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Why should we care, you may ask? Because we want to reach the world, including the forthcoming generation with the Gospel view of reality in which it's not about you but about Him!
Furthermore, a culture which encourages people to authenticate or give meaning to themselves can only offer the means of experience, lifestyle and feelings. Inevitably these cultures will gravitate to more extreme "experiences" such as illicit drugs and sexual profligacy, reduce the aim of life to the acquisition of things, and separate passion from reason.
In such a culture, life is for now and there is little interest in the larger questions regarding life and its meaning. This is hedonism and a hedonistic culture presents a formidable set of "false pretensions that keep people from knowing God." The preeminent interest becomes one's own personal peace, pleasure and prosperity. These values hold strong appeal to fallen man and the lusts of the flesh.
Historically speaking, it is at this point that civilizations, which have fallen into this state, almost always secure their demise. There is diminished interest in those activities that serve the greater good - activities which are foundational to building and maintaining productive societies. Instead, what social energy remains is poured, more and more, into activities that satisfy our selfish appetites: sex, materialism, amusement, self-medication though drugs and alcohol, etc, etc.
As Christ-followers living in a real world among people living in societies we are to care about the conditions of society and be vigilant bearers of the Truth at every point. When we recognize those patterns which indicate a destructive course, the Church should be quick to sound the alarm in an attempt to persuade people toward a true understanding of reality understood from Christ's perspective. This is the all-encompassing Gospel.
By persevering to speak truth into a culture that has become so self-delusional we may actually aid in their accepting the good news of Jesus. And, for many within the Church they too must be encouraged to recognize and abandon this narcissistic tendency. Contrary to what many professing Christians believe; the Gospel cannot be understood as an addendum to an already well-lived life. Becoming a follower Christ demands a whole new orientation in one's life away from the self and a new understanding applied to the whole of reality. This is the role of discipleship and its conspicuous absence in so many churches has only accommodated self-deluded Christians who continue to think and live with a desire to become the next American Idol.
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S. Michael Craven is the Founding Director of the Center for Christ & Culture, a ministry of the National Coalition for the Protection of Children & Families. The Center for Christ & Culture is dedicated to renewal within the Church and works to equip Christians with an intelligent and thoroughly Christian approach to matters of culture in order to recapture and demonstrate the relevance of Christianity to all of life. For more information on the Center for Christ & Culture, additional resources and other works by S. Michael Craven visit: www.battlefortruth.org
Michael lives in the Dallas area with his wife Carol and their three children.
