Post Modern

I am going to copy and post a blog from a friend of mine. Alejandro Oviedo is the director of Walk Thru the Bible for Central America and the Caribbean.  More importantly he is a fellow traveler committed to making disciples.  His observations and conclusions are right on.  The failure of Christianity is not in knowledge but in function.  God has called us to "make disciples of every people group" in the world.  When any believer anywhere starts to believe that Christianity is about knowledge then the power of  Christ is diminished and the Church will decline.  Knowledge without application is simply information.  Wisdom is the application of God's Word through the power of the Holy Spirit that changes the world AND changes the believe.

In a small Bible study attended by Richard Wurmbrand (wrote Tortured for Christ) all of us young men were talking about the importance of attending a Bible believing church.  When it became Pastor Wurmbrand's time to share he looked around and said, "I do not want to be part of a Bible believing church."  That got our attention.  Then his eyes lit up as he said, "I want to be part of a Bible living church!"

I do not want to be part of a knowledge/information faith.  I want a faith that changes lives, me first, then others as I put into action the things I learn from God day to day.

POSTCHRISTIANITY

By Alejandro Oviedo – Regional Director of Walk Thru the Bible Central America and The Caribbean.

Translated by Marnie Quezada Williams.

There is talk about Postchristianity today in Europe. This referring to the de-Christianization this region of the world has undergone. There has been that kind of talk since the seventies actually. For example, French Theologist Gabriel Vahanian wrote a book entitled The Death of God in which he fathomed that western civilization had lost its sense of what is sacred, had become more profane, had ceased to render sacraments as important, and had fallen into disparagement towards divine dependency. Vahanian concluded that Christian religion had been overcome, and belief in the divine had lost its validity for the postmodern man.  

50 years later, Europe’s situation regarding Christianity seems to be quite clear. For instance, the Today News Portal of January 12^th, 2012 reported that in Germany -the cradle of Protestantism- only 3.4% of Lutherans go to church on Sundays. According to the Swiss National Science Foundation Research Programme, 75% of the population keeps their distance from Christianity. Average church attendance throughout Europe is 5%.

All of the above explain why many churches in Europe which used to gather thousands of God-fearing believers have now become discotheques, night clubs or museums.

Postmodernism has left behind a trail in North America. It has given way to pluralism, political correctness and a God-less moral. According to a national census in the United States, the growth rate of religions between the years of 1990 and 2001 is as follows: Christianity (including Catholics, Protestants, etc.), a mere 5.3%. Other religions like Buddhism, Muslim, Hindu, etc., grew 69.1%. And Atheism doubled up reaching a growth rate of 105.7%.

The obvious question here is: why does a society give way to the loss of Christian fundamentals.  I don’t want to sound simplistic, but I think this happens when Christians stop fulfilling their mission to “make disciples”,  that is, believers wholly committed, founded on the Bible, under the Lordship of Jesus Christ and filled with the Holy Spirit.  Our failure sends us silently and progressively into religious secularism, which soon leads to a church that has no influence and makes no difference whatsoever in society. Thus, mortals start to think they are wiser than God and sink into the arrogance and impudence that makes them say Christianity has been overcome and that God is dead.  

HOW DO YOU DO IT? Even though I am but a small voice in the vast world, I send out this missive with the faith that those whom it reaches will feel compelled to make a difference in the society we live in, testifying of Christ, teaching to live the Word of God, first in our homes and then, everywhere within our reach. Let us make use of media even so the Gospel may be shared. Let us not settle for being just Sunday morning Christians. Let us remember our Christ-given mission: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20 (NIV).