Words are powerful tools. We notice in the run up to war with Syria that we wish to deal with the “secular” resistance (not religious radicals). Secular people are reasonable people that you can deal with rationally. Religious people get a bad reputation for causing all the trouble in the world but is it justified? Words do matter so perhaps we should review secularism.
In my opinion, secularism is not indifference or rejection of religion as a definition (even though the dictionary may define Secularism that way). It often becomes a much stronger issue. In my opinion, secularism is exclusion of religion and religious considerations. Many religious people, as well as non-religious people, exclude religion from consideration and conversation in every aspect of their life. I think we can find practicing secularist setting in the church building on Sunday mornings. They may not preach secularism but they practice secularism.
Christians may take religion out of the discussion just as quickly as an atheist even though religion is inherent in every issue worthy of consideration. Christians may not recognize consequences any better than an atheist (depending on the situation of course).
Our God defines truth and had it placed in a book we call the bible. However, he first defined truth and placed it in the heart of man from the very beginning. We sometimes consider the religion of the heart as a new thing defined in the New Testament. God defined the religion of the heart as a conscience. We should realize that many people defining themselves as secular and not religious have a conscience too. Secularist may believe in the golden rule (however defined) because they too believe you should treat others as you would treat yourself. They may learn this from experience because God has always had consequences for bad behavior. Early in Genesis we find the account of Cain and Abel. “And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper?” (Genesis 4:8-9) Please note from this verse that Cain had a relationship with God. Cain was not an atheist but he was a sinner. God went on with their conversation in verse 10: “And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand; When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth. And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear.” Cain loved the earth and he was extremely proud of the fruit of the ground that he offered unto the Lord. Our Lord took away the most important thing in his life. The ability he had to bear fruit.
It is not uncommon to find atheists that have a better understanding of alcoholism (the sin of being an alcoholic) than Christians. When Paul told Deacons (servants) to not be given to “much” wine he did that because of their influence in the world. Why? We will never have to convince an alcoholic (those given to much wine) that alcoholism is not a good thing. They will learn this through extremely difficult experience even though they might not learn it by reading the bible. We will never have to convince an atheist that alcoholism is not a good thing.
In my opinion, we could remove the written word or bible and it would still be in the heart of man. We would still come to the same conclusions in time. Many rationally come to these conclusions either through experience or observation. Many would still come to the conclusion that it is wrong to kill, steal, commit adultery, and avoid becoming a nation of homosexuals instead of families created by God. I have yet to see homosexuals bring children into the world. The path of secularism has established consequences from the beginning. God defined the boundaries in the very beginning but people often wish to ignore the boundaries until they can no longer ignore the consequences.
I find it interesting that some of the most ardent supporters of non-violence have been those experiencing horrendous battles. Military people that have been strongly in the game of war may advise relatives to avoid the conflict no matter what. Of course, I’m not talking about the armchair general, toy soldier, and particularly the psychopath. There are many that have never faced the enemy up close and personal but have the medals of warriors (sending others into battle).
Romans 1 beginning at verse 16 is the written word describing what I’ve just stated and that’s why Paul could write this: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools….”
Why do older people sometimes discount the words of the young? Because they realize that young people haven’t lived long enough to experience the truth. It doesn’t matter if they call themselves Christians or Atheist in this regard. If you parade a seven-year-old out on a stage to make a political point I may not listen. Why? We all realize a 7-year-old has not lived much of life. They often regurgitate what they have heard even when they don’t even understand.
Conversely, we may find a young person with a much better understanding than an adult. I suspect this is often due to their natural intellect instead of the hard experiences of life (even though hard experiences do exist for children). We’ve all heard children that put adults to shame when it comes to intellect.
Not long ago I was listening to a young Egyptian child that had a much better grasp than many adults when it came to geopolitics. I was absolutely amazed listening to this child explain what many adults in this world don’t even begin to grasp. When the young child was asked where he had gained this information he simply stated: “I like to read and listen to these subjects.” That is why our bible is the written word. We can avoid a lot of hard experiences by learning the word at a young age.
In Matthew 19, beginning at verse 16 we read: “And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?”
Why is there a commandment to honor your father and mother as a child? I’m sure there are many reasons but this commandment comes with a promise. We find these words in Ephesians chapter 6: “Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise; That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.”
Is this a commandment that an atheist would not recognize? How many secularists would decide that their children could raise themselves without consequences? This statement is over and above the fact that many people do not raise their children right. This is a commandment with promise. If you don’t raise your kids up in the way they should go it’s probably not going to turn out too well for them. This is a general principle and not an absolute.
We have all listened to Progressive University Professors that have a better idea, in their opinion, of how you should raise your children. While I may be offended by their egos I do not miss the fact that they realize we can have an impact on children by doing things right. Secularists are often more controlling when it comes to children than Christian parents. They may not want religious ideas to confront the children even when they don’t recognize their own religion. The religion they want their child and your child to learn. Institutions of education often have much more influence on children than the church or parents. Also, children may respect their peers when they don’t respect their parents.
I love the words of Mark Twain when he said, ““When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished by how much he'd learned in seven years.”
Why is Christianity a process or learning experience? It may take seven years for the old man to increase in his learning enough that I don’t consider him an unlearned sinner. Personally, I feel some non-believers put some Christians to shame when it comes to their observations about life. I feel the Apostle Paul learned things the hard way. With all the stripes Paul received for preaching the word I can’t even imagine what his physical body or appearance must have been. Our Lord promised many of his followers that they would indeed “learn” the truth of God’s word. He didn’t just give them special gifts like speaking in tongues. They learned the hard lessons too.
When Christ handed Peter the keys to the kingdom he more than opened the door for his followers. We find this comment in Acts 11:19, “Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only.”
They went to the Jews because it would never have crossed their minds to go to a Gentile dog. They left their homes because of “persecution.” They belonged to a nation of Jews and to them Christ was a very good Jewish boy and savior of the world. When you look at the world today you understand fully that the Jews in Israel would be utterly destroyed if it were not for Christians in places like the United States of America. The Gentiles are indeed their saviors and they don’t even recognize it sometimes. Jews too left their home because of Rome in 70 AD. Their ability to offer sacrifices in the Temple is based on the promise of Christ in Matthew 24: “And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”
Christ can see the big picture when it comes to adversity. Romans 2, at verse 10 says, “But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: For there is no respect of persons with God. For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law; (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;) In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.”
Shouldn’t it be an embarrassment to a Christian when secular people have more wisdom when it comes to living the word? Gentiles have “never” been without law. What did Romans chapter two say? God is not a respecter of Jews just because they can read their law. The law of their heart will judge gentiles but, unfortunately, many of the Jews had to read about it first and never could practice it.
Some people believe that the Lord doesn’t hear and see. I believe he may not answer but I never discount his perception about his creation. “There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band, A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God always. He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius. And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God.”
Matthew 8, beginning at verse 5: “And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.”
When our Lord promised the removal of the Temple it is with a promise even though we have no wordily temple or national headquarters. We come together only in his name. John 4 at verse 20: “Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.”
Our Lord has come full circle and we worship in spirit and in truth or the religion of the heart.
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