The 21st Century … and God

The God Delusion
God is Not Great
God: The Failed Hypothesis
God Needs to Go
How the West Really Lost God
Is God a Moral Monster?
God, Are You There?

These are just some of the titles one will find in the Christian section of any bookstore. As a society, we seem to be struggling with the concept of God in our modern world and how He fits into our frantic, computerized lives.

“Our parents never saw this coming,” declares, Jeremy Lallier, writer for Vertical Thought magazine which strives to offer relevant content to help young people ages 12-22 discover and live God's way of life. “They grew up in a world where people stretched a dollar as far as they could, and when something ripped, they put a patch on it and kept going. Most of their parents or grandparents remember living through the Great Depression, where just having anything, no matter how old, was a big deal.”

Fast forward to 2013 where information that is more than ten minutes old is irrelevant. Everything has gotten faster, sleeker, and more expensive. My word processor (remember those?) from college would be outperformed by most cell phones today.

When it comes to an eternal God and His Word which is thousands of years old, people take the same view of Him as their six month old electronic device – ancient history.

“The argument almost makes sense on the surface,” Lallier surmises. “After all, everything changes, doesn't it? Societal values shift across distance and time. What was acceptable dress in 14th-century Japan would likely be frowned upon in a 21st-century American business meeting. So it only makes sense that right and wrong, like all things societal, would change as a culture does.

But truth is not a suit. It is not an outfit to be mixed and matched, discarded and replaced to keep in step with the latest trends. It's an unchanging constant unaltered by time or culture.”

All of us believe in the laws of physics – gravity, inertia, relativity – because if we break them the consequences would be dire. But yet we bristle at the idea of unchanging moral laws. We don’t want to be told that we can’t abort our babies or marry who we want, but yet the outcome of such actions will have a predetermined effect. God tells us that if we sow to the flesh we will reap corruption (Galatians 6:8).

The Bible is not just a book of rules written by old men once upon a time. “What the Bible offers is a guidebook to interactions – with people, with things, with life in general,” Lallier asserts. “Rather than leave you to figure out the spiritual equivalent of walking off a cliff on your own, the Word of God lays out all the principles you'll ever need to make the important decisions in your life. In its pages, you'll find a thorough examination of what makes for a good idea and what makes for a terrible one.

The Bible deals with questions like:

- What do you do when you're faced with an interpersonal conflict? (See Matthew 5:23-24; 18:15-17)

- How should you treat the most important relationships in your life? (See Ephesians 5:22-33; 6:1-4)

- How can you put your foot down on an issue and still show compassion? (See Luke 17:3; Proverbs 10:12)

It also deals with character traits worth developing (1 Corinthians 13:4-8; 2 Peter 1:5-8); habits worth avoiding (Proverbs 6:9-19); friends worth having (Proverbs 27:17; Ecclesiastes 4:9-10), and maybe a thousand other things essential to getting the most out of this life and the next. Study its words for a lifetime, and you won't stop uncovering wisdom until your final breath.”

But most importantly, it deals with eternal life and how one can obtain it by having his/her sins forgiven by Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross.

“Sure, the Bible is old,” Lallier admits. “But old doesn't automatically mean obsolete, contrary to everything our culture would have us believe.”

I am not a naïve person. I test out everything in my life. I have tested my faith. I have put God’s Words into motion and have seen the benefits. Might I challenge you to do the same?

It may surprise you to know that the Bible is the most commented on book that has never been read. So many people have a position on the Bible and yet have never read it. Don’t base your chance at happiness in this life – or the next – on someone else’s opinions. Read it for yourself, put it into practice, and watch your life change – for the better.

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“Every Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” - Apostle Paul (2 Timothy 3:16)