Our sense of honour, value, worth, is inextricably linked to our identity - who we understand ourselves to be.
Recently the author of 'The Coddling of the American Mind' (Jonathan Haidt ) was visiting Australia and gave an interview on Sky News.
He made a couple of interesting points (in bold) I would like to mention and comment on.
1. Western multi-cultural Democracy as we know it cannot continue or survive without a sense of shared future
In other words, all the factions of tiny segments of society - which he believes social media had a major part to play in forming - who want to see themselves with a unique identity, cannot keep the world 'together' as a shared humanity. But interestingly he said, we don't just need a shared belief now about who we are and what we are doing, but we need a shared future in order to do that.
Mmm, what does it mean about the concept of 'future'. Just this morning I was discussing African traditional culture with our Motswana co-worker and we mentioned (as African theologian John Mbiti also noted) that African culture generally looks more to the past than the future. Ancestors of the past and traditions from the past are what guide and direct all of life.
Where a person has come from - ie what family - is of utmost importance, and keeping the traditions of that family/culture continuing is the mandate the culture has to abide by.
However, as Christians, our worldview is vastly different. While we know where we come from - God created us and we are all descended from Adam - its not the past that propels us through a day, it is the future. Our Scripture not only tells of our beginnings but also tells of our future.
Scripture is full of looking to the future. Prophecy is all about the future. Eternity is all about the future. Salvation is all about looking to the future.
Not only is what Christ 'has done' for us important, but that he is coming back to take us HOME. Future resurrection, and freedom from sin, and living with God for all eternity, is what spurs us on through each day. Heaven and resurrection in the consumated Kingdom of God, is our goal.
Yet as we chatted this morning, something else came into the conversation….that Evolution is the very opposite of looking to the future.
Like African Traditional Religion, Evolution looks to the past. It gets busy trying to find where we have come from. But in separating itself from God, not only does it prevent itself from actually finding out where we came from and come to all kinds of wrong conclusions, but it also has nothing to say about where we are going. It has no hope or certainty about the future. Anything future is an unpredictable accident which supposedly will be decided by random chance.
2. We have to have a sense of identity politics in a multi-cultural nation. Martin Luther King was doing identity politics. But there are two kinds of IP -
1. Common humanity identity politics (where we emphasise we are all human and some brothers and sisters are not being given justice2. Common enemy identity politics (where you say 'they are the bad people who are causing all our problems…whatever dimensions of power and privilege make people more conscious of').
Again it is interesting how these mirror the Scripture and are trying to be re-created in our world, but without God. Yet without God, it is impossible.
Why impossible?:
- we are only truly all one shared humanity if we are uniquely human. But evolutionary theory tells us we as humans are not 'separate' and unique from the rest of creation. We are just part way on a progression from sludge to grubs to monkeys and apes to us to ?? To truly share the fullness of our human identity enough to hold us together we have to agree who we are, where we came from and why we exist and where we are heading. And that only comes when we accept we were created by God.
In this, African traditional religion (ATR) is way ahead of Western secularism. ATR at least acknowledges the Creator God, even though it fails to recognise God's character, and his place and role in the world.
- Not only do we need 'common humanity' but inbuilt in us is a recognition that there is right and wrong in the world and somehow we are meant to identify and reject what is wrong and cling to what is right. The problem is that we have a warped, sinful, contaminated view of what is right and what is wrong and left to ourselves we will continue to try to figure it out and get it wrong. But that doesn't stop us from feeling that the wrong should be stopped because its wrecking what is right.
And it is totally true that there is wrong and there is right, and it's the wrong of the world that needs to be stopped and the 'wrong' that is our enemy.
It's just that without God we will mis-identify what is wrong and right, and who causes the wrong and what... or Who... provides a way to live in the peace and harmony of 'right'.
So lets not despise those who are seeking identity in politics, but recognise that their seeking is valid, good, and needed. But also let us pray, and diligently strive, to be vessels of good news to such seekers, so that they may find us open and willing to discuss the topic. May we be wise and careful, bold and clear, as we share with them the answer to identity, the hope for the future, and the message of the true Victor over all the wrong and evil in our world.
Today's generation may not say anything about wanting to go to heaven, but deep down, its heaven they are looking for. May we gently and courageously bring them the light that leads them step by step to the place where they realise its actually a perfect heaven they desire, and its Jesus they need!
ps. if you are interested in hearing more very important advice from Jonathan Haidt I would recommend watching this short video as well.
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