Frivolous Religion

A pastor friend on a blog we both belong to posted an article by John MacArthur entitled, “The End of Frivolous Religion?” (https://www.dailywire.com/news/macarthur-the-end-of-frivolous-religion.) Here’s his opening.

“All the trouble and inconvenience that came with 2020’s string of calamities could actually have one surprising benefit: it might deal a death blow to America’s obsession with flippant, man-centered, self-serving, and fraudulent religion. I’m thinking of trends like so-called ‘seeker-driven Christianity,’ and the irreverent brand of entertainment-as-religion that has dominated evangelical megachurches for three decades or longer.”

He goes on to describe what he sees to be the weakness and Biblical compromise of much of contemporary Christianity. My pastor friend asks the question, based on MacArthur’s article: “It seems that if there has been any upside to the pandemic restrictions, it is that it has tended to separate the wheat from the chaff in the church. What do you think?”

Here is my response to my friend’s question prompted by MacArthur’s article. Have we seen the end of frivolous religion? Maybe – if so, only for a couple of weeks.

The ancient world had its worldwide pandemic (the Flood) and everything shut down for over a year. All the businesses failed and went under (literally). There was the promise of real reform in the air when Noah and family emerged from the ark after a year of quarantine. Pure religion and a just society were again possible in this Great Reset. Yet we all know the story – Noah got drunk, Noah got naked, Noah was exposed, Canaan was cursed, etc. Human nature being what it is, there will never be an end to frivolous religion nor of folly in the Church. Frivolousness is still frivolousness whether live or streamed. The end of frivolous religion is something reserved for after the rapture of the Church.

Have you heard of the Great Reset initiative? It is described this way by those promoting it. “There is an urgent need for global stakeholders to cooperate in simultaneously managing the direct consequences of the COVID-19 crisis. To improve the state of the world, the World Economic Forum is starting The Great Reset initiative…this initiative will offer insights to help inform all those determining the future state of global relations, the direction of national economies, the priorities of societies, the nature of business models and the management of a global commons…the Great Reset initiative has a set of dimensions to build a new social contract that honors the dignity of every human being.” (https://www.weforum.org/great-reset/)

This is a secular, post-flood (post-COVID) vision of a just society. Is it virtuous to have such a vision? Yes. Is such a vision unrealistic? Given the course of history and human nature, what do you think? Can man build a social utopia? History is littered with the charred remains of multiple attempts to establish utopias. The word “utopia” literally means “no place.” Utopias are aptly named.

What happens in the Great Reset initiative if you disagree with the state of global relations, the direction of national economies, the priorities of societies, or the new social contract? That utopia will be no place for you. Like every other grand vision of a just society, grave injustices will be visited upon those who will not fall in step behind the elites running the program. The Great Reset will become the Great Regret. I guarantee it.

Will a purified church or just society emerge in this age? Don’t get your hopes up. Humans defile, corrupt, and ruin all they touch.

The Blessed Hope of the Church has always been the return of Jesus Christ. The Kingdom of God has always been the Church’s conception of a just society. If anyone comes to you with less than these, don’t get your hopes up because your hopes will soon be shattered.

Tim Brown