Serious Minded Christianity for Serious Times

Much can be said in a few words: “the sons of Issachar…had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do (2 Chron. 12:32a).” If the church is to be effective in this rapidly changing world, we must understand the times and know what to do. We find ourselves with a mix of naturalistic and relativistic thought in the public square. That mix combined with the aforementioned rapidity of change highlights unique problems for the church in terms of impact.

Consider the changes we have experienced in a short-spanned digitized age that vast numbers of individuals now take for granted from high-speed internet with e-mail, to I-Pods and I-Phones, to Blackberries with text messaging, etc. Can the church compete with such technological advance? Do the members of this individualistic and self-sufficient culture need any counsel or anything at all from the church? They can even point to research that suggests that texting improves literacy. What do they need other than themselves?

Certainly, saying that texting boosts literacy is like saying that slang boosts grammar. The reality is that texting, which requires brevity and speed, necessarily abbreviates words, sentence construction, and indeed ideas. It leads to an inability to spell, formulate complex sentences, and interact with those complex ideas. The upshot is that literacy itself suffers. Moreover, grammatical standards and the ability to communicate at different levels and in dramatic ways are stunted. It is yet another source that “dumbs down” the language.

And, there are worldview issues involved. An attack on language, whether overt or unintentional, is an attack on communication, reason, logic, education, and thinking itself. It is an attack on cultural standards that flow from a biblical worldview of excellence that is connected to a God of excellence. It is an attack on the believer’s ability to interact thoughtfully with God’s revelation of Himself, both in the general and in the special sense, and on the ability of believers to communicate that revelation effectively.

We are to think God’s thoughts after Him. God has chosen to reveal Himself in a saving way through the written word. The loss of language is indeed the loss of truth: God’s truth. It is the loss of God’s revelation to us and thus it is the loss of our hope. Ultimately, an attack on language is an attack on the gospel and therefore God and indeed ourselves. Without a doubt the church has something to say to this culture.

In this dangerous cultural soup, we need answers. The answer lies not in getting rid of text messaging or technology. These things can glorify God if we think about them rightly. The answer is not social or political activism nor is it the cloistering of ourselves in the Christian ghetto. We need serious minded Christians for serious times. We need what J. Gresham Machen called “intellectual knights.” We need everyday saints who understand the times and know what to do. We need saints who read and think and engage.