The Word & the West: How the Radical Ideas of Jesus Christ Civilized Us

A funny thing happened on the way to the death of the Church! Quite suddenly, reasonable people are waking up to the formidable role Jesus Christ has played in civilization as we know it. Opinion leaders like Jordan Peterson, Elon Musk, and Joe Rogan are convinced our way of life requires the ideas of Christ. Richard Dawkins, once famous as an angry atheist, now calls himself a "cultural Christian." No, he hasn't been baptized or born again, but he recognizes the Christian Faith produced what we call Western Civilization.

It’s great news when influential voices concur that America’s strength rests on a particular set of ideas rooted in the Bible. Of course, the bad news is those essential truths are ignored or undermined today in public schools, pop culture, and even government policies! Until that changes, the future is not bright.

The Broad Path & the Narrow One

As long ago as 1943, C.S. Lewis warned that British schools and universities had already abandoned and replaced those core ideas. In essays that later became a book, he worried, “The old [school system] dealt with its pupils as grown birds treat young birds when they teach them to fly: the new deals with them more as a poultry keeper deals with young birds- making them thus or thus for purpose of which the birds know nothing.” Prophetically, he titled that little book, The Abolition of Man.

If the free world is to survive, men and women must once again rally around the distinctive ideas that set us free and gave us our wings in the first place. That kind of rational thought begins at home, cultivated by parents determined to raise responsible adults rather than mere privileged children. In Deuteronomy 6, God advocates for the constant reinforcement of character building in our children when sitting at home, on the road, lying down, or waking up.  In other words, routine conversation helps develop sound thinking and right living.

When the USA was still a place where Muslims, unbelievers, and followers of Christ could live together in harmony, it was a nation where public schools paid respect to the character teachings of Christ. America was a melting pot rather than a hotbed because of a broad consensus some ideas were core truth while others were simply opinions or fashions. It made sense that certain conditions were necessary for a democratic republic to thrive. Each culture has its charm, but not all cultures are equal in outcome.

Perhaps you recall the moment in 2003 when President George Bush justified the invasion of Iraq as a way to establish a stable democracy in the Middle East. This struck me (and many others) as a fool’s errand. Mr. Bush confidently delivered a speech refuting our concern that “the traditions of Islam are inhospitable to representative government.” Twenty-two awful years later, it should be evident to all that we cannot force democracy on nations that lack a particular, spiritual foundation.

The Secret Glue for Free People

This brings us to the tricky part. Short of requiring that everyone be baptized and enrolled in church or else, what is the bedrock for a civilized community? If many Americans were unbaptized and unchurched in the earliest days of the American colonies, what were those famous "self-evident truths" that carried the day?

Glen Scrivener begins his brilliant book, The Air We Breathe, with the odd assertion that goldfish don’t see the water that keeps them alive; they merely notice things in that necessary water. Then he asserts, “If you’re a Westerner- whether you’ve stepped foot inside a church or not, whether you’ve clapped eyes on a Bible or not, whether you consider yourself an atheist, pagan, or Jedi Knight- you are a goldfish, and Christianity is the water in which you swim.”

Most Americans don’t see the water of life that envelopes us, nurturing us, even propelling us forward. But if we are to survive as a people, we must remain in that water rather than leap to our death on the floor outside that bowl, seduced by strange ideologies.

Granted, the Lord Jesus never said much about democracy, but we are still a product of his ground-breaking words and example. When he spoke of holiness, he called for much more than going to a different temple: he demanded we follow a different path in pursuit of a higher purpose. The Sermon on the Mount casts that same vision for a way of seeing and living that seems futile to people without faith. When he counseled us, “Render unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar,” he set limits on the scope and authority of government. That was a new idea!

The Next Step

So what must you and I do? Would you like to join me for a few weeks to define some of the foundational ideas for a healthy republic like ours? For my part, I’ll summarize why they matter and how they can be traced back to the New Testament. And I’ll recommend remarkable books that have influenced me in my journey. What’s more, I’ll keep it brief: blogs you can read in five minutes each.

Here’s how you can engage. First, make your own list of a few core ideals adopted by our founders to birth a new nation and set it on track for greatness. Think about those principles and try to locate them in the words of Christ or the ideas of the Gospel. Make this a thought experiment for a season. Each week, compare your list to mine and comment below. Share your insights. Second, if this project resonates with you, please expand the conversation by forwarding the blogs to your friends on social media. We need a lot more people thinking about the principles of freedom and sharing them with others.

That’s all I’ve got for now. Our topic for next time is the radical idea of equality. You may not believe what an insane idea it was when Jesus first brought it up, and it's still misunderstood. Thanks for taking this journey with me.

For more straight talk and gospel insight, take a look at Timothy's

new book, The Epic Life: Revelation, Resistance, & Revival.

Or visit our website, TimothyFloydAuthor.com.