Secularizing Your Home?

 

Secularizing Your Home?

Colossians 2:8-10

 

Clearly, we must stay alert against false ideas, guard against clever notions that are traps, mere human rules, and worldly systems so they do not take our minds hostage or steal our faith in the Lord Jesus. Genuine faith remains anchored in Christ, who holds all the fullness of God and complete authority.

The supposed “new morality” has led to a serious breakdown in traditional Judeo-Christian morality affecting the American family.  In fact, this moral shift has resulted in a tremendous increase in sexually transmitted diseases (STD), illegitimate births, and abortions.  No-fault divorces create millions of single-parent families that have inherent difficulties.  Mothers entered the workforce by the millions, and latchkey kids became a national concern. Homosexual behavior, palimony, family violence, date rape, pornography, sexual harassment, drug and alcohol addiction, alternative family lifestyles are some of the additional problems resulting from the disintegration of traditional morality. The ‘new morality’ has ushered in a age of deterioration throughout society.

The average person should be concerned about changes in the family because the family does not exist in a vacuum. It is interrelated with four other basic institutions of society: religious, economic, governmental, and educational institutions. Changes in the family will dramatically affect others in our society.

Many changes take place in the family when the wife enters the workplace.  The two-worker family is the most profound change in family life in the twentieth century.  This change is driven by materialism and industrialization. The result is pressure for changes in marital roles, the division of labor in the family, and child care, and it is creating new perceptions of self in both men and women. After the Industrial Age, our society shifted into the Information Age (or Digital Age) in the mid-to-late 20th century. This negatively impacts families by reducing meaningful face-to-face communication, blurring the boundaries between work and home life, and contributing to behavioral or sleep issues in children.

Geographical mobility has also affected the American family.  Immigration from northern and southern Europe not only populated the industrialized cities of America, but they also brought their own customs, traditions, values of family life in their homeland and tried to preserve these as much as possible.  The same could be said for the people groups immigration from Asia and Latin America, thus shaping the landscape of the ‘American family’ across the country. There has also been a significant amount of internal migration in America during times like the Great Depression, and post WWII which accelerated the urbanization of America.  But this also left children without the knowledge of relatives, lasting friendships with neighbors and peers.  Thus, producing a “generation without roots;” many young people have very little sense of belonging to a close knit kin group with whom they can identify.

What is secular humanism?  How does it differ from humanitarianism?  From the humanities? A good working definition of secular humanism by quoting Webster, “a system of doctrines and practices that reject any form of religious faith and worship.”  The term secular humanists have been used to identify those who would remove religious influence from the institutions of American society.   In addition, others describe humanists thusly, “In their self-definition God does not exist, and it is a destructive illusion to believe in him.  They promote a way of life that systematically excludes God and all religion in the traditional sense.”

It is also interesting to note that humanist masquerade as humanitarians, but their belief is actually anti-human and they are the number one enemy of the traditional family. A true humanitarian will promote human welfare and social reform, but secular humanism inspires destructive relativistic value systems, divorce, remarriage, serial polygamy, rejection of biblical authority, situation ethics, hedonism, and extremes forms of women’s liberation, legalizing abortion, and the elimination of marriage.  There are four basic convictions that distinguish secular humanism from Christian humanism, “confidence in God in Christ; supernatural worldview; the power of Christ acting through the church; and incarnational humanitarianism.”  Francis Schaeffer insisted that the conflict is between the Judeo-Christian view of God with absolute values of right and wrong and a humanistic system “with only personal, arbitrary, relative values.”  The current conflict between Christianity and humanism is the age-old struggle between God and Satan, right and wrong, darkness verses light, sin against righteousness.

We may wonder about the impact of television viewing on the American family, and how it contributes to the violence in American culture…. The impact of television on the American family is a net negative.  Since television programming is largely influenced by secular humanism, it is a moral descent from filth, smut, and innuendo into serious depravity. It is their aim to destroy the country’s moral fiber and with it the traditional family. They manipulate this communication tool to control the way people think and over exposure to secular input is “dangerous.”  Many parents use the television as a babysitting method, but this exposes the children to sex, profanity, and violence.  This is one of the leading causes of aggressive behavior in preschool children according to the National Institute of Mental Health.  In addition, the violence viewed on television is being carried out in the homes, schools, and streets of the nation.  Generally, young people are desensitized to violence; this is presently a cultural reality in America.

There are several noteworthy advantages of the home computer in changing the way the American family operate.  They can be used in record keeping, storing recipes, and keeping weekly schedules.  They are also used in home-based businesses and home entertainment in the form of video games.  Word processing is a common usage also; an individual can work at home and transmit his finished product via phone line to another state or even around the world. This development allows women to be with their young children as they earn a living while staying home. Computers are also being used in modern education to prepare young people for their place in the information age.

