We are at war, but unlike the battles you see every night in the news or read within our local paper, this is a battle that goes beyond any technology known to man. It is a battle that seems to touch everyone, both rich and poor, single or married, and it is not extrusive to male or female; it is a battle for the hearts, minds, and souls of mankind. Many call it "the culture war" euphemistically, but it really is a clash of two antithetical worldviews.
This clash manifests itself in a couple of area, but the overriding question still reflects What is truth and is there a truth...what does it mean to be human? These questions certainly apply to every issue you see today, whether associated with the environment, challenges of one generation over another, or simply questions of how we are to get along with each other.
A Christian worldview is a set of presuppositions and beliefs that are used to interpret and form opinions about humanity, purpose in life, duties in the world, responsibilities to family, interpretation of truth, social issues, and most important, their relationship with God. The Bible has much to say about the nature of man, the world, purpose, truth, morality, etc., and so does the world in which we live. The world asserts that man evolved, the Bible says he was created in the Image of God. The world says that morals are relative, the Bible says they are absolute. Where the world says that there is no need of salvation and redemption, the Bible clearly states that all people are in need of deliverance from their sin. The contrast is obvious and profound. Both cannot be true.
As we observe society, it is evident that not all is well. Television has degenerated into a bordello of violence, occultism, and disobedience to parents. It often portrays pastors as psychotics, priest as pedophiles, and religious people as insecure, ignorant, and bigoted. The News is extremely biased and when speaking in areas where religious and secular moral collide, it uniformly present information with loaded words. Instead of "pro-life" we hear "anti-abortion rights." Instead of "conservative" it is "right wing fundamentalist." Other words are used such as "Bible thumpers," "censorship," and "intolerance." According to the Center of Media and Public Affairs, the average TV watcher sees 14,000 references to sex and the average child "watches 8,000 murders and 100,000 acts of violence by the end of elementary school." Illegitimacy is on the rise. In 1970 babies born out of wedlock were 10% of all births. In 1991, it was 30%; certainly much higher today. Rape is increasing as is violent crime, venereal disease, drug usage, and prison populations. When 30 Texas High School Students gathered to pray at the flagpole before school one morning, the principal politely, but forcefully told them not only to leave, but to pray out of sight.
Christians must adopt a Biblical Worldview in all aspects of life; we must have biblical perspective that we can offer to the world, if we want to make a true difference. This includes everything: education, medicine, the arts, politics, science, contemporary issues, ethics, and more. We can no longer sit back and let someone else run the show.
We are certainly in a War! How can we, as a nation, present our way of life to others when we don't have it together? We want to take our society and transpose it to fit into the needs of other nations, but unless it works right here, should we even try?
