Category: Culture at Midnight

What is the “Eden State”? It is a nation that believes the self-evident rights of its citizens are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. These rights — privileges — were precisely the ones bestowed on the first humans. And we all know how that turned out. Perhaps we are on the precipice of a similar catastrophe.

The trajectory of American culture should come as no surprise. Futurists like Francis Schaeffer predicted with uncanny accuracy where we were going in the West 50 years ago. Wherever the values of a nation rest on personal fulfillment, affluence and security, decline is inevitable. That’s what Schaeffer said.

Since then, many others have joined the warning chorus. Mark Sayers, who may be called a futurist, has written two insightful books on the subject, titled The Disappearing Church and, The Reappearing Church. I’ll be drawing more from them later.

Welcome to the Bleeding Edge

In the mean time, it appears we have arrived at Schaeffer’s predicted future. As the nation trembles in the wind of pandemic and civil unrest, established institutions are showing signs of weakening. We may be at the edge of decline.

A few years ago, I submitted a post I called, “The Culture at Midnight.” It was the first time I used the phrase that was to become a category all its own in my writing. In that post I decried the release, screening, and newspaper review of a movie that dealt, somewhat sympathetically, with the subject of bestiality. Frankly, I was uncomfortable even writing about it, so astonished was I that such a film had been made, much less screened and reviewed. Nevertheless, I mentioned it as evidence that, in the words of an unintentionally prophetic popular song of the mid-twentieth century, “it’s later than you think.”

Thankfully, the film was on the fringe of cinema. It came and went without much further notice, but considering how inexorably, if slowly, the fringe becomes part of the warp and woof of American society I feel compelled recall it. Now, we live in a world where sex and sexuality is newsworthy by definition. What would have been scandalous to discuss in public a decade or so ago, is now considered the next frontier of liberty. What lies ahead, we can only imagine.

Building an Ark

I may be grieved by all this, but I am not surprised. The decline of the Eden state seems inevitable. What is left to me as a follower of Yeshua’s way is to remain humble, devoted to my Master and compassionate toward a world that may, in not too long, become intolerable for many.

In the early days of our people, one of the symbols that was meaningful to them was the ark. It communicated that in the midst of the turmoil of the world there was a place of safety called the “ecclesia,” the church. I expect as the storm of decline in our society becomes intense, there will be many seeking a place of safety. I want to be ready invite refugees from this dying world into the ark.

I can’t do that alone, of course. This wasn’t to be an assignment for only a few. It was intended to be the mission of a new community of followers. Want to join me?

What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over
Like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?

~Harlem: A Dream Deferred by Langston Hughes

What happens to a dream deferred? The inhumanity in Minneapolis may have answered the question. The time for change has come. When those who have privilege fail to recognize a moral responsibility toward those who have not, social conflict escalates. Historically, disempowered classes have shifted the balance of power, overthrown governments, and formed nations. Those with the least to lose and the most to gain have been the spark that has ignited many a revolution.

The Smoke

When a heat source is persistent and intense, combustion becomes likely. In the US, indifference and unchecked privilege is a tinderbox.

But first comes smoke:

As the culture clock ticks toward midnight, we read the following headline: Deaths from booze, drugs, suicide could spike 60 percent to 1.6 million over next decade. Tragically, that dire warning didn’t surprise me. I bet you could say the same.

We’ve watched the downward skid for quite awhile. Watched. Fretted. Made peace with impotence.

As this blog series has suggested, there’s not much we can do outside the community of Jesus. People gonna do what people gonna do.

The Lessons of Addiction

What we can do, though, is build a rat park. I could argue that Jesus has commanded us to build a rat park (John 13:34-35).

In the late 70s, researcher Bruce K. Alexander of Simon Fraser University, used rats to study addiction. [Rather than describe it , let me encourage you to read the details here.] Briefly, he found evidence that addiction (and possibly other social ills?) were strongly related to social connections–community. When the rats in the study lived in a healthy and vibrant community they were less inclined toward addictive behaviors.

What of your community? Does your community of Jesus freaks live together with grace and encouragement? Is is alive with hope? In this world does it reek of life and rumble with anticipation of God’s Kingdom coming? Is it light and love? Moreover, are you and your marvelous comrades visible more than once a week (and then behind closed doors) loving and celebrating the Jesus life?

Seems to me, we don’t need a war on drugs. We need a rat park of Jesus freaks. One with a sign that reads, “Enter and begin the journey to a costly, vibrant kind of life.”