Merely Christian

C.S. Lewis, one of my favorite thinkers, compiled Mere Christianity from a series of radio broadcasts in the 1940's. Much of the ground Lewis claimed in his defense of his belief in God was found in the argument from morality which was instrumental in his conversion from atheism to Christianity. Simply stated, the idea is that the universal presence of moral law in all people everywhere and in all times in history begs for a universal lawgiver. If a transcendent being has not implanted moral sensitivity in all humans, how else can you explain it?

According to a recent Fox News poll, fully ninety percent of Americans say they believe in God. Strangely, the same poll reports that about one third of Americans also believe in ghosts, UFOs, reincarnation and astrology. This combination of statistics leads to the unnerving conclusion that the god many Americans believe in is not the God of the Bible, or else they disregard much of what the Bible teaches. The poll also reveals that sixty-nine percent of Americans think religion plays too small a role in people’s lives today, while only fifteen percent saying it plays too large a role and seven percent say “about right.”

I suppose what might be taken from all these statistics is that seven out of ten Americans think their neighbors don't take the Bible seriously enough. Count me among the seven. Christian pollster George Barna has found that indicators of morality such as divorce, infidelity, and unmarried sexual activity are no less prevalent in respondents who claim to believe in God than in those who make no such claim. Circling back to Lewis' focus on the moral nature of God's presence in our universe, one wonders what value or encouragement is to be found in numbers that intimate a widespread belief in God, while simultaneously describing prevalent attitudes and behaviors of which He would strongly disapprove.

Are these multitudes of "believers" simply ignorant? Do they not recognize the fine moral distinctions present in God's revealed Word as normative and proscriptive? Can it be that they just don't know how to behave? Or is it more likely that they know, but lack the proper motivation or incentive to change their behavior? Is the disappearance of the Sunday school, the evening service and the mid-week Bible study a result of Christians' lack of commitment to learn more about God, or is it the cause of the complacency with regard to the moral demands of Scripture?

I long to see the kind of hunger which exists in many mission fields. Where people find learning about God most difficult, it seems they are most passionate. I do not wish ill times on my country, but I wonder if we will not repent and revive until some disaster, natural or political, drives us to our knees, to our Bibles for the Bread of Life. To the church who said they were rich and in need of nothing, Jesus replied that in fact they were "wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked." He begged them to "buy from me gold refined in the fire [His truth]... and white garments [His righteousness, moral purity.]" They were to "be zealous and repent." He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to America.