Oprah's Post-Modern Belief & Why You May Not Care
We live in what has been termed a “post-modern” age. And if that doesn’t sound very flattering, that’s because it really isn’t. Prior to this was the modern era where many scientific discoveries were made. Many believed that science would solve humanity’s problems & answer life’s big questions – Where did we come from?, Why are we here?, What’s the purpose of life?, Where are we going?, Why is there evil & death?, and How can we stop them? Of course there have been many wonderful scientific discoveries & technological advances, but science failed to deliver acceptable answers to life’s questions. Anything spiritual or supernatural that people used to look to for answers to life’s questions, was assumed to be “unscientific” & not thought to be credible. In turn, post-modern humanity has simply given up on many of life’s questions & concluded that no one can really know or else has swallowed some scientific sounding, yet hollow answer.
|
Consequently, people in our post-modern age tend to be fragmented. Since nothing is universally recognized as a real underlying purpose in life to tie everything together, each area of life gets compartmentalized. Family, work, pleasure, politics, religion – each area stuffed into a box. And because we encounter other people in each of these areas, it has affected our relationships & how we interact with others as well. Altogether, this has a tendency to lead people to be increasingly short-sighted & self-focused. In fact, because of this lack of unifying purpose or dignity, the prime goal in life has become personal peace & happiness. Furthermore, post-modernism goes on to numb any natural query for life’s questions with innumerable distractions to suite your personal desires – and doles them out as quick as you can take them.
Post-modernism is a mile wide & an inch deep, often leaving people feeling isolated & without purpose. Yet people still sense there is something more than just the physical. So in post-modern fashion, some people simply find a belief that suites their personal desires & stuff it in their spiritual box. We have been told to keep our spiritual boxes to ourselves because “what’s right for you may not be right for someone else”. So now that spirituality is detached from practical life for most people, it is not thought to be practically important or worth discussing because it might offend someone & interfere with their personal happiness. Thus, lip service is given to spirituality while all the various mainline religions are relegated to an equally devalued & impotent (weak) status.
Therefore, only the commonalities are discussed while the differences that truly define them are ignored or reinterpreted to make them seem similar. In reality, this veneer of pleasantries actually works to demean the core of these fundamental religious beliefs. So enter all the post-modern talk about seeking community & finding common ground through various interfaith charades. And the next splash in the post-modern puddle is Oprah Winfrey’s “Belief” series.
This series is not an attempt to understand the outstanding theological differences of world religions that really makes them what they are, but a production to make viewers believe they are all equally worthy of selecting for your spiritual box & especially that no one is better than another. Using cherry-picked stories & subtle, but purposeful language to expound upon the various religions, the main message is that it doesn’t matter what you believe, just as long as you believe in something & that something somehow makes you the person you want to be (note the self-focus). In other words, all beliefs have equal value - maybe you believe in one god, many gods, no god or that you are a god – Whatever’s OK for you! If you keep your religion boxed up, maybe you can accept that. But if you desire a powerful faith that’s alive, active, meaningful & influential in all areas of your life, don’t buy what Oprah’s selling.
Post-modernism is a mile wide & an inch deep, often leaving people feeling isolated & without purpose. Yet people still sense there is something more than just the physical. So in post-modern fashion, some people simply find a belief that suites their personal desires & stuff it in their spiritual box. We have been told to keep our spiritual boxes to ourselves because “what’s right for you may not be right for someone else”. So now that spirituality is detached from practical life for most people, it is not thought to be practically important or worth discussing because it might offend someone & interfere with their personal happiness. Thus, lip service is given to spirituality while all the various mainline religions are relegated to an equally devalued & impotent (weak) status.
Therefore, only the commonalities are discussed while the differences that truly define them are ignored or reinterpreted to make them seem similar. In reality, this veneer of pleasantries actually works to demean the core of these fundamental religious beliefs. So enter all the post-modern talk about seeking community & finding common ground through various interfaith charades. And the next splash in the post-modern puddle is Oprah Winfrey’s “Belief” series.
This series is not an attempt to understand the outstanding theological differences of world religions that really makes them what they are, but a production to make viewers believe they are all equally worthy of selecting for your spiritual box & especially that no one is better than another. Using cherry-picked stories & subtle, but purposeful language to expound upon the various religions, the main message is that it doesn’t matter what you believe, just as long as you believe in something & that something somehow makes you the person you want to be (note the self-focus). In other words, all beliefs have equal value - maybe you believe in one god, many gods, no god or that you are a god – Whatever’s OK for you! If you keep your religion boxed up, maybe you can accept that. But if you desire a powerful faith that’s alive, active, meaningful & influential in all areas of your life, don’t buy what Oprah’s selling.
See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. – Col 2.8
I’m here to tell you that Christianity is different. Yes, it believes in a deity. Yes, it requires faith. Yes, it inspires hope. Yes, it provides help in life. I suppose that’s where post-modernism would have us stop. But the power of Christianity lies in its differences. The God of Christianity is Someone you can personally know. He cannot be contained in religious emotionalism or ritual or human fabrications. He is our Almighty Creator. And He is absolutely holy & pure & righteous & awesome.
He alone is worthy of our worship, but mankind has rebelled & rejected Him. Instead of worshiping Him, there is worship of self; worship of pleasure. In our disregard for God & His morality, we have created our own self-seeking morality & alienated ourselves from Him. It’s so bad that we not only don’t know Him, we don’t realize how much we’re estranged from Him. Yet He loves us.
He loves us enough to tell us that if we don’t repent (turn from our sin & seek Him), we will one day face His judgement. That default option will not end well for us. He will give us over to what we want – eternal separation from Him. And the punishment for sinning against an eternal God is horrible eternal punishment in hell. Yet He loves us.
He loved us enough to make another option for us. We know this because He sent His Son – Jesus Christ. He was executed by crucifixion on a cross – He was taking our hell for us so that we could be forgiven & reunited with God. But He not only died, but was raised to life to prove His power over sin & death. It is by that same power that God will grant us complete forgiveness & eternal life with Him if we trust that Jesus died in our place & was resurrected to give us life.
He alone is worthy of our worship, but mankind has rebelled & rejected Him. Instead of worshiping Him, there is worship of self; worship of pleasure. In our disregard for God & His morality, we have created our own self-seeking morality & alienated ourselves from Him. It’s so bad that we not only don’t know Him, we don’t realize how much we’re estranged from Him. Yet He loves us.
He loves us enough to tell us that if we don’t repent (turn from our sin & seek Him), we will one day face His judgement. That default option will not end well for us. He will give us over to what we want – eternal separation from Him. And the punishment for sinning against an eternal God is horrible eternal punishment in hell. Yet He loves us.
He loved us enough to make another option for us. We know this because He sent His Son – Jesus Christ. He was executed by crucifixion on a cross – He was taking our hell for us so that we could be forgiven & reunited with God. But He not only died, but was raised to life to prove His power over sin & death. It is by that same power that God will grant us complete forgiveness & eternal life with Him if we trust that Jesus died in our place & was resurrected to give us life.
But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. – Rom 5.8
Only Jesus died in your place to give you forgiveness & bring true spiritual life by knowing God. No religion can do that. Some may believe this is narrow-minded – call it what you will, but understand that Jesus is for everyone who will believe. God calls it truth & grace; He calls it His only way (Jn 14.6). What do you believe? Ask Jesus to forgive you & rule your heart today!
And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. – Acts 4.12
The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed (Jesus); and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead. – Acts 17.30-31
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error. – 1 Jn 4.1-6