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So justice is driven back, and righteousness stands at a
distance; truth has stumbled in the streets, and honesty cannot
enter. Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil
becomes a prey. The Lord looked and was displeased that
there was no justice.
Isaiah 59:14-15
In the fall of 2001, shortly after the terrorist attacks, a biotechnology firm announced that it had successfully created the first cloned human embryo. This in and of itself raises a host of moral questions, but perhaps the most disturbing aspect of this announcement was the company’s express intention to utilize the technology for growing and harvesting “spare parts.”
In the words of the company’s CEO the cloned embryos represented “human cellular life, not a human life,”1 and with this statement he summarily reduced these tiny human beings to nothing more than natural resources, mere “things” to be used however we see fit. So whereas the abortion debate effectively reduced the value of human life to that of animals—equating unwanted babies to excess puppies or kittens that are “put to sleep”—this declaration reduced the value of human life to that of plants, little more than “trees” to be harvested and used for our benefit.
So much for being made in the image of God…
Perhaps the most astonishing thing about this milestone, though, was its uncanny timing. It came at a moment in our nation’s history when we felt threatened and vulnerable, and so we had rightly turned to God and beseeched Him to rise up and save us from our enemies. The irony, of course, is that we sought out His protection and His blessing even as we continued to marginalize Him as well as His precepts:
- The institution of marriage is under attack, and norms on sexuality and marriage have become virtually meaningless.
- Moral standards have become little more than moving targets, and ethics are increasingly defined in terms of what is technically “legal”…rather than what is right.
- The value of human life has been reduced to a matter of personal preference and convenience, such that abortion on demand is seen as a right, euthanasia is seen as a virtue, and destroying embryos to harvest their stem-cells is seen as a must.
- Our courts continue to restrict any public recognition of God by selectively parsing the Constitution to create “rights” that were never intended by our founding fathers.
- Meanwhile, our elected leaders stonewall the appointment of judges who appear to be “too religious.”
So much for gratitude! “God Bless America!”…just don’t expect us to change our ways.
It is truly astounding when you put it all into perspective, because this cloning “breakthrough” highlights how little has really changed since the Garden of Eden. Remember what tripped up Adam and Eve? They were seduced by the prospect of attaining knowledge that would make them God’s equal, and our relentless pursuit of knowledge—regardless of the moral implications—shows that we are still striving to be “like God.”
Knowledge is Power?
Early on in the story, God looked down upon Babel and didn’t like what He saw. Remember the issue? Mankind was getting a little too self-impressed, having become preoccupied with glorifying
ourselves rather than our Creator. Consequently, God judged our arrogance by scattering us over the face of the globe and confusing our speech:
But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the men [of Babel] were building. The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”
So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city.
Genesis 11:5-8
Today, though, global telecommunications networks connect people instantly—no matter where they live—and the common language of business and science around the globe is English. So the very measures that God took to prevent mankind from doing “whatever we plan” have been ingeniously circumvented with time. As a result, we have indeed managed to make startling advances in all fields of science and technology.
Just think about some of the achievements in the 20th century: we harnessed the power of the atom, put men on the moon, and can now travel halfway around the world in less than a day. We’ve built computers that can perform trillions of calculations in less than a second, learned how to treat and cure all kinds of illnesses, developed artificial hearts, and we can even see inside someone’s body without having to operate. And this is just a sample!
On the surface, it’s hard to deny that our technological advancements have been beneficial for mankind: we have found ways to combat problems of sickness and disease, we are able to mitigate the scarcity of food and other material necessities, and we have even suppressed the ambitions of tyrants and would-be dictators. Arguably these are all good things, yet famine, disease, and even warfare are also some of the ways that God will discipline any people or nation
that would try to ignore Him. So in a very real sense, even the most admirable applications of our knowledge represent little more than mankind’s meager attempts to overcome the consequences of the Fall.
