The coming millennium is a strange mix of the Beginning and the End. It proffers scientific breakthroughs, communication at lightning speed, perhaps greater length of life–mixed blessings at best. We sympathize with T. S. Eliot: “Man is advancing progressively backwards.” Here are some trends to watch for in this downward spiral.
Globalism/Tribalism: The internet, media coverage, and rapid travel keep shrinking the planet. We can visit the Taj Mahal or climb Mount Everest in person, watch someone do it while we sit at home, or “experience” it through virtual reality.
Of course the results of sin travel that quickly, too. Wars on the other side of the world can be observed as they happen. Pornography ad nauseam is a mouse click away. And plagues can travel by jet from one continent to another in a few hours.
But nations are fragmenting as fast as the economy is globalizing. For centuries, colonialism held tribalism at bay. Now tribal wars have resumed, not with bows and arrows but with Uzis and surface-to-air missiles. Bosnia, Burundi, Chechnya, Sudan–most countries of the world are affected. Evidently iron and clay don’t make for a stable foundation.
Technology and Superstition: You would think that as the human race harnesses the secrets of the universe, witchcraft and superstition would disappear. The opposite is happening. There are more fortune tellers in France than medical doctors; Asian businessmen won’t buy a house in Vancouver without approval on the luck value of the street address; many won’t do business if the horoscope is against it. New Age powerbeads are the rage (popularized by the Dalai Lama). So-called earth religions gain popularity and official recognition.
Science, once the domain of realists like Newton, Boyle, and Kelvin, who accepted the laws of nature (cause and effect, biogenesis, thermodynamics) now is the domain of those weaned on the idea of evolution. Relativism is their world view.
Can We, not Should We: If we are mere products of chance, let’s improve our chances! Less than 50 years ago, Watson and Crick discovered the basic structure of DNA. The Human Genome Project anticipates having all the chromosomes mapped in three years. This data is intended to help cure disease, alleviate suffering, and prolong life. But there’s more.
C. S. Lewis wrote in 1965 in The Abolition of Man: “Man’s conquest of Nature, if the dreams of some scientific planners are realized, means the rule of a few hundreds of men over billions upon billions of men.” Did he overstate the case? Geneticist Bentley Glass stated in his president’s address (1971) to the American Association for the Advancement of Science, “No parent will in that future time have a right to burden society with a malformed or mentally incompetent child.” Chilling indeed.
Smarter and Dumber: It seems that as we gain access to more facts, we lose the ability to make sense of them, “Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Tim. 3:7). The best sound systems are tuned to the worst music. We spend millions trying to make contact with extra-terrestrials while terrestrials starve. We have developed communications tools par excellence, but have nothing worth saying.
Tolerance and Persecution: How is it possible that the tolerant are so intolerant of Christianity? Because the Christian message declares Christ to be the only way. We are watching East meet West. The so-called Christian countries in their surfeit of blessings have forgotten God.
Al Gini, writing in Business and Society Review, says, “In 1917 America and the world experienced the…influenza epidemic that struck down an estimated 20 million victims. Today we are all suffering from a pandemic of Affluenza (the disease of consumerism) (Fall, 1999, p. 257). Now the West embraces Baha’i (any religion is OK), Hinduism (we are every religion), Buddhism (no religion is OK) and Islam (only our religion is OK). Buddhism has a ten-fold increase in 40 years; mosques are sprouting across the landscape; Baha’i has followers in more countries than any but Christianity.
Meanwhile in the East, millions are turning from these empty forms to Christ. Korea is now considered a Christian country, one of the major mission sending nations. More Christians in China sat down to remember the Lord this past week than in all of western Europe.
Ecumenism and Fragmentation: Expect to see continued fractures in Christendom over social and doctrinal issues (as prophesied in 1 and 2 Timothy). At the same time watch for the monotheists of the world trying to link arms. The syncretizing of Christianity with other beliefs will produce personal designer religions.
It makes me homesick for heaven. Only one Man has the answers. So come, Lord Jesus!