Spiritual Erosion

This morning a word came into my mind–yet another random thought–a condition with which I am afflicted.  I wonder, is some 12 Step program to help me with this?  It has served me well at times, so I guess I will allow this condition to continue.  Oh?  The word?  OK, it’s erosion.  One definition says:

the gradual destruction or diminution of something

In case you were wondering (I know I was) about that word diminution , here’s that definition:

a reduction in the size, extent, or importance of something.

The word “erosion” hit me this morning during the news.  Tropical Storm Gordon, flooding alerts, another teen shot in Birmingham, a mother arrested in Florida for the death of her 2-year-old child are just some of the stories that caused this word to invade my gray matter.  Most people think of erosion as something that happens to dirt and rocks.  But there is another type of erosion–spiritual erosion–that is far more dangerous and even more deadly.

I can’t remember exactly when I heard the term “Post-Christian Culture” but I am keenly aware that it exists.  My definition of “Post-Christian Culture” is as follows:

The loss or dismissing the values of  the Kingdom of God

Can you handle the truth?  Here it is:  The values and ethics of God’s Kingdom are no longer the dominant influence on our culture.  Over the years, as people who claimed allegiance to Jesus became passive, silent, or even worse–the consumers of what the church produces–it created an ethics and values vacuum.    Aristotle once hypothesized “horror vacui” which means Nature Abhors a Vacuum.  In other words, nature can’t stand for any space to be empty.  When lightning forms it creates a vacuum, so air rushes in to fill that vacuum, thus creating thunder.

It’s not just nature–but human beings also abhors a vacuum.  Way back in March 2009, Dr. Leon Seltzer wrote an article for Psychology Today titled “Human Nature Abhors A Vacuum”.  He wrote, “We humans crave stimulation, and on many different levels. To experience ourselves as fully alive, we all have various “arousal requirements”–“whether physical, mental, emotional, social, or spiritual.”  A little further into his article he makes this astute observation:

“…I’ve become acutely aware of how experiencing an inner vacuum can lead people to make poor life choices, especially in relationships.”

We are in a Post-Christian culture because the values of God’s Kingdom and Rule are noticeably absent in the American culture.  A vacuum of solid and proven values and ethics have left, creating the vacuum.  To fill that values/ethics vacuum, people are turning anywhere, everywhere to fill that void.  Entitlement, selfishness, disregard for consequences, blame, hate, distrust….and the list goes on to what has filled that values/ethics void created when people stopped being followers of Jesus and opted more for a fan or casual relationship.  “Jesus, I need just enough of you to avoid hell.  That’s all.”

So, how do we change the current values and ethics environment we find our culture in?  May I suggest we do what Jesus did and continues to do.  Infuse the values and ethics of the Kingdom of God, once again.  Here’s a list of ways we can do this, and if you have others ways, please share them in the comments section:

1. Tip servers at 20%, or more
2. Call the clerk, associate, cashier by their name if they are wearing a name tag
3. Stop being a consumer of what the church does–be a producer
4. Give up you place in the checkout line to the person behind you
5. Put your cellphone on vibrate mode when in a waiting room and wait to call the person back
6. Smile, smile a lot, especially in the presence of grumpy people
7. Refuse to judge someone by their external features.  In fact, be friendly to them and get to know them
8. Help someone do something
9. Get acquainted with your neighbors
10. Volunteer with some outreach program
11. Accept and be glad that you are not entitled to anything
12. Work hard for something you want
13. Accept responsibility and even the blame when do something wrong
14. Admit you’re not always right, and certainly not perfect
15. Offer to take someone to lunch on Sunday, right after the Worship Service
16. In church, sit next to someone you don’t know, and strike up a conversation
17. When someone lashes out at you–respond with kindness and grace, not more heated words.
18. Care about God’s creation by being a good steward of this earth
19. Find common ground with others–hey, at the very least, we are all sinners.  That’s a great place to begin
20. Simplify your lifestyle–don’t go into deep debt for the latest “toy”
21. Do one random act of kindness a day–if someone sees your act of kindness, it doesn’t count–so keep doing it until no one notices
22. Better yet, do random acts of kindness even if no one notices
23. Read the Bible and ask: “What does this say to me?  About me?”
24. Pray–not with churchy “King James” words, but as if you were talking with your best friend, because HE wants to be your best friend
25. Allow someone to merge into traffic
26. Freely forgive even if–especially when–they don’t deserve it
27. At the fast food drive thru, pay for the person’s purchase behind you (I got this one from a Christian radio station)
28. Excuse yourself from conversations that are rude, ugly or lewd
29. Slow down and do something relaxing
30. Love God with all your heart, mind and life
31. Love others the way Jesus loves you
32. Make sure all the glory and credit goes to God for everything good

I could go on, but what specific things can you do to change the Values and Ethics of our culture?  Please post in the comments….

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