Our “culture of death” has many faces, some of which we have no trouble confidently identifying and whining about at the drop of the hat. The horror of “legal” child sacrifice through abortion, for example, is an easy target for many on the Right side of the political spectrum (as it should be, of course).
But what about our obvious cultural obsession with what we like to call “birth control”? What about our long-running, All-American desire to avoid having children so that we can chase more effectively (or so we think) after other “more important” things – things that make our life more comfortable and enjoyable on our terms and on our schedule?
What happens to a culture that rejects God’s Word on children and chases after these other things instead?
Well, the simple answer to that question is that such a culture simply dies.
It goes away.
It ceases to be.
Put another way: It reaps the “reward” of valuing things like careers, bigger houses, better cars, and more toys to play with over God’s crystal clear Word on the beauty, value, and purpose of children. (See, for examples: Genesis 1:28; Psalm 127: 3-5; 3 John 1:4; Proverbs 17:6; Psalm 128:1-6; Proverbs 23:24; Psalm 112:1-10; 1 Timothy 5:14; Genesis 33:5…)
Scripture defines children as a treasure to be cherished above any of the material things and personal comforts that we now routinely prefer over children in America.
We want cars.
More cars.
Better cars.
We want houses.
Nice houses.
Houses that we own rather than rent (though, ironically, because we’ve rejected the Word of God as our standard in law, government, and children’s education, we can no longer truly own a home here in “the land of the free” and the home of the NSA. We’re all renters from the State.)
We want cars.
More and bigger and better cars.
We want nicer clothes, cooler toys, better furniture, and finer vacations.
And while there’s nothing inherently wrong with wanting any (or all) of these things, we in America want all of these things more than we want to have children, even though God has spoken so clearly, so lovingly, and so redundantly as to the incomparable value, purpose, and blessing of children.
Then we wonder why our chosen path to “prosperity” isn’t working out.
We wonder why Muslims are literally inheriting Western Europe by having children while our pet Socialist/Marxist programs like Social Security are sinking even more quickly than they would in a culture where children were treasured to the point of actually being wanted over and above new cars, bigger houses, and more stuff.
The inescapable fact that we keep trying to escape is this: Jesus is Lord.
How Word binds all of His creation.
Right now.
As such, to dismiss His Word on anything is to court death on that subject.
So when we decide that we’re better off having few or fewer babies, we have rejected Life (personified by Jesus and defined in His Word) and we have courted death.
Nations and cultures that reject Christ as King are inevitably, one way or another, wiped off the face of His earth.
By rejecting Him, we choose death. And we get it.
This all came to mind as I noticed two articles posted at the Drudge Report this week, one entitled Finland’s welfare state has a massive baby problem and the other Japan’s over-90 population soars over two million mark as birth rate continues to decline.
The Finland-focused piece began with this gem of an intro:
“You know you’ve got a problem when even the best don’t have the solution.
Finland, a first-rate place in which to be a mother, has registered the lowest number of newborns in nearly 150 years. The birth rate has been falling steadily since the start of the decade, and there’s little to suggest a reversal in the trend.
Demographics are a concern across the developed world, of course. But they are particularly problematic for countries with a generous welfare state, since they endanger its long-term survival.”
“The best” indeed.
And that line there about how demographic trends like Finland’s are “particularly problematic for countries with a generous welfare state, since they endanger its long-term survival” is a real keeper, too.
How much does this fit with the modern American mentality of “making Socialism work” by “doing it right”? Think: Public schools, Social Security, and the welfare state. Even the vast majority of self-identified conservative Christians are, in political practice, stark-raving Socialists.
Something to think about…
The article continues:
“They show how fast our society is changing, and we don’t have solutions ready to stop the development,” the Aktia Bank chief economist said in a telephone interview in Helsinki. “We have a large public sector and the system needs taxpayers in the future.”
To do that, the fertility rate should equal two per woman, Schauman says. It was projected at 1.57 in 2016, according to Statistics Finland.
That’s a surprisingly low level, given the efforts made by the state to support parenthood.”
Well gosh golly gee! Here the State is giving all of this “support” to families and yet the whole culture seems to be disappearing before our eyes! How could this possibly be happening?! (Hint: Jesus is Lord.)
And now on to the Japanese version:
“. . . According to Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the number of births dropped to below one million for the first time in 2016.
The country’s current population of 127 million is expected to decline by nearly 40 million by 2065, Japan’s National Institute of population and Social Security Research said.
Experts say Japan’s shrinking population can be attributed to young people focusing on their careers . . .”
Suicidal stupidity blooms where unbiblical worldviews take root.
Or, put another way, when God simply gives us what we want and allows us to chase after paths to “success” and “happiness” that openly reject and contradict His life-defining Word, we get death.
Our family lines eventually (or quickly) fade away.
Our nation fades away.
And our culture fades away.
All while the Kingdom of God continues its inexorable, undeniable advance over the cold, dead ruins of rebel nations composed of rebel people who simply would not have Christ to rule over them as Lord in practice.
(For more on this, please read From Babel To Pentecost: How The Kingdom Of God Is Built Upon The Ruins Of Enemy Empires.)
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What are you, some kind of [insert label here] or something?!
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Intro to Fire: The Power and Purpose of the Common Believer
When the Bible gets hairy. (Or: Is it right for men to have long hair?)
And especially this one: Never forget that apart from God’s grace you and I are complete morons.
Hi Scott. Hit the nail squarely on the head. Won't hear that from too many churches, unfortunately. We're starving Christianity and western civilization to death through attrition. But we can ride it to the bitter end playing video games on the big screen TV.