Volume 11, Issue 15
One might ask, from whence will true solutions for society’s problems come?
Time magazine just released its edition of the world’s 100 most influential people. This list is different from their past cover editions for Man or Woman, and now Person, of the Year. The Person of the Year can be good or evil. The measure is impact on the world. These 100 influencers, in Time’s opinion, impact society positively in “confronting the world’s shared challenges.”
Time, in its search for most influential people, has determined six categories of governing influence: artists, titans, pioneers, leaders, innovators, and icons. All sectors of society, by this design, fit into these categories, and therefore, are representative of everyday life.
Popular for evangelical Christians is the seven mountains ideological doctrine of societal influence. These mountains include media, business, government, family, religion, education, and arts & entertainment. Advanced by Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade for Christ, Loren Cunningham, founder of Youth With a Mission (YWAM), and Lance Wallnau, founder of the Seven Mountains Mandate, the mission is to bring about moral reformation and national transformation by impacting these spheres of influence as representative of everyday life.
What is interesting about these two world views on how to influence society for better outcomes is the approach by which each measures said impact. Time is a media outlet that sees the world’s transformation best served by influencers leading from the outside looking inward. They are on the outer edge of society changing it without the necessary priority of relying on transcendent principles.
Change in itself can be good without any anchor to consistent moral righteousness. The categories of influencers are not only general in nature, but interchangeable. Leaders can be innovators. Titans can be pioneers. Artists can be icons. Individual identities are blurred reflective of the secular society of today. The definition of each is in the eye of the beholder at the time of emotional community trends. Mankind’s intellect is the ultimate influencer, evolving in time and space untethered to any moral transcendent conviction.
In Time’s 2023 edition, there is no mention of a religious leader even though half the world’s population adheres to a religious philosophy and depends upon such ideology in the decisions of their everyday lives. In past years’ selections, two Popes and a nun have been recognized. Yet, only as their contributions align with the categories mandated. The same applies for Warren Buffet who was selected as a businessman in 2012. But business and religion are not considered foundational categories.
The evangelical concept of mountains is that society is anchored by transcendent principles of permanent structure. Each generation learns from the past and builds upon the lessons gleaned from obeying and respecting transcendent principles. Evangelicals see the world’s transformation best served by influencers leading from the inside looking outward.
These two world views are not just in conflict, they are visions of alternative universes.
Now, back to teen riots in Chicago, protests in Israel, and mass shootings. Societal crisis is a result of stress upon individuals influenced in the sectors of society in which they live every day. The moral governance of a stable society revolves around the continuity of societies’ families. Families are the unit of authority by which the spiritual identity of a person is nurtured, guided, and disciplined. Without families tied to generational values, there is no ultimate destination of purpose realized. Any system of values that disregards transcendent principles not only has no compass, but no true north. Without family values, riots, protests, and mass murders become common occurrences in society.
The missing component of Time’s circumference for the structure of society’s composite values that has been ignored is the critical necessity of family authority in its impact on everyday life. The interchangeable complexion of the nature of its categories is reflective of the world view that there are no absolutes and all principles are subject solely to the changing attitudes of mankind’s intellect. There is no ultimate purpose to life, only transitional existence. The authority of the family has no critical relevance.
This year, Time celebrated previous designees of influence at a gathering in Davos, Switzerland, to spotlight solutions advanced for the “confluence of interconnected challenges from climate and public health to democracy and equality.” These are goals and objectives of the World Economic Forum declaring the need for one world solutions as agreed to by treaty of all sovereign nations. The ultimate definition of sustainable society is defined only by the standardization of societal structure. Diversity of culture, religion, and political philosophy is discouraged as an impediment to the conformity required to manage people’s lives.
The New York Times yesterday published an article by Jessica Grose entitled, “Lots of Americans Are Losing Their Religion. Have you?” It is the first of a series. It was not the Christian bashing that one might expect. The author approached the topic in a fair manner exploring how Americans are redefining religion today. She points to data (WSJ/NORC survey) that only 7% of the American population self-declare as atheist. That means 97% believe in a god in some context. This would lead one to come to the conclusion that any definition on the parameters of societal structure should include a spiritual ingredient.
In determining one’s world view, it is manifest that the question be addressed as to what is the great uncaused cause. For the universe to exist, something always had to exist. Christianity, spiritually, has a qualified claim that the great uncaused cause is a benevolent God who created existence. The alternative universe to this spirituality embraces the ideological faith that the uncaused cause at the foundation of the universe is unknown. The purpose of the universe’s existence is a mystery. Therefore, the only thing that matters is the intellectual thought of mankind, as it exists in the present, as the ultimate evolving purpose of a universe with no transcendent integrity.
The lives and achievements of Time’s 100 influencers are meritable. They are changing and impacting their spheres of influence. The point for consideration in determining one’s universal viewpoint is to decide the answer to this one question: is mankind on a path to a particular moral destination, or is the path unimportant for there is no determined destination of purpose?
Each of us has the freedom to choose our own world view. The overwhelming majority of humanity instinctively gravitates to the existence of God. Natural inclinations are often the result of a natural alignment with a created nature.
A biblical world view axiomatically renders benevolent relief for society’s dilemmas by believing in influencing positive change from the inside looking outward, respecting transcendent principles of a God-created universe. In such a societal structure, the mainstay of stability is the moral authority of the family as an influence representative of every day life.
In a Christian world view, individuals have different dreams but the same respect for each other’s individual pursuit of happiness. This philosophy of personal reciprocity is the balance that provides societal stability…
And recognizes the overwhelming evidence of family authority as the critical mainspring representing everyday life.
My name is Marc Nuttle and this is what I believe.
What do you believe?