No thinking Christian doubts that we live in a shallow culture that is materialistic, narcissistic, and pleasure oriented. The fact is that "Dancing with the Stars" and "American Idol" are far more popular than "The History Channel" or the evening news.

I majored in philosophy as an undergrad: and that's strange in our day. Yet, philosophy used to be the pursuit of the ancients. Thinking men used to contemplate the origin of life, the meaning of life, and whether or not there is actually life beyond the grave. Ultimate questions were the concern of most individuals at one time. Sadly, that mindset is no longer pervasive.

"What is truth" is not a question that's high on the priority list of most. Even those who are interested in making a difference in this world and enjoy talking about reality or truth are woefully blind in most cases. Many of my friends are atheistic, hold to an evolutionary worldview, and reject metaphysical truth. One such friend and young man is majoring in math at a prominent university and routinely belittles those who reject evolution. Yet, mathematics makes no sense on his worldview. In a universe that exists by virtue of random chance, the laws of logic, nature, or math make no sense. In order for those things to make sense one has to posit a universe in which something beyond the physical (logic) exists and one in which there is order and design (natural law, math, etc.).

Christians, even the most uneducated, need not take the intellectual low-seat in this culture. When the body of Christ gathers, there is no doubt the issues of worship and faith are on display. At the same time, when Christians gather for worship in faith, they engage in a highly intellectual pursuit. They are dealing with questions of ultimate reality or to put it more simply, ultimate questions.

Consider the "Christmas story." There is no doubt that in our evangelical context, most want the watered down version of that story. They want something light and airy. However, the truth is that something ultimate happened on that beautiful, Christmas night two-thousand years ago.

First, on that beautiful, Christmas night two-thousand years ago, the Word was made flesh. The Scriptures declare that "The word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth (Jn. 1:14)." The Greek word behind "word" in this verse is logos. Of course, the logos was a Greek philosophical concept connected to the divine or ultimate reality. The apostle John uses this word and concept to say to the world that Christ is the true logos; the true word; divine; and that which is ultimate.