Spiritual Living in a Secular World

Currently I’m reading Ajith Fernando's Spiritual Living in a Secular World.

As Christians we are trying to live a godly life amidst the pressure from the surrounding secular culture. I am finding this is getting harder and harder to do. We do want to be a positive influence - like salt and light - but run the risk of being marginalised as irrelevant to this post-modern society.

We have to stand up for the truth of God's Word even when it is not the popular thing to do. The typical reaction to the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ today is: 'That may be true for you, but I happen to have my own opinion / my personal version of the truth...'

Fernando's book is based on the biblical story of Daniel and his friends, young Jewish exiles who had to live in slavery in Babylon. The strategy of the Babylonian empire was to train the most promising boys of each conquered country so that they would become loyal Babylonian administrators. Daniel and his friends were selected as special trainees. Although these young men had no other option than to adjust to their surroundings, they did so without compromising their strong religious convictions.

I believe this book is very helpful for people like me who want to follow Jesus in a world that is drifting further and further away from God and his eternal laws. In my country confessing Christians still are quite influential, but we can not ignore the fact that we are becoming a small minority. I wonder if there ever was a time when there was a majority of confessing Christians in the Netherlands, or anywhere else in the world for that matter.

I am all in favour of democracy and I will obey our government and laws to the best of my ability, but most of all I have to listen to the Word of God. Fortunately this is still possible because most of our laws are based on biblical truth and many people still adhere to Judeo-Christian values whether they recognize them as such or not... However, the tide is quickly turning and Christianity is becoming a counter culture - again! Personally I believe that true followers of Christ have always been an influential minority in this world. Do you agree with me?

Daniel in the Lion's den as painted by Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens.

Anyway, if you are interested in this topic, I recommend reading this thought-provoking and highly readable book. I hope to share some quotes and thoughts with you tomorrow - please bear with me! And if you already have a copy of this book, please read with me...

SPIRITUAL LIVING IN A SECULAR WORLD
By Ajith Fernando
Monarch Books.
190 pages. £7.99
ISBN 1 85424 578 3

Read more about Ajith Fernando's recent visit to the Netherlands here and you can also read this short book review if you want.