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"We must come to terms with the impact of secularism. How does the Gospel need to be presented in changing demographics & a changing society?" -Ravi Zacharias
First of all I cannot believe my last blog post was all the way back on July 8th! That is crazy! I guess moving, getting full time job status and just life hitting full force is enough to throw one off track a little bit until adjustments are made. I figured since I haven't been on here in a while I would come back strong. I want to come back swinging with a new series titled "Presenting the Gospel in a Secular World" because I think this may be one of the most important topics that we can deal with. The main theme here is this: What can I do with my own talents and abilities to spread the gospel in a world turning more towards secularism, including major philosophical shifts, and back to God and the love of Jesus? This is only part one of an "I don't know how many" series. We will see. These posts will include pop culture, emerging ideas, new and revamped philosophies and more. So let's begin shall we?
Our society is turning more and more secular as most of you know. Culture and even new ideas are taking over morality and steering us away from the origin of our values and trying to present a new way to view them hoping to somehow create a new truth we can choose to live by until another one comes around that smells better. From pop culture to "new age" philosophies something arises daily to take our focus off of our morality and inner longing for a connection with a God. I will tackle the influx of "New Age" philosophy in this first blog post. It will have holes I am sure but I will try my best. I mentioned it a couple lines ago and that is this new influx of philosophy called "New Age". I am not even sure how to categorize it but it includes many things that we are familiar with but takes a new spin on them. Things like the moon, the stars, "spirituality", lunar phases, solar equinoxes, astrology and the interconnectivity of our mind, body and spirit. I know Wikipedia is a little flawed but I think this is a pretty good description as to what New Age is.
The New Age movement is a Western spiritual movement that developed in the second half of the 20th century. Its central precepts have been described as "drawing on both Eastern and Western spiritual and metaphysical traditions and infusing them with influences from self-help and motivational psychology,holistic health, parapsychology, consciousness research and quantum physics".[2] The term New Age refers to the coming astrological Age of Aquarius.[1]
The New Age aims to create "a spirituality without borders or confining dogmas" that is inclusive and pluralistic.[3] It holds to "a holistic worldview",[4]emphasizing that the Mind, Body, and Spirit are interrelated[1] and that there is a form of monism and unity throughout the universe.[5] It attempts to create "a worldview that includes both science and spirituality"[6] and embraces a number of forms of mainstream science as well as other forms of science that are considered fringe.
So this idea is not very "new age" either. It was developed in the 1900's but I think this idea goes back much further. I would even say perhaps Greek and Roman mythology with roots in Paganism. People worshipped gods and goddesses of the moon, sun, etc. and I think this is a spin off of that. I think this philosophy is so enticing because people talk about it a lot. Yep I think it is an simple as that. I think a whole lot of modern art contributes to its discussion along with the longing for answers (which is what most new philosophies are born out of). I think the MOST important line in the Wiki description is this: "It attempts to create 'a worldview that includes both science and spirituality'". I think that sums it up. New Age to me really just focuses on how the soul and the universe are somehow connected and in that connection we are supposed to find some sort of comfort. I also always thought it included some pretty fringe philosophies as well. I wouldn't even hesitate to say a lot of origins of New Age come straight from pagan philosophy and ideas, fortune tellers, voodoo rituals and other things of sorts. A lot of "New Age" believers do not even know what they believe and they spend their whole lives "searching" for some sort of connection and some sort of answer that really has been right in front of them the whole time. I think here-in lies the problem.
Why must we turn to the philosophy of "New Age"? Why worship the moon, space, the sun, or even search for a connection between us and the universe? I think this all goes back to the ultimate battle between good and evil, Lucifer and Christ. You really have two camps in the world today right now. One side consists of atheists, pantheists, agnostics, tolerant individuals, "new age"ers, those who claim to just be "spiritual" and the sorts. The other side is monotheistic, mainly consisting of Christians with a few riding in the gray, and if one is in the gray then you really belong to the former camp, maybe the "tolerants". Personally I think that Christ is enough for people, always has been, and that the demonstration of the biblical Jesus is the answer. So what happens when people do not think it is the answer and search for something else? What happens when people are not just satisfied with enough being enough and the actual truth? You get ideas just like "New Age" theology that's what. There is no concrete belief system in "New Age" ideas. You pull lots of things from different outlets and really just get some jumbled pot pie of ideas you constitute as your "spirituality". Do you realize that believing in multiple things doesn't make you right, or any more the smarter? You can say "yeah I know about Jesus but I need to do some more 'soul searching'". Be careful in which way you go with that. Do not start turning to worship those things like art, the moon, the sun, science, horoscopes and those sorts because remember those things (besides horoscopes because I don't think that came from above at all) all have a Creator. Be careful not to worship the "creation" but instead the "Creator" that made them. Live to not succumb to the new idea of "New Age" just because more people write books on this topic, which in fact, actually makes sense because when you do not know what you believe there tends to be more opinions on something abstract and unanswerable than something like Christianity. There are more books on "New Age" right now than Christianity I bet you and that is only because you can only present the truth so many ways to try and reach out to people but you can present abstractness in multiple ways because it has no definite answer. So, do some research, LISTEN to the link below on this subject and figure out how you can overcome this new emerging ideas and relocate your roots in the love of Christ which is real and concrete, and not some abstract almost pagan origin philosophies. Remember, God created your spirit and science, so why worship them when you can worship their Creator?
So how do we present the gospel to the "New Age"ers? I think the best way is not to preach to them just yet. Demonstrate how living a concrete, coherent lifestyle in the truth actually looks like. Many people turn to new ideas because they see how most Christians act with what they claim is the "ultimate" truth and the lifestyle they actually live contradicts that truth and their Christ. So we must mirror the behavior of Christ to them, buy books and CD's to give them, most are intelligent types and will be open to reading new ideas on Christianity and books I believe. Learn to educate yourself on these ideas of theirs and how to present God in a way that encompasses ALL things including the soul, science and the like in order to present the truth in a way they can relate to and grab a hold of. The days of handing out tracts are pretty much over. Most go straight to the garbage can and then they pick up their book by Rhonda Byrne titled "The Secret" and search for answers there. Educate yourself to show yourself able to lead people by example of what you believe and the truth that is in your heart. Do not jump down people's throats because that doesn't change people, that only pushes them away. Lead a life similar to that of Christ and you will likely change more minds that way.
LISTEN to this!!!
http://www.rzim.org/just-thinking-broadcasts/the-new-age-part-1-of-4/
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