Late Modernism: Religious Lethargy

Abandoning the idea of "a divinely ordered world" that features God-given purpose and God-given meaning, late-moderns have been able to satisfy the longings of life through the compiling of "nonreligious quests for significance."[1] The affluence of the modern Western world has allowed those inhabiting the late-modern era to fulfill their desire for meaning through "material accumulation, personal achievement, relational belonging, or holistic stability" while dismissing the "bigger questions of life" like the existence of God and "transcendental meaning."[2] In the past, Christians could present the Gospel message by revealing the "God-shaped hole" we have in our lives that can only be filled by relationship through God through the redemption found in Jesus who has saved us from our sins.[3] Currently in the late-modern world, the idea of a "God-shaped hole" in our lives has become much less effective due to the "apathy" late-moderns feel toward the concept "transcendence" found in the message of Christianity that is grounded in the Bible.[4] Instead of turning to God for purpose and meaning in moments where we sense that we have none, the "religiously lethargic" generation of the late-modern era assumes that "what they are missing" is having more of the "material, relational, personal, or holistic" qualities of life that they have been chasing after "but have yet to attain."[5]

It is evident then that the problem of "religious lethargy" in late modernism is that it creates a strong resistance to the tenet of spiritual meaning that is foundational in Christianity.[6] Having already assumed meaning through earthly and natural pursuits, the late-modern finds the explanations for meaning and purpose found in Christianity to be unnecessary and is content with the sense of meaning they have formed for themselves. Therefore, the idea that "whoever believes in Him [Jesus]" is given eternal spiritual meaning becomes insignificant to the late-modern when a seemingly satisfying sense of meaning has been attained otherwise[7] (John 3:16). The strong resistance to the Gospel message generated by the "apathy" of late moderns creates a serious issue for Christians in sharing "the hope that they have," and the struggle placed against revealing the "vanity" of placing our meaning in earthly pursuits only enhances this[8] (1 Peter 3:15; Ecclesiastes 1:2). Our apologetic message may seem hopeless in reaching this aspect of late modernism, but the "transcendental meaning" we possess in Christ can still be used by the Holy Spirit to reach even the most "religiously apathetic" among us.[9]

[1]Joshua D. Chatraw and Mark D. Allen, Apologetics at the Cross: An Introduction for Christian Witness (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing, 2018), 237-238 [2] Ibid., 238 [3] Ibid., [4] Ibid., [5] Ibid., 237-238 [6] Ibid., 237 [7]Unless otherwise noted, the biblical passages referenced employ the English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway/ Good News Publishers, 2020) [8] Joshua D. Chatraw and Mark D. Allen, Apologetics at the Cross: An Introduction for Christian Witness (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing, 2018), 238 [9] Ibid., 237-238