CYPRESSWOOD CHURCH OF CHRIST
April 27, 2008
25424 Aldine-Westfield, Spring, TX. 77373
www.geocities.com/adon77373/cypresswoodbulletin.htm
www.cypresswoodchurchofchrist.com
LIFT UP IN PRAYER THE FOLLOWING:
Our congregation Various friends, relatives, and co-workers
Our nation, leaders and military National Day of Prayer (May 1st)
MAY BIRTHDAYS: Nona King and Jason King (2nd), Jolene Mearns (7th), Rusty Hudson (18th),
Shalaina Cruthirds (23rd)
A POST-CHRISTIAN AGE?
“Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress” (1 Timothy 4:15).
As Christianity spread out into the Roman world, the influence of Christians began to change society. By the 4th Century, abortion and infanticide was outlawed by the Emperor Valentinian. Many other moral issues were addressed throughout the following centuries. Only in the West has slavery been outlawed. While the Hippocratic Oath predates Christianity, it has been adopted by doctors for years. But things are changing as we enter what many call a post-Christian age.
As the West leaves its Christian roots, previous outlawed activities are returning. Abortion is practiced worldwide. Euthanasia of the elderly, that is, those who might take up too much time and medical expenses, is becoming a common practice in “enlightened” Europe. Now infanticide is becoming what one calls “positively trendy,” the killing of children shortly after birth (1). A Princeton University professor, Peter Singer, likewise advocates that parents should have the choice to “do away” with their newborn child up to a month after birth. But this is not the only concern.
We have all heard of the HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa. Evangelical groups have been involved in bringing both medicine, treatment, and the good news to many of these people. The disease is declining in a number of areas. One of the programs advocates abstinence and monogamy. As people live by these Biblical ideas, and learn more about living in Christ, the crisis could pass. But not all are happy with this. A recent report finds that while the decline in the disease is good news, the method of abstinence education is criticized. According to the critics, people should not be told how they should change their lifestyles to prevent disease. Rather we should use the more sophisticated ways of doing things like passing out condoms and allowing people to live anyway they want. What would cause people who want to eliminate the disease reject a way that is working? It is based on Christian principles (2).
We can look at any number of issues that are causing concern because of the decline of Christianity. Capital punishment has opponents from a number of areas. Secularists see it as a horrible idea that needs to be ended. Red Letter Christians find it equally abhorrent because it violates the idea of love. Europe has completely outlawed it. Most of the states have as well and those that are left are now facing a coming decision by the Supreme Court (3). There is a sense of justice in the death penalty that makes things right when a murdered faces his judgment. God, the Father of Jesus Christ, has clearly stated that a murderer should die (see Genesis 9:6 and others), and that the nation will be free from the shedding of innocent blood. Hence the need to ignore or question the historical character of scripture.
In a recent California court decision, a judge has ruled that California law prohibits untrained parents from home schooling their children. This has upset many and is seen as another intrusion of government as the parent. Home schooling parents have concerns about what their children would learn in a public setting and have decided that they can do a better job as responsible and common sense people. Not so two college professors who wrote an editorial in the L.A. Times criticizing parents who want to keep their children from real life. Nor does a member of the teacher’s union think much about home schooling because all these parents want to do is for their children to see conservative television rather than learning from professionals (4). What they are all saying is that parents cannot teach their own children the values they wish to instill in them. This goes with what the atheists Richard Dawkins has stated; it is child abuse to teach children about God.
Marriage is another Biblical idea that is being attacked. From “gay” marriage to divorce, people question the idea of marriage as a man and a woman marrying and having children. Concerns of overpopulation, overblown, and the feminist idea that men are not needed, have lead to the ideas of the “nanny state” of government being a parent, and to the degrading of husbands. Hollywood has joined this in both movies and television, where it is extremely rare to see a married couple, let alone a happily married couple. One wonders who is really out of touch in all of this.
When we look at the environmental movement, it is the worship of the earth and making animals equal to humans, rather than seeing humans made in God’s image. We hear music that has become more vulgar in its loudness and lyrics. Everything that God made “good” is being attacked by the post-Christian culture. Much of this comes from a politically correct, multicultural philosophy that sees all cultures as equal, and any one group that doesn’t hold this view as evil. Since Christians understand sin and can identify it, we are criticized has some type of phobic for holding such views.
One can become very depressed thinking about this stuff but that isn’t necessary. It is challenging. We need to remember our history. Christianity came out of a despised Jewish culture to change the thinking of many in the pagan Roman world. Christians lived differently, radically, from those around them. When sickness came, they took care of each other and their neighbors, eventually establishing hospitals. Children were adopted into Christian families so as to be given a chance to live and bring glory to God, rather than die out in the elements. Christians lived as upright citizens even when the Romans were seeking to eliminate them.
Beyond that, they trusted God, and because of that, grew. We have had it easy; how much longer that will last I do not know. We do have a challenge before us. Rather than seeking revenge, making more laws, or suing, we have the opportunity to live before others, seeking their best which is loving them. Some will not like our message because we take our stand on what is right or wrong. We can pray for all; those who oppose us and those who are seeking truth. Rather than withdrawing into a cocoon, we can proclaim with our lives and words the wonderful life found in Christ.
George B. Mearns
(1) Chuck Colson, Deadly Trend, 03/14/2008, www.breakpoint.org
(2) Edward C. Green and Allison Herling Ruark, Aids and The Churches, First Things, April 2008.
(3) The decision came in April and ruled that capital punishment may continue.
(4) We might question the word “professional” when people with advance degrees cannot teach in a public school unless they complete work in the professional teachers courses.