Humanism, Alive and Well in the Western Church

Humanism has been defined as "an outlook or system of thought attaching prime importance to human rather than divine or supernatural matters".

The focal point of humanism (which is a religion in itself and not just a philosphy or system of thought) is the self, the individual human self as the center of meaning, purpose, attention, even the center of the universe. It is the essence of self-centeredness in a practical sense though not necessarily articulated in a philosophical sense.

Humanism basically rejects the divine in all its aspects. It basically rejects the existence of God, for any belief system that ignores that God is or can and SHOULD be involved in human affairs is a rejection of God.

Humanism, like atheism, is at the opposite end of the faith spectrum with Biblical Christianity on the other end. Tragically, humanism has not only crept into the turf of the Christian faith. In western Christianity, humanism has dominated and even superseded the word of truth!

Modern western Christianity exhorts about making God a priority in one's life or allowing God to get involved in one's personal projects. THIS IS CLEARLY HUMANISM truly distorting the gospel and the whole thrust of God's revelation. In our CrossCulture Community Deep Dive bible studies into the word, when we tackled Exodus 20, the conclusion we reached on the meaning of the first commandment, "You shall have no other gods before me" in the context of the exodus narrative and which is continuously echoed throughout Scripture including the New Testament are the following:

1. We do not make God our FIRST priority. Instead, we make God our ONLY priority, i.e., nothing else follows after God. This means that we follow God's statutes when it comes to our other so-called priorities. We follow God's rule on family, marriage, vocation, goals, behavior, etc, etc, etc. God and NOTHING ELSE is the meaning of the first commandment.                              That is why the New Testament talks about relationship between slave and master, slave and lord. So that we can use their context to understand exactly what God wants for his "slaves" to pay attention too. A slave always has his eyes on the master or the master's hand so that he can quickly respond to the gestures and will of his master. Western humanistic Christianity has utterly lost this meaning. The New Testament declares that we have been bought we a price by our Master. In those days, a slave is entirely owned by the slave owner or slave-trader. When another master buys the slave, the slave switches masters. HE DOES NOT GAIN ANY FREEDOM FROM HIS NEW MASTER! When John writes that Jesus came to set us free, he meant freedom from the slavery of sin, NOT freedom from Jesus!
2. We do not allow God to get involved in our life or our projects. Instead, we get involved and fully vested in God's life, we get involved and fully vested in God's projects and God's priorities. That is the meaning of having the mind of Christ. That is also the meaning of being a bond slave of Christ. This is what it means when Paul said in Galatians 2:20, "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Paul "lost" a life of his own, and the life he lives by faith, he lives for Christ and Christ alone. Paul is fully involved and fully vested in the life and project of Christ.

Before God gave the Ten Commandments, we need to digest the context and the purpose why God gave them. Before that, God in Exodus 19:4-6 stated his purpose for giving the commandments. "You shall be my treasured POSSESSION among all peoples". Sounds consistent with Paul's statement, "for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body."1 Corinthians 6:20, or 

 "You were bought with a price; do not become bondservants of men." 1 Corinthians 7:23. 

What is important to point out is that it was NEVER an option for an Israelite to stay in Egypt. They had to leave everything to follow God and his project. In fact, there was no other option if they wanted to experience the covenant promise and reach the Promise Land. Once they followed God, they become HIS POSSESSION. Any "possession" (like a slave which is the context here) cannot think or move or feel on its own but can only be handled by its owner and only follow its master.

I reiterate, THERE IS NO OTHER OPTION! Humanist Christians, pastors, theologians, BEWARE!