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The Mood of Secularization
Three distinct moods govern the shape of civilization in our time. To understand these, we must take a brief look at each of them.
The first mood is Secularization. This is the idea that religion has no value or relevance in everyday life. To the secularist, the Bible cannot be the Word of God, for to grant even that possibility would be an admission of the supernatural. And to confess such a view of reality would mean surrendering the world view of a voiceless universe.
No matter how much our society declares Christ irrelevant, he continues to hold all the authority and power. The apostle Paul wrote:
"But we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength."
(1 Corinthians 5:23-25)
The entire existence of Israel as a nation, says the Old Testament, is by virtue of God's intervening hand:
"I carried you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself... I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt." (Exodus 19:4; 20:1)
The obvious contradiction of secularization is that the entire structure of our society--to reconcile liberty (freedom) with law--requires a set of rules based on an objective point of reference. In other words, it is impossible to have a set of random rules for governing society while maintaining a deep inner desire to keep that law because "it is good." As Ravi Zacharias says, "it was not the code of Hammurabi upon which our nation was founded." Nor was it the Koran. The ideas of eastern mysticism, while they might contain some elements of value, were not the foundation of the American constitution. Liberty and justice for all was a distinctly Christian idea, government for the people by the people with one sensible code of conduct for all.
Society requires a common standard. God has provided an ideal standard in the Bible. Only by knowing that Book intimately can we fully comprehend and abide by the perfect law which God developed for our own good--a law which reflects the very character of God.
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