It’s not that knowledge or technology is inherently bad, the catch is that our achievements effectively deceive us by lessening our dependence upon God. Because after all, God’s solution to our problems is not the amassing of more and more knowledge, He wants us to faithfully obey Him and to rely upon His providence. Yet the more knowledge that we attain, the less we turn to God. For with each scientific breakthrough, we bolster our false sense of security and self-sufficiency by reinforcing the errant notion that we are ultimately able to deal with our problems…apart from God.
In reality, though, our technological feats have not been matched by similar gains in responsibility and righteousness. So not only does technology insulate us from God, but it simultaneously provides more powerful tools to a world that consistently finds ways to use them for evil. This is especially troubling when you consider that humanity has finally laid claim to knowledge that allows us to literally play God: we have unlocked the mysteries of life itself. We have
gained the ability to determine both when and how life will exist, which in turn has devalued the worth of human life. Because now that we have learned how to control it, we feel like we are entitled to define its meaning—hence, we end up with “human cellular life, not a human life.”
Indeed, while our collective progress in science and technology has certainly improved the lives of billions of people, it is sobering to consider the horror that could be unleashed if this same knowledge were to be used with malevolent intentions. For example, look at how our knowledge of medicine and pathology—which we have used to heal millions—has also been used to create biological weapons. There is clearly a dark side to progress, and the possibility that our technology might be used against us is the price that we pay for trying to do things “our way” instead of God’s way. As long as evil exists this potential is inescapable, and as history has repeatedly demonstrated, at some point its realization is virtually inevitable.
After all this time, then, isn’t it ironic that we’re still falling for the same lie that started it all? God set limits to human understanding at the outset, and the grand deception that launched our downward spiral is that those boundaries are not for our own good. In fact, we perceive any limitation not as a safeguard, but rather as a line that is meant to be crossed! Adam & Eve took the first step, and humanity has had an insatiable appetite for more ever since.
We are still trying to realize the objective of our original temptation, vainly pursuing knowledge as the means to make us “like God,” and while we’ve certainly accumulated a vast amount of knowledge, we are nonetheless lacking true wisdom. For if we had truly become wiser, we would see that the promise of becoming God’s equal is no less empty today than it was in the Garden of Eden. It has simply been repackaged to keep pace with the times…and it’s just as effective
as ever.
Go With the Flow?
At the same time, as our knowledge has grown, so too has society’s propensity to shift the boundaries between right and wrong. This descent into moral relativism is an unavoidable byproduct of progress, because each scientific advance gives rise to new possibilities—both good and bad. Consequently, as we attempt to figure out how to use our new-found capabilities, moral standards often become negotiable commodities that are redefined to accommodate what is possible rather than what is right.
When coupled with our natural tendency to disobey God, then, technology becomes an enabler. It isn’t necessarily the cause of our moral decline, but it certainly helps to accelerate it:
- Consider how the Internet has fueled the spread of pornography, which in 2005 was an industry that generated in the neighborhood of $13 billion in the US alone.2 To put that figure into perspective, it’s just about equal to the revenues of the NFL, the NBA, and Major League Baseball over the same period…combined.3
- What about the moral implications of embryonic stem cell research? Or cloning? These are completely new issues that didn’t even exist a generation ago, and we wouldn’t even be having the debate were it not for our advancements in medical science and technology.
- And consider how our advancements in medicine have not only made it easier to save lives, but also to take them. Whether we’re talking about assisted suicide or abortion—50 million and counting4 since it was legalized in 1973—technology has contributed to both the availability and the frequency of practices that devalue the worth of human life.
Sadly, things that would have seemed shocking twenty years ago are now accepted virtually without question, and things that would have been unthinkable fifty years ago are now part of everyday life—our morals and values are deteriorating at an alarming pace. When you put it all together, then, the record speaks for itself and testifies to an ominous truth about this country that we ignore to our own peril: the United States is not a Christian nation. We might like to think so, but remember that Jesus told us that we would know a tree by its fruit. Thus, even though the overwhelming majority of Americans identify themselves as Christians, our behavior and our
laws belie our spoken allegiance to God—actions really do speak louder than words.
