Going West?

Unable to pay its debts without borrowing more, the credit rating of the US was downgraded in August, triggering a fall of financial markets across the world.

It is as yet unclear how severe the consequences will be for the world economy. But this was a calamity waiting to happen. Back in 2007, EN reviewed the book Black Mass by John Grey of the LSE. It said: ‘The US is unable to live on its own economic activity and must be subsidised … at present cruising speed that subsidy amounts to $1.4 billion a day’. Obviously unsustainable. Since then we have witnessed the worldwide credit crunch, the introduction of stringent austerity measures in Britain and now deep financial troubles in the Eurozone.

Riots and the idol

Are we beginning to see the terminal decline of the West? That might be a prematurely gloomy forecast, but, having rejected its Christian foundations, it must be taken seriously. God, who rules over all nations, is not the impotent ‘delusion’ our intellectuals claim him to be. Rather, he is the living God and bound to expose the feet of clay of the secular West’s favourite idol — wealth.

But other signals of God’s judgment loom large. The recent rioting across London and other major cities gives the impression that, at least in our ‘strapped for cash’ country, civic stability hangs by a thread. The liberal opinion formers have derided decency and sneered at family values for decades and should not be surprised that disenfranchised youths with no future prospects hit out at the authorities; looting and theft make plenty of sense if life is just a Darwinian struggle for survival and happiness.

A second signal is the shrinking of the human soul which the misuse of technology has brought. The astonishing possibilities offered by the internet and iPhones are wonderful and of great assistance to our working lives. But how sad to read now of adults ‘addicted’ to their Smartphones and the Telegraph reporting ‘bored’ children using up to five screens at a time to keep themselves entertained. We have become a lightweight society, ‘amusing ourselves to death’ because the entertainment culture distracts people from the painful questions about, life, death, guilt and eternity which lead to Christ.

A third strand of God’s judgment, sadly, is the state of the church. The liberal church is avidly embracing the immorality of secularism. Many Bible churches are self-righteous, divided, unloving, virtually prayerless and often pastorless. Such churches are of little use to our lost society.

Rising East

Meanwhile, not only do we see the economic rise of countries like China and India, but also spiritual awakening in the East.

The so-called ‘Arab Spring’ has shaken the Middle East. Its uncertain direction will be clarified in the result of the election in Egypt. But, whatever the outcome, a booklet published to encourage Christians to pray for the Muslim world during Ramadan this year said: ‘Some estimate that three to four million Muslims have come to faith in the Messiah in the last 20-30 years. This is more than at any time since Muhammad’.

Further, the current work of God in China is phenomenal. A man who recently has on several occasions been into the country to give theological training to leaders of the underground churches speaks of one city where around a third of the population are believers. Last Christmas one church invited people from their neighbourhood to share a meal and hear the gospel. To their astonishment 10,000 people turned up.

As the glory departs from the West and appears in the East, British Christians must surely ask themselves some questions.