For years the world has told Christians to stop being so preachy. We’re supposed to tone down our evangelism, stop being “in your face” by wearing crosses or carrying Bibles. Christian movies, books and even music are criticized for their “overly Christian” aspects. Of course, it was long ago that the school systems decided to rid themselves of that “preachy” Christianity stuff.
So, the question is, has the secular world rid itself of preachiness, or has it just traded in for another religion? As I stated in my last post, we just spent the week viewing some material on the creation vs. evolution debate, one of the areas where this fight over the “preachiness” of Christianity first erupted. Folks don’t want the biblical theory of origins to “confuse” students when the schools are trying so hard to ram down the even less plausible theory of evolution.
What’s remarkable here is that some evolutionists will actually admit that they are not relying strictly on the evidence, but are committed to their “beliefs” and “presuppositions.” My favorite line is from Professor Richard Lewontin, a geneticist (and self-proclaimed Marxist): “We take the side of science in spite of the patent absurdity of some of its constructs, in spite of its failure to fulfill many of its extravagant promises of health and life, in spite of the tolerance of the scientific community for unsubstantiated just-so stories, because we have a prior commitment, a commitment to materialism.
“It is not that the methods and institutions of science somehow compel us to accept a material explanation of the phenomenal world, but on the contrary, that we are forced by our a priori adherence to material causes to create an apparatus of investigation and a set of concepts that produce material explanations, no matter how counter-intuitive, no matter how mystifying to the uninitiated. Moreover, that materialism is an absolute, for we cannot allow a Divine Foot in the door:’ (Richard Lewontin, “Billions and Billions of Demons;’ New York Review, January 9, 1997, p. 31)
Any honest observer would admit that the religion of secular humanism and materialism, which are dependent on “faith” more than fact, have simply replaced Christianity as the model being “preached” in schools.
But it’s not just there. While the “arts” folks tell us how cheesy it is for Christians to preach in their books and films, the humanists and others continue to “preach” at us in their movies and books and so on. Hollywood has for years been working to make homosexuality seem normal. They say they are merely reflecting the “diversity” of culture even though less than 2% of the population is homosexual. You wouldn’t get that percentage from watching mainstream media, would you? You would assume we’re approaching a third to a half of the population it’s so prominent in most entertainment venues.
And now, we’re even going to start preaching it in our comic books. We all know that X-Men, one of the more popular franchises, is heavily laden with the evolutionary “gospel.” But now it seems that Spider Man, perhaps the most popular hero of all time, may be pushing the homosexual agenda in the near future.
Marvel Comics, in one of their “alternate universe” possibility series, has killed off the original Spider Man, and replaced him with a more ethnically diverse character. (read about it here). On the face of it, that’s not so bad. But the artist who is drawing this new character has stated that in the future, he could be gay as well in an effort to make a “gay hero” normal. So we kill off the character and replace him with a gay character so gays can be normal. No, nothing wrong here!
This is, of course, just the latest in a long line of well thought out, well planned efforts on the part of the secular humanists to “preach” their gospel and gain “converts.”
The saddest part of all is that so many Christians seem oblivious to this, and have simply laid down and played dead when the world tells them to stop being “preachy.” Folks, the truth is there is no such thing as neutrality. Either you have a biblical worldview which informs all your thoughts, actions, arts, etc. Or you have replaced it with another worldview that likewise informs you thoughts, actions, arts, etc. And every worldview is based, somewhere down the line, on faith “assumptions” regarding things like creation, redemption and so on.
So, which “Gospel” are we truly committed to? Which one will we stand for? Will we continue to let the world tell us to stop being “preachy” while they are left to freely preach their gospel of materialism and humanism? Or will we stand for the truth of God’s Word, which in the end is the only truth anyway? The answer is up to you.
By the way, here's just a short video for you edification (cause I can be preachy if I want!).
So, the question is, has the secular world rid itself of preachiness, or has it just traded in for another religion? As I stated in my last post, we just spent the week viewing some material on the creation vs. evolution debate, one of the areas where this fight over the “preachiness” of Christianity first erupted. Folks don’t want the biblical theory of origins to “confuse” students when the schools are trying so hard to ram down the even less plausible theory of evolution.
What’s remarkable here is that some evolutionists will actually admit that they are not relying strictly on the evidence, but are committed to their “beliefs” and “presuppositions.” My favorite line is from Professor Richard Lewontin, a geneticist (and self-proclaimed Marxist): “We take the side of science in spite of the patent absurdity of some of its constructs, in spite of its failure to fulfill many of its extravagant promises of health and life, in spite of the tolerance of the scientific community for unsubstantiated just-so stories, because we have a prior commitment, a commitment to materialism.
