Western society for the last four or five decades has become obsessed with the search for self. The age-old question about the meaning and purpose of life has been turned into a modern growth industry. People seek to find meaning in countless ways – biofeedback, Yoga, creative consciousness, new age philosophy, awareness, and workshops of one kind or another. Each of these fads have an avid following – that is, until something new comes along.
Book shops are filled with titles that guarantee success with everything from making money to developing the kind of physique others will admire and try to emulate. In one not-so-magnificent obsession after another the search to “find ourselves” has spawned a whole set of counterfeit values: we worship fame, success, materialism, and celebrity. We are told that if we want to become successful we must “look out for number one.”
The promises made by the fads dominating today’s public scene, unfortunately, fall far short of fulfilling the lives of those who adopt them. Each new promise leads to a meaningless dead-end. Many of the popular fads that were present in the past century have led to self-absorption and isolation rather than to happiness and freedom as was predicted. The technology created to lead humanity to a new promised land produced a mushroom cloud instead.
The pursuit of affluence has led not to happiness and freedom as promised. It has succeeded only in degrading our culture by leaving people spiritually empty. This inevitably led people to become totally self-absorbed, frightened, and hollow. In the midst of these debilitating paradoxes of modern life, people search daily for some shred of meaning.
What does the Christian church have to say to the world in which we live? Unfortunately, it has often bought into the world’s value system: fame, success, materialism, and celebrity. Churches that adopt the world’s goals and standards have no power to impact their environment with the message of God’s love. They have lost their reason for being.
Thirty years ago a North Carolina radio station advertising itself as a “Christian” station mailed pastors in central North Carolina a book that caught my attention. The gist of it’s message is that great wealth is guaranteed by God to everyone who follows Christ. The book’s jacket contained pictures of huge piles of money, several kinds of expensive jewels, yachts, lavish automobiles, and luxury homes. The author stated categorically that God was going to take the wealth away from those who do not believe in Him and give it to those who do believe in Him. This is absolute drivel and total heresy, for it is just another way of saying, “What’s in it for me?”
“Horse feathers!” as my father used to say about things that make absolutely no sense. God has never promised to make Christians materially rich. Jesus said to His disciples, “A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you” (John 15:20). God promised to give us the things we need; He never promised to give us everything we want.
The kind of faith that is genuine and honors God does not seek to do its own will; it is totally dedicated to knowing and doing God’s will. When asked what was the greatest commandment, Jesus said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind” (Matthew 22:37). Those who have this kind of love do not ask, “What’s in it for me?” They are committed to the goal of maintaining a worshipful heart, and daily offer their lives as an acceptable sacrifice.
If you are a Christian, ask yourself these two questions: “Do I view my faith as a magnificent philosophy or as a living truth? Is it an abstract, sometimes academic theory, or is it an unreserved commitment to serving the Son of God for whom I would, if necessary, lay down my life?”
Neither Christians nor churches can impact the world in a meaningful way by adopting the world’s standards and goals. To do that Jesus said we must become salt and light and leaven.
The Paper Pulpit 
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