstrate the movement from God-centeredness to self-centeredness in the West:
- The removal of prayer and biblical truth in education, replaced with secularism and self-help.
- The focus on feelings and emotions over critical thinking and wisdom.
- The attack on Christian holidays (like Christmas) and the growth of pagan ones (like Halloween).
- The pursuit of pleasure through materialism as opposed to godliness via service.
- The growth of laziness and apathy in contrast to past generations’ focus on hard work and study.
Recently I’ve been thinking about two other “institutions” of Western culture that are being swamped by our narcissistic, self-seeking cultural tide.
Marriage Ceremonies and Funeral Services.
Marriage Ceremonies
First of all, many Westerners are taking marriage outside of churches into parks, beaches, and other private settings. I understand the beauty of nature and the desire to consummate the wedding ceremony in a lovely place. But many that are doing it are leaving God back at the church.
And many marriage ceremonies today are conducted by “friends” not ministers–cheapening the meaning of marriage as a God-made institution that should be formalized in God’s name. Instead, marriage is just a man-made contract where anything goes–and vows (which should be made before a Holy God), mean little or nothing.
I’ve talked to many young people–including those with a Christian heritage–who now share a pagan concept of weddings. They say, “It’s all about us. We will go where we want, say what we want, and make the focus on us and our love.”
That’s not how my wife and I thought in 1976. We were committed to Christ and wanted to honor and glorify Him in all situations (1 Corinthians 10:31). When we planned our wedding, every decision was made based not on self-desire but how we could be pleasing to the Lord and give Him praise.
We held the ceremony in a church. We asked a minister to perform it. We asked him to preach the Good News to those in attendance. We used the reception to talk about our calling in ministry, had people pray over us, sang worship songs, and deflected all the wonder of our new union back to the One who had chosen us for each other and should receive all the credit.
It wasn’t any different from Russell Wilson pointing to heaven after a touchdown pass. “Do all to the glory of God.” We didn’t even think about what would puff up ourselves or “make us happy” as Cam Newton does in his Superman dance after he scores a touchdown.
That’s the cult of self. Wilson’s deference to God is the humble, God-glorifying display.
Many weddings today reflect the cult of self. No wonder the institution of marriage is dying.
Funerals (Memorials)
I’ve officiated at numerous funerals or memorial services during the past four decades. In my early years, they were all held in churches or funeral halls. At the service, there was often a solemnity and dignity over the reality of death. Ministers not only eulogized the deceased, but also spoke to the living about making sure they were right with God and ready to face their own mortality.
I was once invited to officiate the wedding of a non-believing family at our local cemetery. The one-follower- of-Christ in the family asked me purposefully to preach the Good News to his relatives and glorify God in the service. I was glad to do so, and many were touched by my words.
After I finished the address and they were lowering the body into the ground, I wandered over to the grave sites of some family members. A young woman who’d attended the grave side service approached me there and said: “I really appreciated your words. How can I give my life to Christ to have hope of eternal life?”
Over the graves of my ancestors I led this young woman to Jesus.
God had been glorified through the event.
Recently I’ve attended some memorials that seem to have a different motive. They’re themed with what the deceased “liked”–sports teams, hobbies, interests etc. with little or no mention of God and eternity. At these events, friends and families so praise the dead person that they are hardly recognizable.
It’s all about them. The cult of self strikes again.
I don’t think it’s wrong for funeral services (mostly solemn) to move toward memorials (predominantly celebratory.) There’s a good and healthy balance. But when God, heaven and hell, and our mortality and accountability are left out, then the event simply becomes a self-centered party that loses the whole meaning of being ready to face your Maker.
Let’s now take this to a higher level.
Europe’s Christian civilization is dying even faster than America’s and is also being replaced by the squishy cult of self. Listen to Joe Cunningham’s prophetic perspective:
“Way back in the day, and we’re talking centuries, Europe was a hotbed for the expansion of Christian ideas and philosophies. They were the foundations of European culture, government, and way of life. It influenced kings and empires, dictated the ways of life of millions for centuries.”
“The greatest empire the world had ever known, the British Empire, was built upon that foundation which stemmed back to the earliest days of Christendom. France, Spain, even Germany built legacies on top of the essential pillars of the faith.”
“Did they lose their way at times? Absolutely. But those foundations were there. They were fighting for something greater than people – they were fighting for identity, for country, for God, and for king. But, beginning late in the 20th century, those ideas were being tossed aside in favor of humanism [self]. The result of this transition has led to social program after social program that has left a lot of Europe broke and on the verge of collapse. “
“Via the Wall Street Journal: ‘Europe is dying because it has become morally incompetent. It isn’t that Europe stands for nothing. It’s that it stands for shallow things, shallowly. Europeans believe in human rights, tolerance, openness, peace, progress, the environment, pleasure. These beliefs are all very nice, but they are also secondary.'”
