THREE GODLESS VALUES THAT CONFRONT YOU DAILY
#1 "Reason is superior to faith."
That is, facts and faith inhabit two separate realms and must not be mixed. In this age of reason, most folks view God as irrelevant. Redundant. Therefore, Christianity is "severely questioned, contemptuously repudiated, or studiously ignored." +
"Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, He gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done." (Rom.1:28)
#2 "Business practices are amoral. Value-free."
That is, pragmatic realism dictates the modus operandi. Just get the job done. Religious idealism has no place in the hard-nosed business world of Machiavellian reality.
"They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless." (Rom.1:29-31)
#3 "We are emancipated, self-sufficient individuals who are free to do as we choose."
That is, democracy means I am owed individual freedoms as I understand them. Personal responsibility for my actions does not enter into the picture.
"In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit." (Judg.17:6)
CONCLUSION: A cursory review of the 20th Century (Auschwitz, Hiroshima, etc.) makes it self-evident that this philosophy has led to a profound sense of isolation, "fear, [and] disenchantment...A feeling of abandonment, doubt, a sense of danger, alienation, and anxiety."+
"The wicked man flees though no one pursues... There they were, overwhelmed with dread, where there was nothing to dread." (Prov. 8:1a; Psa.53:5a)
CHALLENGE: That as Jesus' disciple we take counsel of the Scriptural injunction
"Be sure that no one leads you away with false and empty teaching that is only human wisdom, which comes from the ruling spirits of this world, and not from Christ." (Col.2:8 - New Century Version.)
Facts of the Matter 2000-2006 R. Dwight Hill. Unlimited permission to copy without altering text or profiteering is granted subject to inclusion of this copyright notice.