The Danger of Secularization, of Growing Worldly

The word secularization is used quite often in our days. Literally it means “to become conformed to the world.” However, this word can be applied to several things, as we hope to see.

In the Bible the word world (kosmos) has several meanings. The Lord Jesus did not pray that His disciples would be taken out of the world, but that they would be kept from evil. In the next verse He says, “They are not of the world” (John 17). It is quite obvious that these two words for world have different meanings. The first meaning is the planet on which we live. The second meaning is the world which lives without God. In other places it can also mean the entire creation. When we speak of world conformity, it means to be conformed to the sinful world.

As far as I could find, the word secularization was first used officially at the Peace Treaty of Munich in 1648. There the word literally means “to transfer from ecclesiastic use to civil use.” The possessions of the Roman Catholic church were sold and destined for worldly use, namely, to pay the debt of the war. Thus this was a worldly use of goods which belonged previously to the churches. This did not have a negative meaning, especially when we consider that during the Middle Ages the church of Rome had misused her position and obtained much wealth in unlawful ways. Rome wanted the two swords of Peter, government over the world and over the church.

The Reformation fathers had a different view. The government was not to be ruled by the church. Still, God's Word must have the highest authority in the world, also for the government. Then the distinction between government and church became reality.

We see that the word secularization was first used to indicate the government's seizure of the church's possessions. This happened also in the time of the French revolution, in the 18th century. In the 20th century it took place in the communist countries, where they took away all the possessions of the churches in eastern Europe. In Russia and in China it is still about the same, notwithstanding the promises which have been made for freedom.

Over the years, secularization has obtained an even broader meaning, since it directs itself also against God's Word and undermines its authority. In what way? you will ask. Humanism has come more to the foreground, having its connection with the Renaissance, which was the birth of art and lifestyle in southern and western Europe in the beginning of the 16th century. This encouraged practical secularization.

The goal of secularization is to withdraw our lives from the dominion of God and His Word. It tries to convince man to live in this world and act as if there is no God or divine revelation. Charles West has said, “Secularization is to withdraw our life and thinking out of the dominion of religion, and in the end to live according to our own norms.” This means a life without bonds. It does not take into account that there is a God, and it tries to withdraw our whole life from God's revelation. Then we are not willing to recognize that the world is God's world, meaning that what we find in the world and say about the world is not dependent upon what God says about it.

However, God's Word, which is the highest authority for us, says that God reigns over everything. This is felt in the heart and is visible in the world, in the sun, the moon, the stars, and the whole creation. You will ask, “Are these facts really so important for us? We do not believe these things, since we have God's Word and the writings of our old fathers.” But we must not be too hasty in our opinion. The idea of secularization has penetrated our society much more than we realize. Man wants to be free, which is not something new because this began already in Paradise. When we fully believe in the autonomy of man, we cannot do justice to the obedience of faith, which the Lord Jesus asks of us. On the other hand, when we desire to listen to the Lord, we must condemn secularization, for we cannot serve two masters.

After World War II, secularization increased substantially, and we can now find it nearly everywhere. The climate of our culture has become a threat for the church. Another problem is that the reaction within the churches against world conformity has not been unanimous, and this has weakened the position of the churches. Thus a breach was made in the walls of the churches. We need think only of television, the computer, and the Internet. How different the reactions have been against them, and in this way the church lost the battle.

Many churches have tried to find a compromise, in order to give something to God and something to the world. This made the confusion even greater among church people. It is a great problem for a church when it tries to adapt our confession to a life in which God no longer fits. This is the reason that in our society so many ministers are besieged, for they no longer have an answer to the many problems, and this is because they have forsaken God's Word. Some have even laid down their ministry.

The consequences are being felt in daily life in today's ethics. Do we decide what is right, or do we seek to know what God's Word has to say to us? Only the latter can be right. However, if we do this, then the life of a Christian in a secularized world will have much opposition and will experience much enmity. This is not to seek an antithesis, but God's law gives us direction for the way we are to go. That must be the rule of our lives. The poet of Psalm 119 confessed that he was a stranger on earth, but he asked, “Hide not Thy countenance from me.” We must have such a prayerful attitude if we are to live a Christian life in this secularized world. Is this also our desire?

Secularization, or world conformity, has a very negative influence on society. Especially the churches, the schools, the families, and individuals have felt this influence. In what way? We know that in the baptism form the first question asked the parents is “Whether you acknowledge that although our children are conceived and born in sin, and therefore are subject to all miseries, yea, to condemnation itself; yet that they are sanctified in Christ, and therefore, as members of His church ought to be baptized?” When speaking here of being “sanctified in Christ,” our fathers were not thinking about the subjective, the inner sanctification, but about the outward sanctification on the basis of the covenant.

Sanctification means to set aside, or to be set aside, for the service of God. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 7:14, “For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy.” It is according to our promise at baptism that we should bring up our children separate from the world. Paul warns in Romans 12:2, “And be not conformed to this world.” The word which is here translated as world also means age. It denotes the time or the dispensation in which we live. In the time of Paul, the Roman Empire was the prey of spiritual confusion and moral declension. In the first chapter to the Romans, we can read how sin reveals itself (Romans 1:28-31).