“What Europeans no longer believe in are the things from which their beliefs spring: Judaism and Christianity; liberalism and the Enlightenment; martial pride and capability; capitalism and wealth. Still less do they believe in fighting or sacrificing or paying or even arguing for these things. Having ignored and undermined their own foundations, they wonder why their house is coming apart.”
“Ultimately, what makes Europe’s downfall so imminent is that it does not seem to recognize, as the Left here in America doesn’t, that it’s their own policies within this modern era that are killing them.”
“The focus has been placed on the individual in such a shallow way while ignoring the individual in a deeper, meaningful way. They focus on how we feel, what we do, and how we can be fair to one another. Meanwhile, they ignore the very basis of humanity. The need for something greater than ourselves to believe in. The need to be part of something greater.”
“Big government types love to tell us that we can belong to the government, but the government is shallow. It, too, focuses on the shallow person, not the greater person underneath. It cares little for religious liberty because religion can offend you. It says ‘belong to us, but don’t claim a national identity. You’re not American, you see. You’re not British. You’re not French. You’re not Spanish or German. Your identity comes from your race, sexual orientation, gender, or whatever else we can think of. But we never belong to a nation.'”
“That has to change. In Europe and in the U.S. It has to change because society cannot build deep and lasting foundations on things that are so shallow.”
Amen, Joe.
There’s nothing more shallow than self. It’s limited to you–sinful you. On the other hand, there’s nothing bigger than God–the glorious and holy Creator and Savior of all that there is.
The Western world needs a Christ-centered revival that will once again re-shape all that we do.
If we don’t experience it, the cult of self will kill us.
With Bruce Jenner, Sexual Atheism 4.0 Has Launched
Sometimes it’s hard to see the forest for the trees–especially when the trees are moral.
Moral issues, like evergreens, often take a lifetime to develop. Because of their slow growth, we might not recognize what’s happening around us until we rise to 35,000 feet in an airplane and look down and exclaim:
“Wow, that’s a big forest!”
To use another metaphor, following Bruce Jenner’s recent interview with Diane Sawyer announcing his gender change from man to woman, Sexual Atheism 4.0 has launched. It’s been for a long time coming, but now the forest is fully formed.
Here’s what’s happened to sexual morality during the past sixty years.
Many of you know that I deal with politics and moral issues on a regular basis. Most stories and interviews that you see in the media do the same, but rarely do they either “look behind the scenes” as to why a moral change is happening or put you in a philosophical airplane to give you the big picture.
I want to do both today. I want you to understand what’s happening on the sociological level of human sexuality in the Western world. More importantly, I want you to understand why.
After that, we’ll deal with Bruce Jenner’s trans gender coming out party.
The Spiritual View
Why do human beings believe certain things about right and wrong and act out what they believe in everyday life?
Because God exists–and from his nature come all concepts of righteousness. God revealed his moral standards to the world via human conscience, the Ten Commandments, the coming of Jesus Christ, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the world.
Morals exist because moral beings have free wills. To do right we must give God his rightful place in our lives and treat other humans with equal respect. This means not murdering, stealing, lying, coveting etc.
Right morals produce freedom and blessing. God wants people to be happy and fruitful.
But as most news shows don’t reference God and his laws for living, they also don’t mention the satanic underworld also influencing human behavior. The Bible is quite clear on the subject:
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12).
Remember that when you see riots on television, or hear about governmental corruption, or dead babies killed in the womb, or any other form of bad or evil behavior.
There is a devil and demons in this world trying to influence people to do wrong. Call it a devil-inspired mindset that is meant to produce bondage and suffering.
So on the one hand, God loves people and wants them to be blessed. On the other, Satan hates people and wants them to be destroyed.
That’s the real why behind the good and bad in our world.
The World View
Secondly, in human societies, both God-thoughts and satanic thoughts become codified into a perspective on life we call a world view. World views don’t come out of thin air–they are the taking of either godly or satanic ideas and forming a mental grid with them through which we make our moral choices.
For most of America’s history, the reality of God and a biblical world view formed the backdrop of social behavior. In all the early documents of American history and even inscribed on the monuments today, you see references to God and his ways for living. In fact, during the original U.S. Constitutional Convention, the single most quoted source for framing the laws of America was the book of Deuteronomy.
Early Americans believed in God, the Bible, and his prescriptions for living.
Sure, there were times of moral decline in American society such as the early 1800s which led to the second spiritual awakening, and also the Roaring Twenties of the past century which preceded WWII. But it would not be incorrect to generalize that from 1776 to 1945 “God’s ideas” and moral standards prevailed in the United States as the dominant worldview.
What did this mean for American ideas about sex?
The Bible (and actually most religions and human history) teaches that sex is reserved for a man and woman in covenant marriage to God and each other. This perspective was revealed at the beginning of creation (Genesis 2) and confirmed in the New Testament. It became the normal practice of Christian Europe, the United States of America, and the vast majority of the civilized world.
