“If I were a dictator, religion and state would be separate. I swear by my religion. I will die for it. But it is my personal affair. The state has nothing to do with it. The state would look after your secular welfare, health, communications, foreign relations, currency, and so on, but not your or my religion. That is everybody’s personal concern!” ~ Mahatma Gandhi
Secularism is the dominant worldview of America and has taken America by storm. A great place to start with our devotion today is with terminology; what does secularism even mean?
Merriam-Webster defines secularism this way: Is secular always related to religion? “In contemporary English, secular is primarily used to distinguish something (such as an attitude, belief, or position) that is not specifically religious or sectarian in nature (for example, music with no religious connection or affiliation might be described as “secular”).
Vocabulary.com defines secularism this way: Secular things are not religious. Anything not affiliated with a church or faith can be called secular. Non-religious/spiritual people can be called atheists or agnostics, but to describe things, activities, or attitudes that have nothing to do with religion, you can use the word secular.
To understand secularism, we must define the word “Christendom” to make sense of this reflection.
Christendom generally refers to the global community of those who adhere to the Christian faith, with religious practices and dogmas gleaned from the teachings of the Bible. Christendom consists of literally billions of people among many nations and peoples of various ethnicities throughout the world. Correspondingly, Christendom also refers to those countries where Christianity is the dominating or territorial religion. (Christendom is dying, especially in the West).
Whereas Christendom reflects the community, meaning its bodies of people guided or governed by Christian institutions and its authorities such as the church, Christianity as a religion is more about a relationship than religious practices. Whereas other religions teach that one must do or perform specific tasks or works to appease their god or gods, Christianity teaches that we are made right before God through our faith in Jesus Christ and what He did on the cross on our behalf.
Not all those who live under the general term “Christendom” are adherents of the Christian faith. The once-Christian European nations are still technically under what is known as “Christendom,” but, for the most part, biblical Christianity has been set aside in favor of secular humanism.¹
Secularists have done a much better job at evangelizing than people of religion in recent years, and the results speak for themself. Secularism has exploded in the world, especially in the West. Secularist ideas and values have made their way into our living rooms via the TV, radio, internet, literature, movies, etc. They have also made their way into the Church, and now we see the rigorous attempts to take secular values and spiritualize them, or if you prefer, Christianize them.
We live in a divided culture, and each side has taken their ideas, values, and ethics and attempted to spiritualize them. With amazing creativity and manipulation, we have taken secular humanism and branded it with God. We see this playing out on both sides of the political spectrum.
We have witnessed the Progressives/Liberals/The Left/Democrats spiritualize secular values around gender and sexuality, which has become the hotbed of division in the Church, e.g., gay marriage and gay clergy. The mega Methodist Church itself is about to split over such division.
We have also witnessed the Conservatives/Traditionalist/The Right/Republicans spiritualize secular values around gun rights, immigration, racism, and nationalism. These actions have created much hostility and confusion in our culture.
Both sides argue biblically for spiritualizing their secular human ideas, values, and ethics, and both sides are effective in their efforts. How has this impacted our culture? We are now more divided than we have ever been, and the West is experiencing a cold civil war and on the verge of another civil war, which is hard to fathom, but it’s true.
I believe Mahatma Gandhi had it right; religion and state should be separate and never mixed. Taking secular values and spiritualizing them (claiming God’s endorsement) and forcing them into our culture and the Church is not the will of God, and it’s outright dangerous. Secularists argue that God should be removed from our schools and the public square. Yet, at the same time, they argue for human rights, gender rights, sexuality rights, etc., and spiritualize their values and agendas to justify their actions and persuade the religious masses to bend their way. To be clear, the same arguments are valid for both sides of the political aisle. I could give countless examples on both sides to validate this point.
We live in a free society and enjoy the privilege to worship God as we understand God or not, which is incredible when you think about it. Hopefully, we are all extremely grateful for this freedom. Every legal citizen enjoys many rights and freedoms in the West. We all have values, ideas, and ethics for how the world should operate. Still, any attempt to endorse our secular values, ideals, ethics, and agendas by name-dropping God or spiritualizing them in any way by pointing to the Bible should be strongly discouraged and prohibited.
