The Kingdom of God is likened unto yeast, which permeates a loaf of bread and causes it to rise. If there is not yeast in the dough, the result is tortillas. Our culture has manifestly lost much of its yeastiness over the last few decades, and although we are markedly more Christian in some respects than our brethren in Europe, we are also in grave danger of becoming a flatbread culture like they have become. A culture where right and wrong, truth and lies, are all flattened into a tortilla of subjectivity. We end up with moral relativity at all levels and in all branches of society.
As we look at the stories which Hollywood produces, we can bemoan the fact that it is generally full of smut. We can wag our heads at the swampishness of D.C. We can scold the Frankenstein efforts of scientists as they mix pigs with humans. We can flee to the hills as technology brings GMO foods to our tables. We can stuff our dollars into our mattresses as we see Wall St. economists perpetuating their greedy system of debt.
[epq-quote align=”align-right”]The problem is that many Christians have the tendency to bite their fingernails off in the backseat of our society, as reckless secularists ride madcap hither and yon![/epq-quote]The problem is that many Christians have the tendency to bite their fingernails off in the backseat of our society, as reckless secularists ride madcap hither and yon! Rather than being in the position to ride the brakes in some arenas, or step on the gas in other directions, we have consigned ourselves to the fact that our role is simply to fret loudly from the back of the bus.
Psalm 37 reminds us three times (Ps. 37:1, 7-8) to “fret not” because of evil-doers, or him that prospers in his evil way, or whether we should join in the wickedness. That is the warning. But positively, what we are in desperate need of is hundreds of thousands of young Christians who set their career path in this various fields with the ultimate goal of being the best economists, movie actors/producers/directors, novelists, journalists, statesmen, businessmen, doctors, scientists, designers, computer gurus, Generals, etc. This world is God’s and we are to take dominion of it. If we are content to continue to eat the fare of a flatbread culture, we must not complain that there aren’t any real loaves of bread around! If we are content to be along for the ride, we ought not complain as to the direction the bus is headed!
Instead, we ought to aim to saturate every area of life, and fill it with the truth of the Word of God, applying it to every advancement of technology. We must trust in a Sovereign God who is Lord over everything; and rather than be fearful and run to the hills, we ought to make it our aim to disciple the nations, while forming and shaping our respective communities into a poignantly Christian culture.