We
live in a pagan society. Oh! There are vestiges of the Christian culture that flourished
in the earlier half of the last century. But for most people, God, if He ever
existed, is irrelevant to 21st century life. While on the surface, life seems
the same, a very different attitude to it festers below.
Christianity calls us to recognize our waywardness, our need for
forgiveness, and a life of self denial. Hardly a recipe for success in any
culture; especially when pagan belief in natural human goodness inflates our
ego, and aspires to self-satisfaction.
In fact, self-actualization, self-determination, self-seeking of one sort
or another constitutes the fodder of most self-help books, characterized by
Oprah philosophy. Very attractive to the lower instincts of arrogant human
nature.
It makes us wonder why Christianity exists at all, and holds sway over so
many people of the earth. The answer is really quite simple. Attempts at self-fulfillment are self-defeating, eventually leaving a trail of broken lives,
which only the transcendent love of Christ can repair.
Pursuing happiness by fulfilling personal desires is like trying to hold
the morning mist in our hands. It is an illusion that evaporates under the
weight of our demand for it; attainment of those desires is insufficient to answer
the deepest longings of our hearts.
Further
attempts of the same draw us into the danger of addiction, or excess and
exploitation, using people and things to further our desires. It is the recognition
of this brokenness that draws us to Christ’s sacrificial love for us, that can
transform our lives.
Only His direction for life created by Him, can bring the lasting fulfillment our souls crave. This transformation of our lives from barrenness to
significance, keeps us seeking Christ.
How far will our current culture need to sink before realizing its need?
