No, I am not talking about the petroleum problems, or the weather and how the government needs to regroup their forces. And neither am I trying to build a case from my own observations although I have attempted to comment on similar themes in past journals. Dr. M. Scott Peck’s book, A World Waiting to be Born, (1993 Bantam Books, ISBN 0-553-37317-X) uses the very same words in the heading of this essay – “Something Is Seriously Wrong”.

It is my hope to present some fresh thoughts in our minds as we examine the church and society – and how our lives are affected (or should be). Dr. Peck’s book has for a sub-title: Civility Rediscovered. Now that is something I have thought about and also written about. The word casual has taken hold onto our society in epidemic proportions.

Civility is not the only thing that needs to be rediscovered. In our sophisticated society, or culture, there is much that we have let go by the wayside simply because of our technology. We use watches instead of our brains. We use stop-lights and trust in them instead of good judgment and common sense. Have you ever watched a flock of birds “flushed up en mass” from their perches and saw them circle the area that they just came from? Did you every wonder why they do that? I did and I asked an expert in ornithology, “Why do birds do that?” Simple – they are getting their readings or magnetic data together. They are plotting their course and the basis of where they are. Most new drivers do that, or at least my wife did when she began driving around 40 years of age. She would plot her whole trip to the grocery, doctor or bank. She wanted to avoid certain places – a lot of traffic mostly and you see, she was getting her bearings and readings all set before she left our driveway.

The American Indians, or any Indian on any continent didn’t have watches so they used their heads. Could they have noted what the shadows were like? How dark was it? What were the clouds like? On and on they would “get their bearings” and “read the signs of nature”. They didn’t eat by the clock either but when they were hungry they would just pick a few berries on the way. It is probably not out of order to consider the axiom, “Use it or lose it.” – we have lost a lot of our innate abilities because of our dependency upon technology.

Although Martin Luther once described the technology of printing as “God’s highest act of grace, whereby the business of the Gospel is driven forward.” Luther understood, as Gutenberg did not, that the mass-produced book, by placing the Word of God on every kitchen table, makes each Christian his own theologian – one might even say his own priest, or better, from Luther’s point of view, his own pope.” [From Neil Postman’s “TECHNOPOLY”, pg. 15] Neil Postman pondered the excesses or dangers of technology in his writings and yet in another book he wrote: “Can we blame those who want to find an easy way, through the agency of technology? Perhaps not, after all, it is an old quest. As early as 1918, H. L. Mencken (although completely devoid of empathy) wrote: ‘…there is no sure-cure so idiotic that some superintendent of schools will not swallow it. The aim seems to be to reduce the whole teaching process to a sort of automatic reaction, to discover some master formula that will not only take the place of competence and resourcefulness in the teacher but that will also create an artificial receptivity in the child.’…” (Neil Postman’s “The End of Education” (Redefining the value of school.) Knopf Publishing, N.Y., Page 49)

Technology is great but it doesn’t make a very good or dependable god – especially when a storm caused from natural circumstances like hot air and cold air clashing together making wind powerful enough to snap electric power poles in two like toothpicks. Like the TV ads of a few years back, “It’s not nice to fool [with] Mother Nature.” (Those ad writers were smarter than they realized.) In this past year it was “discovered” that people who built their houses below sea level ultimately lost the war with nature. But you see, “nature” has the upper hand in this card game of life. We are the temporary inhabitants who came along “redesigning” the shores and banks to improve upon Nature’s designs!

The Christian apologist and author, John Clayton, wrote:

“Much of the hostility to Christianity today stems from the militant political control that some have attempted to develop in the name of Christianity. Instead of trying to win people over by love, support and service, many religious leaders are crusading for political and financial power to force the agendas they believe in. When politics and money are the driving forces behind religious change, it will fail [and should always be suspect]. The fruits of the Spirit are what will change the world – not religiously acceptable laws. Christianity will change the world by changing the hearts and minds of people including those who make and enforce the laws.”
(DOES GOD EXIST? September/October 2005, Vol. 32, No. 5, Page 17) For further writings of John Clayton, use the following url – http://www.doesgodexist.org/

THE WORDWRIGHT