The Sad State of America
“He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” John 3:18
Recently I read an article on line which quoted some statistics from the pollster George Barna who conducts polls regarding Christian attitudes and beliefs. In this particular poll, he discovered that the most popular worldview in the U.S. today is something called “Moralistic Therapeutic Deism”. I had never heard that term before, but the meaning of it has been known for quite some time. I just didn’t know that it had a specific name. It is a belief that one can be acceptable to God without repentance of sin and a belief in the gospel of Jesus Christ whose sacrifice on the cross paid the penalty for the sins of mankind. Of course, this belief is nothing new. It’s been around since the dawn of time. It is that old “if your good outweighs your bad, then you’re OK.” The article went on to say that 75 percent of the people who hold to this belief claim to be Christian. Many folks seem to not understand that being a Christian means being a follower of Jesus Christ, one who has committed his or her life to live for and serve Christ.
We live in an age of what I call “meism”, that is, “it’s all about me and mine”. This MTD, as it is called for short, fits in with the pride and selfishness that is so prevalent among folks today. The basic tenet of MTD is that the only requirement for eternal life in heaven is being a “good” person. There have been preachers who have been promoting the idea that God only wants us to be happy and fulfilled, rather than holy and obedient to His word. No wonder the nation and the world is in such a mess. When I was young, there was a lot of “hellfire and damnation” preaching in the small churches, but the pendulum now swings the other way when we hear very little about God’s wrath and the consequences of ignoring sin. That may be one of the reasons that so many are falling for beliefs such as that of MTD. Preaching should encourage people and give them hope, but it also needs to show them that God cannot accept any form of sin. That’s why He sent Jesus to pay man’s penalty for sin.
The article also brought up other ideas among proponents of MTD that God is not the basis of all truth, that it doesn’t matter what one believes as long a one believes something, and that the Bible is not God’s inerrant word. Many of these folks believe that God doesn’t involve Himself in the lives of people. That is known as “deism”, a belief that God made the world, but then walked away from it, assuming no control over it or the lives of His creation. Another belief that there is no absolute truth has been around for a long time, particularly over the last 50 or so years. You have probably heard the statement, “What’s true for you may not be true for me.” That is what we call “moral relativism”. All one has to do is to watch any television show or movie, whether a comedy or drama, and notice that they are filled with sins like fornication and adultery, to name two, which are portrayed as “normal”. It is hard to find a show that doesn’t offend a committed believer in Jesus Christ in one way or another.
Mr. Barna’s report concluded that many people who claim to be Christians have fallen for MTD rather than depending upon God’s word for guidance, and that gives a sad picture of the state of the Christian church in America. Mr. Barna stated, “Simply and objectively stated, Christianity in this nation is rotting from the inside out.” As bad as I hate to hear that statement, I would have to agree judging by the state of our nation. The family is being attacked on all sides. As the family goes, so goes the church. As the church goes, so goes the nation. Will those of us who name the name of Christ, who are committed to Him and have strived to live holy and dedicated lives be able to influence the nation back to a land which honors God and promotes His word or will our country continue on that slippery slope to destruction? Will we be the salt that preserves and the light that shines in darkness or will we give up to see our once great land become a vast eyesore of decadence and decay? We need to pray like we have never prayed before that God would send revival, and that it would begin with each one of us.