If we follow his enumeration of sins, does it not appear to us that modern life is being portrayed? Today it has become reality what the poet said in Psalm 2, “Let us break Their bands asunder, and cast away Their cords from us.” The sins of our times are violence, covetousness, impudence, materialism, pride, fornication, rebellion against authority, dissatisfaction, and the more dreadful sins which are openly propagated. A flood of vile reading material has inundated our society. By way of the media, newspapers, magazines, television, video, movies, and radio, wickedness penetrates our families and undermines moral life. Sexual relationships between boys and girls, men and women are discussed without shame. The lusts of man seem to be the only values of life.

It is sad that the churches did not present a solid front against world conformity. There are great differences among Reformed denominations and, at times, within denominations themselves. We think of so-called “good” movies, stage plays, and dancing, to mention only a few. Dr. Berkhof wrote about the old church, “For the upright Christian, life was difficult because their lives were closely related to the heathen religions. During their feasts, sacrifices were brought to the idols, which made it impossible for the Christians to partake. Also with the many forms of recreation they could not take part or be present. These consisted of games such as the gladiators, the bullfights, wrestling, running, dancing, and stage plays.”

Calvin, as well as the Synods of Holland and of other western European countries, condemned going to the theater and other sinful places, even when the performances involved biblical histories. In Geneva, when a play about the Acts of the Apostles was proposed, it was Calvin's advice to forbid it. He wrote to Farel, “We hear that a second play is in the making, and we have declared that we do not approve of it.” The Dutch Synod stated explicitly that religious plays of biblical events may not be brought on the stage. We do the same with movies and also with videos. We must be extremely careful because of the trend which it sets for our young people. Even the so-called “good” movies have been a snare for many. Think only of the movie about the sufferings of Christ.

I think of a business man who needed to hire a driver for his many trips. Among the many applicants, three were chosen and requested to come for an interview. He asked the same questions to all, and one of the questions was as follows: “Often I am traveling through the mountains. How far would you stay from the edge of the ravine?” The first said, “One yard is sufficient.” The second thought that three yards was enough. But the third said, “As far as possible.” He was accepted for the job. This is also the advice for us: We must stay as far as possible from all temptations.

We have mentioned only a few of the things which form a great danger to lead us away from God and His Word. There are many more in the areas of fashion, sports, and the Lord's day. The theme today is “Let us eat, drink, and be merry.” When we go along with the world, this is to the soul like a pestilence that walketh in darkness and the destruction that wasteth at noonday. Lot lived in Sodom, and although he did not feel completely at home there, he and his family were influenced, which became evident even after the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Not grace, but the fear of the Lord keeps us from sin.

It should be our continual prayer to go in the way of mortification, especially regarding the pleasures of the world. The path is narrow, but if there are impressions of the truth, then we will ask the Lord for His help to resist the enemies, also world conformity. “Not to be conformed to the world” must be preached to the congregations and taught to young people at school. How must we be not conformed to the world? This is not simply by forsaking some commonly practiced sins. Neither should we say that the apostle in his epistles is thinking only about outward life. We must turn to the root of evil, namely, that our mind is estranged from God and our heart is turned away from Him. Therein lies the origin of our great misery and deep fall. Man is dead in sin and trespasses.

If we forget this, then the consequence will be that we begin to reform in our own strength and become pious people like the rich young ruler, who never became a sinner before God. We become something in our own eyes by our outward change and piety. Then we become the same as many in other Christian churches, believing that everyone is converted. But they miss the true conversion; it never becomes a lost case. How does this develop? We have seen this happen in the Netherlands. They begin a Bible-study group where office-bearers are not welcome, prayer circles are formed, and people are built up in religion. They speak about the work of the Holy Spirit, first objectively, but soon they speak out of their own lives as if it is applicable to them. It becomes subjective. Then the preaching becomes too experiential; more should be heard about Christ and less about man's misery. The situation inside is soon forgotten.

It is time for ministers, elders, and deacons, but also for teachers, to see these dangerous developments. On the one hand we must warn against world conformity, and on the other hand there is the danger of the attitude of the rich young ruler. He thought he possessed everything, but when the Lord examined him, he found out it was not true. He went away sorrowful. The necessity of conversion must be emphasized, also that we cannot stand before the Lord with our self-righteousness. Except a man be born again, he cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven. It is entirely the work of the Lord when a person is inwardly renewed.

Paul writes, “Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.” He did not write that we must transform ourselves and renew ourselves. No, “be ye transformed,” which is God's work only. Paul proclaims it as a one-sided work of God. This renewal is not only outward, but also inward. Such a person can no longer go along with the world, but the ties are gradually broken. In the life of Paul it was in one moment, but that can be different. It becomes the desire of such a heart to honor God and not do anything which displeases Him. A new life is not only reasoning, praising the Lord, some tenderness in feelings, and a meditating at certain times, but the new life will be in exercise. It is to hate sin and flee from sin, to live in sanctification and holiness.

A godly life, with the help of the Lord, will try to depart from all iniquities and do the will of God. Then God is so worthy to be served, and there is no desire any longer to go along with the world, in commencement, but to walk in the Lord's institutions, and to honor and praise Him. Then we begin to see more and more that the warnings against world conformity were right, because the world is not only around us, but also in our hearts. I hope and pray that in your life, by the grace of God, there may be a walking in heaven and not upon this earth.

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