We live in a world where one of the few constants in life is change. I recently read media theorist Douglas Rushkoff’s book, Present Shock: When Everything Happens Now. It captures quite effectively the unsettledness and disorientation many feel in our postmodern, post-Christian, media-saturated culture. Rushkoff’s analysis is brilliant, but he offers few solutions and little comfort in a world of religious skepticism, moral/cultural progressivism and animosity toward traditional values and religious convictions.

I have come to appreciate David French, a columnist for the New York Times and an evangelical Christian. Writing in one of the most liberal newspapers in America, his voice is surprisingly refreshing and wise. Recently, he wrote a column highlighting the difference between a libertarian and a libertine.

Former Republican senator from Missouri, John Danforth, recently wrote, “Since the end of World War II, Republicans have stood firm against Russian designs in Europe. Now, populists have injected an isolationist element into the party.” The Economist also observed that “in place of a foreign policy that saw America as a protector of freedom and democracy is a new doctrine of America First that shuns allies (barring Israel) and would give up on the Ukrainians fighting off a Russian invasion even when no American soldiers are at risk . . . Although [Ronald] Reagan remains beatified within the party, the institutions he was aligned with have changed.” The party now stands for protectionism, isolationism and nativism.

Psalm 1 is one of my favorite Psalms, for it makes clear that life is about choices and, in effect, there are only two paths to choose in life—the path of a walk with God or the path of rejecting, defying God. Each choice has profound, eternally significant consequences. I have returned to this Psalm many times over the years—but especially now in 2023 when things seem to be in such a mess. Even though the human race has amassed immense knowledge, now accessible via the Internet, we seem incapable of stopping the pain we inflict on ourselves and on one another. Wars, dysfunction, disorder and chaos describe our culture, our world—and even many of our families and communities. We cannot halt “the path of the wicked,” this repetitive path that leads to the “way of evil” and “deep darkness.”

Former President George W. Bush recently wrote this defense of PEPFAR (President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief): “When I took office in 2001, the situation with HIV/AIDS on the African continent and elsewhere was dire. A group of advisers including Condi Rice, Josh Bolten and Mike Gerson encouraged me to act before an entire generation was lost.

The church of Jesus Christ is living in an age of turmoil. How we respond to this turmoil is indicative of our faith and our view of God. Often, we as Christians give the appearance of loving the world and the things of the world, the reason I began this Perspective with a quote from 1 John 2. Furthermore, we often give in to the quest for power and allow the “deceitfulness of sin” to shape our decisions and goals for this life—the reason I quoted from Hebrews 3.

Gerard Baker of the Wall Street Journal makes this astute observation: “At the heart of America’s political and cultural turmoil is a crisis of trust. In the space of a generation, the people’s confidence in their leaders and their most important institutions to do the right thing has collapsed. The federal government, big business, the media, education, science and medicine, technology, religious institutions, law enforcement and others have seen a precipitous decline. As public faith in the performance, credibility and integrity of these institutions has collapsed, so too has mutual trust—the social glue that holds the country together. Americans have become suspicious of one another, distrusting their fellow citizens as much as they distrust foreign adversaries.”

Anyone who is intellectually honest can only reach the conclusion that American civilization, morally and ethically, manifests a depravity and decadence that permeates almost everything. There is polarization, anger and bitterness. There is confusion, dysfunction and moral chaos. There is loneliness, isolation and seclusion fostered and enhanced by the social media phenomenon so pervasive within our civilization. Public education is adrift in terms of curriculum, the absence of discipline and the depressing results of the basic requirements of life—reading and math skills. Columnist David Brooks laments all of this in a recent essay declaring that American civilization now lacks a reliable vehicle for what he calls “moral formation.” In this Perspective, I want to quote extensively from this essay and then offer a conclusion sourced in Scripture.

One of my favorite columnists is Ross Douthat, who writes for the New York Times. Douthat is a devout Roman Catholic and has written extensively on his faith and the Church. I do not always agree with some of his theological conclusions, but I am usually challenged by his insights. Recently, he wrote on the theological and cultural divisions within his Church—between the “liberal Catholic” and the more conservative Catholic on certain cultural issues. The typical “liberal Catholic” is pushing for greater accommodation of the Church to the broader culture. Among other things, they argue, this is a necessary step for the Church to remain relevant in this postmodern world.

If you ask the typical evangelical Christian in America the question, “do you believe that humans are basically good or bad,” most would affirm that humans are basically bad or what Scripture calls sinners. We are born sinners and that is why we need the salvation that Jesus offers. He died a substitutionary death and was resurrected, conquering sin, Satan and death. He is our only hope and our only deliverance from the ravages of sin. It is difficult to trust humans as a result.