In the biblical worldview, there are at least six perversions of God-ordained sex: 1) Adultery (sex with someone not your spouse), 2) Fornication (sex before marriage), 3) Incest (sex with a close relative), 4) Homosexuality (sex between members of the same gender), 5) Pedophilia (sex with children), and 6) Bestiality (sex with an animal).
All are condemned as abnormal and unhealthy–even evil–in the Old Testament and three are mentioned in the New Testament (while assuming the rest).
Sexual Atheism
This term is helpful because it describes how we can remove God from our understanding of sex.
Beginning in the 1950s, the USA began to drift away from its faith-based origins, including our socially-accepted understanding of sex. Satan’s ideas began to replace God’s maxims of human love and sexual relations. A worldview called secularism (humanism or atheism), began to grow a forest of trees in the American landscape. It was slow, deliberate, and satanically-inspired.
And it was progressive–just like the upgrades of computer software.
Here are the first three versions:
Sexual Atheism 1.0 – The first domino to fall in corrupting God’s view of sex was toleration for adultery including easy divorce and re-marriage. This was initially popularized by movie stars who slept around with their married co-stars and started an affair/divorce revolving door. Elizabeth Taylor is a prominent example who did it seven times. After a decade or so, the American public began to tolerate both adultery and divorce as never before. Today, adultery is common–and in some ways, expected.
Sexual Atheism 2.0 – In the 1960s, the Baby Boom generation, who’d grown up idolizing the unfaithful movie stars and now rock stars of their generation, made fornication fashionable. In that era it became “okay” to sleep around with anybody of the opposite sex–even if you weren’t married. Venereal diseases increased, babies out of wed-lock sky-rocketed, and over a number of decades, sex before marriage became the new norm for many singles.
Sexual Atheism 3.0 – The 80’s and 90’s brought the next logical deception in sexual practice–sex between members of the same sex. In some ways this was a reaction to the debasement of marriage, but it still came from the same source–the satanic world. Same sex relationships are not normal–it is abnormal when judged by universal and biblical norms. But in the last twenty years, the American nation has moved so far away from God and his principles that love itself has been re-defined to mean “doing what I want with whomever I want.”
Which brings us to Bruce Jenner–soon to be called Caitlyn Jenner. He is a tragic figure who was once an Olympic decathlon champion. He was born a man and has fathered children. He is the poster-child of the secular press and academia for:
Secular Atheism 4.0
In his recent interview with Diane Sawyer, which was held with much fanfare as “courageous” and “historic” from the progressive press, Jenner told the world he was born a man but considers himself a woman inside. Just recently he completed the final surgeries necessary for becoming female-ized.
His trans gender transformation will be celebrated in an upcoming article in Vanity Fair. In that piece, Jenner says he “suffered a panic attack the day after undergoing 10-hour facial-feminization surgery on March 15″—a procedure he believed would take 5 hours. Jenner thought to himself, “What did I just do? What did I just do to myself?”
A counselor then assured him that all was well. Two months later, he is a “she” who goes by the name Caitlyn, wants to marry another woman, and is also hosting “girl’s nights” with wine and cheese to show off his/her new identity. Jenner’s children are putting a positive spin on their father’s coming out, but have refused to participate in Caitlyn’s docu-series for the E! network, set to begin this summer.
Now you know why the trans gender movement (e.g. common bathrooms) is starting to take off in the public schools. We’e been secularized by the satanic mindset. Who knows what the next versions of sexual atheism will include. Multiple people marrying? Sex with kids if it’s consensual? Sex with pets if its consensual? How about bigamy and polygamy?
A forest of immorality has been growing in this nation for six decades. I hope you see what’s happening from the higher elevation of Scripture.
Sexual sanity and purity has been replaced bit by bit with adultery, fornication, homosexuality and now transgenderism. They are “normal.” They were once abnormal–and even unthinakable. Biblical sexuality is now being ridiculed–all in the name of love and self-expression.
But here is what’s really going on: A satanic mindset is trying to destroy the image of God in human beings. It will cripple many lives and could even take down a great nation. Of course, that is the strategy of the immoral attack.
All the dominoes of sexual immorality have one thing in common: The exaltation of SELF. I will sleep with another man’s wife if I desire. I will have sex before marriage if I want. I will have sex with whatever person I choose. And I will change my gender if I feel inclined.
The key word in that sentence is I. To sin is to do your own thing.
To live a godly and moral life is to trust your Creator with your make-up, temptations, insecurities and questions and follow his wise ways for living and salvation–to make Him Lord of your life.
Not I, but Christ.
Weep over and pray for Bruce Jenner and those who will follow him off the cliff of self-realization. Only one self-discovery is paramount: “I am a sinner, and I need a Savior who can forgive and transform me.”
His name is Jesus.
We desperately need Him to bring us Revival 4.0.