Our ways are not God’s Ways. We discover God’s ways by reading and studying the Word of God. It’s idolatry, dishonest, dishonoring, and an abomination to take secular values, ideals, ethics, and agendas and connect them to God’s Ways and Word. Here are some examples: There is no explicit instruction, rationalization, or justification for war, gay marriage, violence in any form, slavery, racism, sexism, the exclusion of foreigners, homelessness, starvation, imprisonment of the innocent, etc.; these values and ideas are not from God. They are from humans, meaning they are secular. Secular humanism is what it is; it’s merely an attempt to have things our way instead of God’s Way. Human efforts to live for themselves and by self-propulsion originate from the Garden of Eden. These attempts are not new by any sort; they have merely evolved.
All humans subscribe to worldly values, ideals, ethics, and agendas in some facet or another. Since that is the case, everyone is entitled to their opinion, to enjoy certain rights, and make their own decisions for how to live. There is a straightforward suggestion we must consider for the well-being of the world! We should not spiritualize our values to justify, rationalize, and push our beliefs into the world, especially inside the Church, and at the same time suggest that God is dead or never existed?
For example, if you are for war and violence, please don’t point to the Bible or God as an endorsement for your choices, etc.; it’s clear by looking at the life of Jesus through Scripture that God is anti-war and all about peace. Suppose you are for gay marriage; it’s your right, and from a secular position; it makes total sense, but please don’t spiritualize the idea by pointing to Scripture and twisting Scripture to endorse your values and agenda. There are no clear teachings in the Bible to suggest that God endorses gay marriage, sorry, especially to my many friends and acquaintances who are gay and support gay marriage. Again, it makes total sense from a secular perspective. I don’t stand in the way of this effort from a secular position, but please don’t spiritualize it by pointing to the Bible and looking for God’s endorsement; it’s a weak argument at best.
If I were the President of a secular society, e.g., America, civil unions for any two people (regardless of gender, sexuality, race, etc.) wishing to become a couple from a legal framework would make total sense. This policy would help assure that everyone experiences equality. It’s imperative to understand that just because we think our ideas are good and fair doesn’t mean God endorses them. It’s a hard pill to swallow, but God’s Ways are not our ways.
We all face the challenge of being human, which means we are fatally flawed and live in a failed state. None of us are perfect, nor do we have all the answers. God doesn’t love some of us more than others, nor is America God’s chosen people. God created the entire universe and pursues a personal relationship with every human being, but on God’s terms, not ours, which is hard when you live in a secular society. God asks us all to love God on God’s terms, to love others as ourselves on God’s terms, and to help change the world on God’s terms, not ours. Friends, it’s all about God, not secularism. We don’t live at Burger King, where we can have it our way all the time.
God is everything, or God is nothing; what is your choice to be? If God is everything, then surrender is a must. This commitment means you must put your will in line with God’s, even when it doesn’t mesh with the dominant secular culture. If God is nothing, then that is your choice, and you are free to live as such, especially if you live in the West. The BIG ask is, will you please stop reaching for the Bible to justify and spiritualize your values and behavior by twisting the Word of God to fit your plans, designs, and schemes? We need to bend God’s Way and stop trying to bend God our way!
God of all creation, thank You for this chance at life and to live in a free society. The majority of the world chooses to go it alone and forget about You all together until they need leverage and Your endorsement to further their agenda. Please forgive us, for we know not what we do. Would you please remove the scales from our eyes so that we may see You for who You truly are and submit our lives according to Your will and not our own? We need You more than ever; please make Yourself known to the world in a significant way. Use our lives, God, how You see fit, to help bring about Your Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. In Your Spirit and Name, we pray these things. May Your will not ours always materialize, now and forever. Amen.
Photo by Charlie Firth on Unsplash
Leave a Reply