Articles
The Disappearing God
According to the 2020 Census figures, now 80% of the US population lives in an area classified as ‘urban,’ and 20% in rural areas. This is dramatically different than the 1790 Census, in which only 5% of the population lived in urban areas. The rate of urban population dramatically increased to 25% by 1870, then increased to about 50% by 1920, 75% by 1960, and has hovered around the 80% rate since the 2000s. These figures show a clear shift from a rural to urban society, and there are some other poll and Census results that have changed right along with this shift, though not as dramatically: Belief in God.
While polls in the US have shown a strong belief in God, those numbers have been slowly declining, more than 10 percentage points in the last 20 years, according to the Gallup Organization (92% to 81%). But I am talking about actual belief in God as demonstrated by the way we live and what we do as a result of that belief. Many people claim to be Christians, but the claim often does not match with what they say they believe or how they live, so I am speaking more of actual belief in God that is proven by one striving to live a godly life and who trusts His word is always true. I am talking about belief in God as the Creator and provider of all things, God who knows everything we say and do, God who loved us enough to send His Son to die for our sins, and the God who expects us to live according to His revealed word, the Bible. When questions are asked beyond the simple “Do you believe in God?” what we will find is that while people may believe “a” God exists, they know very little about this God and what He has done and continues to do.
For example, anecdotal stories over the past few years have yielded cases where people have no clue where their food comes from. Many children and adults believe milk comes from the grocery store — not cows! A few stories have popped up from young adults condemning the slaughter of cattle for meat, demanding that people just get it from the store, instead, because it not as cruel! According to a 2013 poll by the British Nutrition Foundation, “a third of UK primary pupils think cheese is made from plants and a quarter think fish fingers come from chicken or pigs.” [BBC] Results like these and other similar polls are often because children, and now many adults, have never seen a vegetable growing or been to a farm or been taught the origin of their food. And that is not all.
The urbanization of our society is not the only factor in causing many people to be ignorant of some basic truths of life and our earthly existence; what is taught in Science classes across this country has also led to many believing that all material matter sprung from nothing — on its own, without any outside force causing it to come into existence — and over billions of years and by pure chance, that original inanimate matter somehow transformed itself into living cells that further transformed and evolved into life and complex living beings [the term ‘creatures’ implies a Creator, so we cannot use that]. Students are taught to accept the word and conclusions of ‘experts’ and to not question the ‘science’ [a contradictory demand at its base].
With many years of successful teaching and indoctrination, and with almost as many years of suppressing alternative and contradicting explanations for the origin and sustenance of life, we have a few generations of people who believe everything has a scientific explanation and anything that does not cannot be real. We have many who no longer believe in God at all, and many more who do not recognize Him as the source of life and the ruler over the natural world. To some, their provider is Government; their protector is Government. Their faith is in Government. Their god is Government. The thought of a ‘Government shutdown’ is terrifying to many because they have come to rely on and trust in Government to the point they are not sure they can survive without its provisions and protection, and wouldn’t know what to do to provide for self.
What we need, as a society, is to get away from the bright lights of the city and the classrooms where God is disappearing — or is already gone [banned] — and get out into the countryside and take the time to observe the natural world around us without preconceived ideas and human wisdom and indoctrination. We need to stand under a summer sky unhindered by city lights and devoid of noise pollution from the sounds of endless traffic.
If we are able to observe the night sky, filled with innumerable stars, we might note and wonder as did the psalmist, “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?” (Psa. 8:3, 4). Or, we may conclude, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork” (Psa. 19:1). We might realize, as Paul wrote, “His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead” and see we are also “without excuse” (Rom. 1:20) for not believing in Him and His power.
If we get out of school science labs and into the fields and gardens where living plants grow and produce the food we eat, we might then realize it is God who “causes the grass to grow for the cattle, and vegetation for the service of man, that he may bring forth food from the earth, and wine that makes glad the heart of man, oil to make his face shine, and bread which strengthens man’s heart” (Psa. 104:14, 15). We should “Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin” and realize, as Jesus said, “that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these” (Matt. 6:28, 29). Maybe we should listen to Job before some supposed ‘expert,’ for it was Job who said, “But now ask the beasts, and they will teach you; and the birds of the air, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you; and the fish of the sea will explain to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this, in whose hand is the life of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind?” (Job 12:7-10). Sadly, many today do not know the Lord has done this, and that the life of every living thing is in His hand!
So, do yourself a favor and get out of the house, get out of the building where you work, get out of the city; go out into the countryside and observe the creation of the all-powerful God. Now that autumn has come, take the time to drive through the countryside and observe the changing colors of the leaves — something that happens most every year — and realize, as God promised, “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease.” (Gen. 8:22). Realize, or remember, “The sun also rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it arose” (Eccl. 1:5); in other words, this is the way it has always been, and will always be, until time ends — and that will be at God’s discretion.
Do not let God disappear from your life and thoughts. Don’t close your eyes to the evidence He has left for us that points to His existence, and His power and care (Rom. 1:18-20; Acts 14:17). He desires that we seek Him (Acts 17:26, 27) and He desires that we be saved (1 Tim. 2:3, 4), and we need saving. Look for Him and you will find Him. — Steven Harper