There are some disadvantages to using the home computer we must be aware of.  It may permit one to come home from the office at a decent hour, but only to spend several hours working projects from work. With regards to entertainment, personal computers can be a source of anything available on the worldwide web.  This further exacerbate the problems with television viewing: exposure to sex, violence, pornography, and profanity.  Children can become vulnerable to sexual predators on the internet posing as young people on youth connection sights.  Any tool or technology that can be used for good could potentially be manipulated for dark purposes also. 

Christians should be concerned about governmental family policies because such social policies affect the home.  These policies help set the rules of the game—the stakes, the risks, the payoffs, the tradeoffs, and the strategies for making a living, and raising a family.  Laws, regulations, and restrictions will affect the family from birth to death; therefore, social policy must be of great interest to the Christian. 

Governmental family policies do affect my family as with other Americans.  Proposition 8 in the state of California was passed to define marriage in a traditional manner; that is as between a man and a woman. On Election Day, the voters spoke with great clarity and rejected the notion of same sex marriage in the state. This affects my family because it signified that Americans generally still regard marriage in a traditional manner.  Even in the very liberal state of California this is true; the people do not want to redefine marriage in radical secular progressive terms. These developments basically reinforce what I have expressed time and again in the context of my family and church.  It was encouraging to see the general populous in California still hold heterosexual marriage as the natural, legal, and legitimate union and nucleus of the family and society by extension.  Historically, we understand that California’s policies can eventually influence the rest of the nation.  In the past this has been more negative than positive, but this time it’s clearly good.

The government’s policies regarding Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security have been greatly beneficial to my family also.  Both my wife’s and my parents are retired and dependent on these services. There have been instances when we have assisted them financially because of special needs, but they retain their independence largely because of these programs.  Our financial gifts to them for the most part are for birthdays and anniversaries; they are acts of love and generosity and not necessity.  In addition, we have peace of mind that our parents’ medical needs were/are being adequately addressed. 

Is there a contrast between the secular home and the Christian home?  Which term describes your home? The secular home can be defined as the one which leaves God out of their lives.  Their values are humanistic and materialistic and there is never a need for God in any facet of their life. The same can be said for the nominal Christian family. They may attend church and use some Christian terms, but essentially, they too exclude God from every other facet of their existence.  A Christian home, however, is an entirely different creature because it gladly welcomes God and the Bible into every aspect of their lives. They cherish a relationship and warm fellowship with the Lord and they freely interact with each other in a manner that is pleasing to God and chose the Bible as the source of their values.  A truly Christian family does have distinguishing features.  It is where the Lord Jesus Christ is loved by all members and is overtly demonstrated to each other.  This bond of love manifests itself in various ways: harmonious relationships, family worship, regular church attendance, active witnessing to friends and neighbors, service to the Lord in the local church and in the community.

Lastly, we want to honestly say that our homes are Christian homes because we do embrace Judeo-Christian values and cherish a relationship with God through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ.  We do have private and family devotions and regularly attend church when the doors are open.  We sustain an active witness to unsaved family members, colleagues, friends, and strangers. The Bible is not only respected but followed with good application in many facets of our family life.  While there certainly are numerous areas where we need to improve, we can recognize good progress over the years.  

God presents the home as a spiritual foundation centered on Him, contrasting a faithful household with secular or ungodly residences.

• Psalm 127:1, says that “except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it,” meaning a home lacking a spiritual foundation with God fails to endure in a true sense.
• Matthew 7:24-27, contrasts a wise man who builds his house upon a rock (hearing and doing Christ’s sayings) with a foolish man who builds his house upon the sand, representing secular or unstable foundations that collapse under pressure.
• Joshua 24:15, famously declares, “as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord,” establishing the intentional choice required by believers to reject secular alignment in their domestic lives.
• Romans 12:2 instructs us believers not to be conformed to this world, which extends to maintaining a household culture distinct from secular ideas.
• Colossians 2:8, reminds us, “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.”

We are warned to avoid being captured or cheated by false teachings, human traditions, and worldly ways of thinking that pull us away from the complete sufficiency of Jesus Christ. Child of God, we must test every cultural trend, worldview, and spiritual idea against the truth of the gospel. We are warned that in Christ “dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” reminding us that we already have everything we need in Jesus and do not need worldly ideas. Therefore,

·                 Remain Rooted in Christ: we grow strong by staying close to Jesus anchored in loving obedience to Him every day.

·                 Trust Him for All Fullness: Christ gives us everything we need to live a complete life for His honor and glory.

·                 Regard Jesus Who Has All Authority: Jesus Christ holds supreme power and absolute rule over everything—complete right to rule and absolute jurisdiction over all domains. His supreme rule extends both to spiritual and physical realms, as affirmed in Matthew 28:18! Beloved, intentionally submit to Jesus!

This supreme status was formally affirmed and given after Christ’s victory over death and the grave. God the Father granted such honor because Jesus lived a sinless life and atoned for our sin. Beloved, knowing his power and authority removes doubt and provides God’s constant presence throughout each day. Beloved, genuine faith remains anchored in Christ, who holds all the fullness of God and complete authority. It is clearly alright to trust Him with your home and future!