Lecture Week 8
What does it mean to follow Jesus in a secular world?
What is the truth and what does it mean to be a people that follows faithfully?
This week we learned what secular means and how can a biblical worldview be honored and walked out well through strengthening your YES to Jesus by understanding the depth and meaning of allegiance and covenant.
First, let's look at secularism, what it means, and how we separate it-
Secularism is the belief system of the world. To be alive in a secular world is to be in pursuit of self-identification.
You need to be true to yourself. -Your identity can't be found in you. You are uniquely created and this will only fully come alive through Jesus. Be true to the one who fully knows and created you.
You are free to live however you want as long as it does not harm. - We can't define what has moral authority without Christ.
No one has the right to define right from wrong. - God does!
Uncertainty is the expression of sincerity and honesty. - Truth is found in Him and is the foundation.
Pluralism and curated tolerance are the absolutes. - God tells us to love deeply but walk in boldness through the truth.
Happiness is the goal and pain is the enemy. - pain is a friend to you because it is an alarm system that something is wrong. Through Jesus, we can live for wholeness and we will find a life happiness could not touch.
The fruit of secular beliefs, deform, mislead, and shift. This has created a crisis of meaning.
in a secular world, the line between meaning and God is cut, but in this, the longing for meaning does not go away it just doesn't know where to land. With a biblical worldview, our creator and savior deem us meaningful. Therefore their meaning defines my meaning.
The desire for meaning is unifying, where do we often look for it?
Vocation - occupation: placing meaning in your job!
Relationships- your relationship is not a salvation. Marriage is not a rescuer. Friendship is a commitment and is not based on finding meaning.
The “self project” - visibility is not success- passion does not equal meaning.
Do not let the secular world deconstruct your faith and rebuild your identity in its values. Take the Yoke of Jesus - His yoke is easy and His burden is light. Take off the Yoke of the world. Build a firm foundation in Him and Him alone. Stand up for your generation. Follow Jesus and confront all the secularism within you. The Gospel of the secular world is in everything we consume - Don't pervert the Gospel to prefer you. Pain is not your enemy it is a gift that exposes your trust. Numbing pain becomes hardened with interest.
How do we walk into culture and be in it but not of it?
To say yes to Jesus means to say NO to all other allegiances.
This generation and this time period are different than all of history because it is the first time in the history of the world where God or religion was not a part of the world. They say this is the age of “Authenticity” but is the secular definition of authenticity biblical? Short answer no. Secularism desires to be present and honest with your emotions- aka sincere. But sincerity is who you are when you don't feel it! Our emotions are constantly lying to us. Don't buy into the idea that indulging in your emotions makes you authentic. Secularism is creating a drive for euphoria. Jesus is not a “drug” to feel good.
In a world where “uncertainty” has become the only universal “certainty”, we believe that Jesus is knowable and we can be certain about what He has revealed to us.
In a world that requires tolerance as absolute, we believe that Jesus had the only true vision of tolerance.
Jesus is Lord. He has authority. The New Testament is the authority of Jesus. To understand what Jesus has done we must understand the story that came before Him- The Old Testament, reveals the true nature of sin. Understand the depths that He died on the cross for our sins. To know Jesus as Lord is to know the Holy Spirit.
We are ALWAYS being formed. What are we being formed by? What are we a disciple of?
