CULTURAL CONFUSION NOW

Last week, I quoted extensively from a biography about J.R.R. Tolkien which, I believe, accurately described the cultural confusion of the 1960s. ‘The Lord of the Rings’ became incredibly popular in an era when people, especially young people, were abandoning the moral worldview of previous generations.

Rightly discerning the times in which we live is not as easy as it might appear. Who really knows how this decade will be viewed in another forty to firty years? But it seems to me that the phrase “cultural confusion” pretty neatly sums up what is happening now.

No longer do we see in Western society an undergirding faith in the Christian God (who, by the way, is still the only TRUE God!) What we see is a religious supermarket where each individual feels free to choose any faith that takes their fancy. Or no faith, if that’s what they prefer. Or maybe a syncretistic combination – a little bit of this and a little bit of that.

But worldview, including belief in God, gods or no gods, profoundly influences how we live our lives. So does our concept of what happens at death. We fill our days (and minds) with social networking, celebrity gossip, sports, quiz shows and countless forms of entertainment but it’s all superficial stuff. It’s all an escape from the realities of life. More and more people, perhaps in an attempt to break the obsession with mindless trivia, find meaning in compassionate struggles for justice in various places around the world. But the bedrock of life, which must be some kind of faith, is still missing.

Australian society is not likely to settle on an agreed faith any time soon. But the Christian Church has all the ingredients, if we will only realize it, for a culture that is neither confused nor fragmented. More than ever, the world needs the Church to demonstrate a lifestyle where moral standards are inseperably linked to a credible worldview.

And it’s not just a theoretical issue. Jesus really is alive. God really is Creator of the Universe. The Holy Spirit still brings truth. The world needs a dynamic, Spirit-filled Church to live a holistic culture that is based on solid truth.