Christian Education - An Invaluable Imperative in Today’s World

The ushering in of the Information Age and its concomitant flow of a preponderance of views and opinions have led to enlightenment and also attempts to debase what were considered sacrosanct. Specifically, some of the latter have targeted the inspired Word of God and its resultant effect on Christian living and witness.

Perhaps, predictive of an unintended consequence of the proliferation of information on Christianity were the words of the late General William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, who lived between 1829 and 1912.

In providing a partial description of the hostile world in which we are commanded to proclaim the Gospel, Booth noted that “The chief danger that confronts the coming century will be religion without the Holy Spirit, Christianity without Christ, forgiveness without repentance, salvation without regeneration, politics without God, heaven without hell.” These predictions characterise the post-modern worldview that is pervading every facet of our society and are unrelenting features of the Information Age.

Further, two national surveys conducted by the Barna Research, one among adults and one among teenagers, asked the respondents if they believed that there are moral absolutes that are unchanging or that moral truth is relative to the circumstances. By a 3-to-1 margin (64% vs 22%), adults said truth is always relative to the person and their situation. Among the teenagers, 83% said moral truth depends on the circumstances, and only 6% said moral truth is absolute. Among born again adults, 32% said they believed in moral absolutes, while among teenagers, only 9% of those born again believed in moral absolutes.

With regards to moral decision making, the surveys asked people to indicate the basis on which they made moral and ethical decisions. Surprisingly, by far the most common basis for moral decision-making was doing whatever felt right or comfortable in a situation. Nearly four out of ten teenagers (38%) and three out of ten adults (31%) described that as their primary consideration.

Further, it should be noted that among adults, only 13% based their moral decision-making on the basis of principles taught in the Bible, while 7% of teenagers said their moral choices were based on biblical principles.

Moreover, Barna noted in that research that substantial numbers of Christians believe activities such as abortion, gay sex, sexual fantasies, cohabitation, drunkenness and viewing pornography

by Dr Wilbert Lee

are morally acceptable. Barna opined with pinpoint accuracy that without some firm and compelling basis for suggesting that such acts are inappropriate, people are left with philosophies such as ‘if it feels good, do it,’ ‘everyone else is doing it’ or ‘as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone else, it is permissible.’

These pronouncements and findings from research are of obvious concern to us all. Accordingly, teaching uncompromisingly and with focused intentionality the unadulterated Word of God in families, churches, and Christian Colleges like the Assemblies of God in Guyana Bible College, which was established in 1961, must be intensified in all related areas.

The utility of such focused teaching is an absolute necessity if our Christian community hopes to have and maintain any distinctiveness in our culture. In these last days, God has communicated clearly, through His Word and by His Son Jesus Christ, moral principles that we must internalise as the basis of our thoughts and actions, regardless of our preferences, feelings or situations. In other words, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work,” 2 Timothy 3:16-17.

Like the children of Issachar, we have not only been made patently aware of the perilous times in which we live through the proliferation of information that is inimical to our Christian walk but more importantly, we need to know how to act.

Undoubtedly, teaching and more teaching of the Word of God, in and out of season, is a certain counterfoil to our existential challenges.

References

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/291048-the-chief-dangerthat-confronts-the-coming-century-will-be https://www.barna.com/research/americans-are-most-likely-tobase-truth-on-feelings/