“It is not that the methods and institutions of science somehow compel us to accept a material explanation of the phenomenal world, but on the contrary, that we are forced by our a priori adherence to material causes to create an apparatus of investigation and a set of concepts that produce material explanations, no matter how counter-intuitive, no matter how mystifying to the uninitiated. Moreover, that materialism is an absolute, for we cannot allow a Divine Foot in the door:’ (Richard Lewontin, “Billions and Billions of Demons;’ New York Review, January 9, 1997, p. 31)
Any honest observer would admit that the religion of secular humanism and materialism, which are dependent on “faith” more than fact, have simply replaced Christianity as the model being “preached” in schools.
But it’s not just there. While the “arts” folks tell us how cheesy it is for Christians to preach in their books and films, the humanists and others continue to “preach” at us in their movies and books and so on. Hollywood has for years been working to make homosexuality seem normal. They say they are merely reflecting the “diversity” of culture even though less than 2% of the population is homosexual. You wouldn’t get that percentage from watching mainstream media, would you? You would assume we’re approaching a third to a half of the population it’s so prominent in most entertainment venues.
And now, we’re even going to start preaching it in our comic books. We all know that X-Men, one of the more popular franchises, is heavily laden with the evolutionary “gospel.” But now it seems that Spider Man, perhaps the most popular hero of all time, may be pushing the homosexual agenda in the near future.
Marvel Comics, in one of their “alternate universe” possibility series, has killed off the original Spider Man, and replaced him with a more ethnically diverse character. (read about it here). On the face of it, that’s not so bad. But the artist who is drawing this new character has stated that in the future, he could be gay as well in an effort to make a “gay hero” normal. So we kill off the character and replace him with a gay character so gays can be normal. No, nothing wrong here!
This is, of course, just the latest in a long line of well thought out, well planned efforts on the part of the secular humanists to “preach” their gospel and gain “converts.”
The saddest part of all is that so many Christians seem oblivious to this, and have simply laid down and played dead when the world tells them to stop being “preachy.” Folks, the truth is there is no such thing as neutrality. Either you have a biblical worldview which informs all your thoughts, actions, arts, etc. Or you have replaced it with another worldview that likewise informs you thoughts, actions, arts, etc. And every worldview is based, somewhere down the line, on faith “assumptions” regarding things like creation, redemption and so on.
So, which “Gospel” are we truly committed to? Which one will we stand for? Will we continue to let the world tell us to stop being “preachy” while they are left to freely preach their gospel of materialism and humanism? Or will we stand for the truth of God’s Word, which in the end is the only truth anyway? The answer is up to you.
By the way, here's just a short video for you edification (cause I can be preachy if I want!).
4 comments:
I really appreciate this blog. It's so disheartening that so many Reformed believers don't stick up for creation like they should. I think you'd like my blog.
Meghan,
I'd visited your blog before and appreciated some of the things you had to say, but quite honestly have some real issues with what you confess are your "egalitarian" views. However, I do appreciate some of the other stuff, and did like very much your recent post on the creation/evolution debate. You hit that one dead on. Thanks for stopping by.
Just a thought, that "preachiness" comes from the approach. You want people to receive what you are saying, learn from Jesus. Apart from Pharisees and casting out demons, Jesus was neither harsh nor rash with people. Have you considered that "Christianity" and all of its faults (in the people who have taken it to an unhealthy extreme) automatically turns people off? Have you thought of merely presenting "Intelligent Design" and using the LAW of Entropy to disprove the THEORY of Evolution? You'd be surprised how many more open doors you'd have if you learn how to approach people properly...
Sorry, but I don't agree, Jeremy. Yes, some folks can come off too "harsh", but for the most part, our job is to just tell the truth. Truth is truth. "Intelligent design" is insufficient, because the truth is "In the beginning God" plain and simple. If that offends, I'm sorry, but it's true. My job is not primarily to argue theories of origins, it's to present the truth of the Gospel, which Jesus was never afraid to proclaim boldly, whether it offended or not. At one point, His teaching was so offensive that all but the twelve walked away (John 6).
My point in this post, however, was simply that the evolution and humanist folks are every bit as "preachy" as they condemn Christians for. The media and entertainment folks have been shoving it down our throats for years, ridiculing any who dare disagree. It's time for Christians to stop being so timid and letting others set the agenda. Stand up for truth and speak it boldly!
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