Habakuk 1:3-4
"Must I forever see these evil deeds? Why must I watch all this misery? Wherever I look, I see destruction and violence. I am surrounded by people who love to argue and fight. The law has become paralyzed, and there is no justice in the courts. The wicked far outnumber the righteous, so that justice has become perverted."

Have you ever prayed a prayer like Habakuk's?
I have.
Many times I've called out in my lack of understanding God's purpose and sometimes seemingly indifference towards the declining moral character of our nation. I've prayed intercessions continually. I've worked with the faithful fellowship to reach out into the world to effect a change. And I've spoken about God's word and his ways. And still the world seems to be in a steep declining position toward wickedness, gaining ground and perverting even the faithful fellowship.

The educated folks would tell you that there is always a sense of moral decline in every age. They would say the facts show that there is always an abiding sense of a declining moral state and a concern about a sickness of amoral nature growing in its wake. According to a recent Gallup poll, 54% of Americans say the state of moral values in the country is “poor”—a record number [Science magazine]. And they would say that this feeling is normal, it's part of the human condition. People have and always will feel as if each generation is declining further and further into depravity. The thing is, these educated folks make one mistake. The fact is moral decline is increasing and side by side is a moral decay of the sense of decline. I mean to say, as the people become more perverted, their measure of the decline adjusts. They grade crime and sin on the curve. And sometimes perverting the principles of law so much so that they create a militant humanist society. And so of course as the generations of society decline in moral character so do its senses of justice.

The prophet Habakuk is living in a humanist society filled with violence and injustice. He feels the impact of that injustice as if he were its victim, and he is confused by Yahweh’s silence. And he measures God's purpose according to his own experience, instead of seeing things from God's perspective. He instead was approaching God from a relativistic perspective. He was measuring God's strength and resolve according to human resources.

The Stoic Greek Philosopher, Protagoras, believed:
"Of all things the measure is Man, of the things that are, that they are, and of the things that are not, that they are not" which was usually rendered simply as "Man is the measure of all things,"

And like the gallop study about how people view moral decline, humanism sees everything through that same human lens of relativism. And the same thing has happened within the world religions. Humanism is always influencing the people's perception of the world and the Holy. Habakuk was doing it, and it's not because he's not a good man of God, it's just that he's a human being. Turns out that humanism is from the beginning.

The humanist person is forever trying to reduce religion to its social and ethical considerations. This is important for the people of faith to understand. The very first thing that must happen for the humanist Christian mind to more forward in its view is for it to reduce the supernatural power and source of the Holy Trinity. Basically unbridled unbelief is being built into the institutions of theological belief that becomes a part of the humanist culture through higher education. What results is a social gospel embracing many of the values of the Christian message and leaving off the supernatural evidence of the Holy. They ripped off the character of Jesus Christ, and negated the foundation on which that character is built. No rational source for mankind's moral character. In fact the humanist Christian clings to "preferences" rather than principles. And that ideology always becomes statism. Because it always comes down to "whose preferences".

One human philosophy, one set of human values, one relativistic human morality becomes the foundation for the whole world. And so there it is, the evidence that the gallop study is missing the underlying problem. The problem is Pragmatism. As Pragmatism took hold in the United States, around the time of the Age of Enlightenment, the country began to see things, moral things, through the lens of practical human considerations. Another word for that is relativism. Justifying the choices and actions a person makes according to the relative nature of their situation. It's really a form of hedonism at its root. In the 1960's this became the age when spiritually the people were in search of themselves. They searched in pleasures. They tried to find themselves in their physical situations. And today these same children of the 60's are the grandparents of a generation that is completely unaware of anything other than this humanistic worldview and the disease of sin. They've never known anything different. And so it's the new normal. And I believe it's impossible for them to know a pure moral life today without knowing Jesus Christ.

For the most part our culture has lost its ability to take a "God's-eye-view". In part this is a symptom of our great success and material wealth. In this nation even the poorest people are rich compared to most of humanity. Our means and easy access to wealth has bred a generation that has never known true want. And so it's only natural that they fall for the humanist ideology. Why would they seek God's perspective?

They make themselves god's. And they even create religious beliefs that support this view.

And even the Pragmatists invite a little imagination in order to get even more out of their relativistic ideas. They'll mingle with spiritualism a little if it gets them just a little more attention from their human gods. And you see they MUST. They cannot stagnate in their humanism, because they do they'll notice the ugliness inherent in it. And so they mingle with things. Human things. Some go for hedonism. Some look to their physical prowess. Others push in influence and infectious enthusiasm in the cultural arena. And some squeeze Jesus in where they can to get a bit of legitimacy from his name.

It's all a society trying to tranquil its guilt for its many sins. They choose the hypnosis of relativism to help mitigate the inevitable consequences of their actions. Repentance is never preached by their priests and pastors.

Repent?

Of what?

Being human?

Come on now.

2 Timothy 4:3
"For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine and accurate instruction [that challenges them with God’s truth]; but wanting to have their ears tickled [with something pleasing], they will accumulate for themselves [many] teachers [one after another, chosen] to satisfy their own desires and to support the errors they hold"

Instant social acceptance instead of true sacrifice. That's the true essence of what's happening. They aren't looking for transformative solutions, they want Jesus to conform to them. God MUST answer their questions...NOW! God must show himself...NOW! Like a petulant toddler they cry out for more and more and they insist upon instant gratification.

Or what?

Or they'll not believe.

Okay then...don't believe.

Romans 1:24
"Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their own hearts to [sexual] impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them [abandoning them to the degrading power of sin].

And still they have their tantrums. It never ends. The constant rejection and anger towards the God they hate. As if God is struggling with them. Foolish children...he's already let you go...so go. He's abandoned you because you abandon him every day. You dishonor him and his Son. So go. Begone Satan.

Why keep coming back?

Because deep down you know the truth and it burns. You're already in the lake of fire.