Step It Up — The World Awaits You!
“You are the salt of the earth…You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:13–16, NKJV).
“Critical thinking” has become a buzzword today as we are repeatedly told to address issues in a purely rational way. Whether it is a project to be undertaken or a problem to be solved, human reason has become the default approach. Those who pray for divine help are rebuked and ridiculed and told to use their intelligence to solve their problems.
No doubt, critical thinking is an essential human ability that must be used. But if it is all we have, there may be little hope for the world. It has been 400 years since the Enlightenment, or Age of Reason, which began the wholesale advocacy and pursuit of knowledge through purely human reason and physical observation. Given the present situation of the world, the Enlightenment has clearly not been an ace shot.
The problem is, despite its fundamental benefits, the Enlightenment inherently denied God’s ongoing involvement in the world and the relevance of divine revelation. Its global impact suppressed man’s spiritual evolution and awareness and his potential for accessing the vast resources of the spiritual realm. Popular search for knowledge became purely rationalistic and systematic, limited to the scientific method. Anything that deviated from this protocol was discredited and shamed as “pseudoscience,” which literally means fake knowledge.
The often-unrecognized tragedy of the Enlightenment is that, despite our significant technological advances, humanity continues to struggle in some of the most essential areas of life. Man has accomplished much in the physical sciences, but he lags far behind in the biological and social sciences. Despite our amazing gadgets, sickness and disease, conflict and strife continue to afflict humanity. The world’s unrealized aspirations in these areas of healthcare and global society building cannot be divorced from man’s compromised spiritual insight and development. Man is a living soul, and something more than the scientific method is required for his ultimate realization.
Scripture teaches, “But there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding” (Job 32:8, KJV). Man has a critical spiritual component, and his highest understanding for addressing his most personal issues can only be achieved by inspiration or communication with the Almighty’s reservoirs of knowledge and power (Psalm 82:5). Until we correctly rediscover and begin to exploit our spiritual potentials, the world will continue to struggle in some critical areas.
As Christians, we should not wait until the world gets its act together. Even now can we begin to intentionally invest in our spiritual development so that we may be the “firstfruits” of spiritual renewal and agents of transformative “regeneration” in the world (Matthew 19:28; Romans 8:22–23). Christ said, “You are the salt of the earth…You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:13–16; see also 1 Peter 2:9–10). We have fallen short in our fulfillment of this mandate, and the key to the spiritual insight needed for us to step up our act is an intensive pursuit of the Lord’s promise, “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13, NKJV).
While the global “salt’ and “light” mission of the saints of God empowered by the Spirit primarily involves bringing others to a saving knowledge of Christ, it is more than that. It includes a comprehensive response to the diverse troubles presently afflicting humanity. The world earnestly needs and awaits us! “For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (Romans 8:19–21, ESV).
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