We certainly have a rich Christian heritage in this country, but that heritage can no more save us than did the Pharisees’ vapid claim to being “children of Abraham.” Jesus rebuked them for putting their faith in being part of the Jewish nation, and will do the same to us if we appeal to living in a “Christian” nation as grounds for justifying our behavior and our actions. In other words, we had better make sure that we are measuring ourselves by God’s standard, not by society’s.
The problem is that our culture—which is increasingly anti-Christian—conditions us daily to accept certain behaviors and norms without question. It undermines our faith by promoting “normal” actions and beliefs that are anything but godly, and each successive generation only manages to take “normal” to a new low. So unless we are vigilant each and every day to resist the pull of the culture, we too will become progressively brain-washed over time. Why do you think Paul urges us to put on the full armor of God? He understood that we are bombarded continually with things that do nothing but chip away at our faith and weaken our bond with Christ!
Still, even if we do recognize the condition of the culture, too often we convince ourselves that we are basically immune from its effects. So like the alcoholic who thinks he is strong enough to take “just one more drink,” we flirt with temptations and things in this world telling ourselves all the while that “we can handle it.” But Paul knew better, and so should we:
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
Philippians 4:8-9
So do you have peace in your life? If not, then perhaps you should step back and consider the things you are truly meditating upon every day. For whether it’s through the movies and TV shows
we watch, the music we listen to, or the things we read, over time we become conformed to the ideas that we allow into our hearts and minds—whether good or bad. And without question, the vast majority of our popular entertainment is certainly far from being true, noble, pure, or virtuous!
Consequently, we should not be surprised that the peace of God seems elusive, because all too often we knowingly allow ourselves to be inundated by messages, beliefs, and values that only pull us away from God! Before long we find ourselves buried under a mountain of sin and defeat, discouraged in our walk with Christ, and reduced to empty shells of Christians whose witness to the world is invisible because we blend in so well.
But is this the kind of life we are called to as Christ’s followers? By no means! We are called to be “in the world” but not “of the world.” We are Christ’s witnesses, and as those who bear His name we are called to stand out from the culture, to shine as lights in the darkness.
You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.
Matthew 5:14-16 (NLT)
So where does the church stand today? Or more to the point, where do you and I stand? It’s pretty clear which road our culture is on, so which way are we heading? Are we trying to please God, or are we being dragged along with the culture? It’s one or the other, and the challenge that Joshua posed to the nation of Israel is just as relevant to each of us today: will we serve God or men?
Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord! And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell.
But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
Joshua 24:14-15 (NKJV)
And do not be fooled! For as Adam’s race continues its vain pursuit of autonomy through knowledge, we can be sure that our culture will become more hostile to God—not less. This can only mean difficult times ahead for a church—for Christians—who are truly being faithful to Christ:
If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated Me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.
John 15:18-19
Indeed, things are only going to get harder for Christ’s followers, not easier, and as the attacks on our faith and our rights intensify, the temptation will be to compromise on issues of morality. To soften our doctrine. To give up the fight for truth. This, however, is a recipe for disaster, both for the church as well as our nation. Because the closer we align ourselves with our culture, the more we alienate ourselves from God:
Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
James 4:4 (NKJV)
And I don’t know about you, but being counted as God’s enemy sure doesn’t seem like a good idea to me.
(Next–> The “Church in America”)
- “Human Embryo Created Through Cloning,” CNN.com/SCITECH November 2001, January 2002. ↩︎
- “Indications of a Slowdown in Sex Entertainment Trade,” The New York Times, July 2007. ↩︎
- “Special Report: NFL Team Valuations,” Forbes, August 2006.
“Baseball Team Valuations,” Forbes, August 2006.
“NBA Team Valuations,” Forbes, August 2006. ↩︎ - “Roe v Wade: 35 Years of Death and Destruction,” National Right to Life Committee, January 2008. ↩︎
Socratic Christianity 