Let Us Reason

We live in a day which encourages the exploration and practice of cultural traditions.  Native Americans continue the traditions of their ancestors through dance, songs, native dress, and rituals.  Indigenous cultures at one time were under the threat of extinction through systematic eradication or amalgamation with other beliefs.  Because of the diversity of cultures and traditions, some have sought to embrace the beliefs and practices of their forefathers.  People find identity, security, and a source of pride as they revel in their ethnic and cultural background.

While the embracing of cultural traditions can provide many positive aspects, it is not without great danger.  A danger exists when people assume that anything which is ancient or traditional is good.  From a biblical perspective, this pursuit and propagation of pagan culture is nothing short of disastrous.  The same thing can be said of religion.  If your faith rests in appeasing the gods through sacrifice or prostration, chants, your earthly heritage, meditation, the practice of family traditions, even in your denial of God's existence, you build on a foundation of sand.

When Jesus came to earth, He confronted people with His claim of being God made flesh.  He said in Matthew 28:18, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth," a claim of deity.  He walked among the religious Jews and the Romans with their pagan idols and mythology.  In revealing Himself as the Messiah, He has proved all other ways to "enlightenment" and "salvation" as fraudulent and useless - no matter how long people had pursued them.  People have long sought after power through the occult (with legitimate paranormal manifestations), but it is a cheap substitute for the power of God.  After Christ's resurrection and ascension, Paul addressed the intellectuals in Athens with this argument in Acts 17:22-34:

"Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, "Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; ²³ for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you: ²⁴ God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. ²⁵ Nor is He worshiped with men's hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. ²⁶ And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, ²⁷ so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; ²⁸ for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, 'For we are also His offspring.' ²⁹ Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man's devising. ³⁰ Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, ³¹ because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead." ³² And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, while others said, "We will hear you again on this matter."  ³³ So Paul departed from among them. ³⁴ However, some men joined him and believed, among them Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others with them."

God overlooked for many years the ignorance of man, who groped as in the dark to find Him.  But now all men are without excuse, for God has revealed Jesus Christ as the Way, the Truth, and the Life through His sinless life, crucifixion, and resurrection.  God has also appointed a day in which every man will face judgment based upon the perfect standard of God's righteousness.  When people heard Paul's speech 2,000 years ago there were three basic responses:  some mocked, many procrastinated, and some believed.  For the Greeks who believed, they were compelled to leave the traditional superstitions to follow the One True God, Jesus Christ.  This was a heavy cost, but Christ's yoke is easy and His burden light.  Instead of having to bear the crushing weight of sin, God gives great joy which buoys the soul.

Are you a mocker, procrastinator, or a believer?  God has given us all the evidence we need in the Holy Bible.  Truth can bear examination.  I charge you in the name of Jesus Christ, use the faculties of reasoning God has given you to make an educated decision about Christ.  Isaiah 1:18 reads, "Come now, and let us reason together," says the LORD, "though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool."  God is a God of reason, order, and infinite wisdom and intelligence.  If you seek Him you will find Him, if you seek Him with all your heart (Deut. 4:29).