Western apostasy grows worse each day.
In our society's obsession with selfishness, a lack of faith in God is becoming accepted as normal. Never has there been a more godless generation.
There is a sense in which atheism is understandable. Biological science has suggested that what we refer to as life and consciousness are just the products of incredibly complex chemical equations. Astronomy reduces our entire planet to a meaningless speck in the universe. And sociology documents the prostitution of religion to suit the needs of other forces in society.
But none of this answers fundamental questions about the universe's origins, or about humankind's destiny. None of it gives meaning to our existence or hope for our future.
We have found the teachings of Jesus to be like missing pieces in each of the sciences. They link together all the fragments of truth into a meaningful whole. They are so incredibly simple that even a child can be touched by them; and yet so intricate that no human being can claim to grasp them fully.
When Jesus said that people who hear his teachings and obey them are like wise people building their houses on a rock rather than on the sand, he could have been speaking to the intellectuals of our day as well as to the theologians of his day.
We have found that living by faith in God (rather than living by faith in money) is the key to understanding politics, religion, economics, and even the shortcomings in science. For wherever people excuse greed as a necessary and legitimate part of life, they invite deception and confusion.
Certainly the obsession with getting a piece of paper that will guarantee them a good income for life has blinded many students to the importance of actually understanding what they are learning. And corporate sponsorship of research institutes is making some of the world's most respected scientists into puppets for the multi-nationals. It is leading to a growing number of cases where there has been statistical falsification in research papers, in order to come up with the conclusions that their corporate sponsors seek.
This one teaching of Jesus (faith vs greed) could undo all these problems if people would take it seriously.
Add to that such profound teachings as the paradox of losing to win, the power of secret piety, the eventual salvation of the human race, the concept of other worlds and other dimensions, and you have in the teachings of Jesus, a window looking into the mysteries of the universe.
Jesus gave us answers to our dying world's (and our own personal) greatest needs. It is up to each of us personally as to what we will do with them.
(See also A Confession by Leo Tolstoy.)
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