In a recent article I wrote about the shift in worldview that I have witnessed in my lifetime. As a child, nearly everyone I knew views the world through a Christian lens. Even those who didn’t attend church or consider themselves Christians recognized that faith in Christ was a valuable attribute to possess. “Men of God” were to be respected and revered. This isn’t necessarily true now. Our culture has experienced a dramatic shift in worldview. Faith, especially Christianity is often openly mocked. Anyone who claims to have found absolute truth in the form of the Bible is open to criticism and ridicule as our culture shift from viewing the world through a Christian lens and now views it through the lens of a skeptic. In this day and age we value skepticism and tolerance to the point that there is no room for absolute truths outside of the realm of science. Scientific advances, so it seems, has proven that if something can’t be observed, it isn’t real.
Scholars call this new worldview Postmodernism. It is a worldview that has relegated Christianity to the past. Faith in Christ has become a relic of a past age when mankind had yet evolved to the point of recognizing that all spiritual paths are valid. The only spirituality that is valued by the skeptic is that of the “spiritual seeker.” The man or woman who is open to a generic spirituality, believes that all roads are equally valid, and values tolerance over truth fits in well within postmodernism. Why? Perhaps it is because this generic faith is one that refuses to identify anything as absolute. A man or woman who is astute enough to know there must be a god out there somewhere chooses this kind of seeker mentality over the claims of the Christian because it is just generic and vague enough to escape the challenges of the skeptic who respond to all claims of the fantastic with “that’s nice, prove it” (www.skeptic.com).
However, there is a problem with this skeptical worldview – it is a lie. Skepticism works well in the scientific community because it drives our scientists to perform better and to get results; however, it fails miserably when extended to the realm of the humanities; art, literature, love, and yes … even theology. These pursuits are just as valid as any scientific field yet they are more difficult to define and observe. Who would suggest that love doesn’t exist simply because it is hard to observe empirically. It reminds of a quote from the Dead Poet Society:
“We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for.”
While it may be hard to illustrate what love looks like, we know it exists because we can recognize the how it affects the world around us. Science would say the same about an invisible force as gravity. It can’t be seen, but we recognize it as truth because of its affects on the world around us.
The same can be said of God.
You haven’t seen Him. But you can certainly recognize how He affects the world around us. You know He is real because you have bought into generic spirituality in an attempt to define Him in a way that isn’t objectionable. The problem is that if He is real, He isn’t generic. He is a specific being that exists in a specific way. It is up to you to learn about Him … on His terms … not on the terms of the skeptic. You see, the skeptic challenges God to prove He is real. The Bible teaches that He already has in the person of Jesus Christ … it is up to you to embrace Him.
Skepticism says the Bible isn’t true … yet it describes, defines, and reveals communications from God that fit into the world we observe around us better than any other “generic” faith. Christianity takes the “generic” god that you know is out there somewhere and makes Him a very specific God who reveals absolute truth to the people He created.
Praise the God of absolute truths!
----> Clark Goble is a disciple of Christ, a husband, father, student, and writer. He welcomes your comments and encourages you to leave one here or email him at cdgobleATgmail.com. You can follow his twitter updates at http://twitter.com/#!/CDGoble
Writer Clark D. Goble started this blog as a means to chronicle his imperfect walk with a Perfect Savior and invites you to join in on the conversation. He also invites you to check out the links to his work. Most often, Clark writes about Jesus and theology. He also enjoys writing fiction in a variety of genres.
Todd French is an information technology professional and a resident of Columbus, Ohio; where he shares a humble abode with his darling wife and beautiful daughters. His interests run the gambit from reading voraciously all forms of fiction to rooting for the Cleveland Browns.