04300
 
 

HUMANISM CONTINUED
 
 

WORLD COMMUNITY:
 
 

12. One world government and law:
 
 

"We have reached a turning point in human history where the best option is to transcend the limits of national sovereignty and to move toward the building of a world community in which all sectors of the human family can participate. Thus we look to the development of a system of world law and a world order based upon transnational federal government." Have we seen anyone doing this lately? Jessie Jackson has done it several times, going to different places as an individual. In the 90's there was an entertainment ban imposed on the resort "Sun City" in South Africa, to oppose Apartheid.
 
 

It is reported that some public schools are no teaching a global citizenship instead of American citizenship.
 
 

13. World peace: Through decreased military spending, negotiation, and compromise. "It is a planetary imperative to reduce the level of military expenditures and turn these savings to peaceful and people-oriented uses." The one world government requires us to abandon force for "negotiation and compromise".
 
 

This again, sounds very much like the Bush administration. It occurs to me that the humanist system is putting Bush down for doing what they want to do.
 
 

The main premise of this point is not at all wrong. To negotiate and compromise into world peace would be great. Indeed, we have seen it work at times. The problem is that God tells us that wars will always be with us. How can we intelligently know that war will come and decrease our defenses? The American public has been sold a dangerous attitude when it comes to military spending and peace. The only peace that will come is with the Lord in the Millennial kingdom.
 
 

14. Save the earth: Radical change in the environmental attitude of the world would be needed to conserve the earth.
 
 

They are correct in their attempt to save the earth. We are poisoning ourselves, and enjoying the benefits of the poison. We as believers should be interested in the environmental issues. We believe that we are stewards of what God has given us, yet we do little about the creation that He has given.
 
 

Totally committing your life to environmentalism is not needed, yet recycling a can or two wouldn't hurt.
 
 

15. Human rights through redistribution of wealth: "It is the moral obligation of the developed nations to - provide - through an international authority that safe guards human rights - massive technical, agricultural, medical, and economic assistance, including birth control techniques, to the developing portions of the globe. World poverty must cease. Hence extreme disproportions in health, income, and economic growth should be reduced on a worldwide basis."
 
 

In the area of health and physical suffering the world needs help, yet many of the societies that function far below our American poverty level, find that they are happy. The humanist desires that the world population have the same opportunity as the Americans, to have it all - all the things and toys that they want. Things and toys are not the producer of happiness. Indeed, Americans are finding that they do not bring happiness. Why should the world be forced into materialism just to make the humanist feel good.
 
 

16. Develop technology. "We would resist any moves to censor basic scientific research on moral, political, or social grounds." They would encourage the scientific community to try clones. Raise clones for transplanting organs. Genetic engineering? Go for it no matter the outcome. We have unleashed bacteria that eat oil, in the ocean. Do we really know what long term effects that will have?
 
 

I really wonder what effect their free scientific research will do to the environment that they want to clean up and keep pure.
 
 

17. Remove all international barriers to international travel, culture, and science. All of Europe is doing this. Indeed, the common market is doing much of what humanism wants. We are now seeing interest on the part of the ex-communist block in economic union. They are talking of an organization of their own, yet one must wonder if merger with The Common Market isn't in the future.
 
 

HUMANITY AS A WHOLE:
 
 

In closing. The world cannot wait for governments to come together on their own. "Destructive ideological differences among Communism, Capitalism, Socialism, Conservatism, Liberalism, and Radicalism should be overcome."
 
 

"Humanism thus interpreted is a moral force that has time on its side. We believe that humankind has the potential intelligence, good will, and cooperative skill to implement this commitment in the decades ahead."
 
 

How do you react to that statement? True, they have time, potential intelligence, good will and cooperation however the last coming together of man to one purpose ended in trouble. Read the account of Babel.
 
 

"These affirmations are not a final credo or dogma but an expression of a living and growing faith."
 
 

Some of the people signing H.M.II were:
 
 

Isaac Asimov, science fiction writer (wrote for Playboy)
 
 

Edd Doerr, Americans United for Separation of Church and State
 
 

Bette Chambers, President of American Humanist Association
 
 

Alan F. Guttmacher, President of Planned Parenthood Federation of America
 
 

Paul Kurtz, Editor of "The Humanist"
 
 

Lester Mondale, former President, Fellowship of Religious Humanists and brother of Walter Mondale
 
 

B. F. Skinner, Harvard prof.
 
 

Norman Fleishman, Executive Vice Pres., Planned Parenthood World Population
 
 

Betty Friedan, founder, National Organization of Women
 
 

Now we need to use the above information to help ourselves, our churches and our country to realize how much humanism has already affected us.
 
 

Robert Schuller, one of the television church leaders: "the new reformation will return our focus to the sacred right of every person to self-esteem" (Robert Schuller, "SELF-ESTEEM: THE NEW REFORMATION"; p. 36-38) Sound familiar?
 
 

How does humanism affect us? Ourselves, our local churches, our universal church, our mission boards, our families, our society, our schools, our business, our labor, our government.
 
 

How does humanism affect us? Let us look and see.
 
 

Ourselves:
 
 

1. I am to be satisfied. My wife doesn't do enough for me. The church hasn't really ministered to me. (This is where most of our work on renewal has been, and the church is still ineffective in our global work.) My husband never pays attention to me. I want more pay!
 
 

2. "I want" THE I WANT ME TO BE COMFORTABLE SYNDROME.
 
 

Count up. How many stereos do you own? How many televisions do you own? How many cars do you own? How many clothes do you own? Now, how many of these items are really needed?
 
 

How many of your personal belongings could you put out at a garage sale and still allow you to live relatively comfortable? Yes, I think most of us have had a case or two of the I WANTS.
 
 

I'm not pointing the finger at anyone. Only trying to open all of us to the possibility that we as Christians are wide open to the "I want me to be comfortable syndrome".
 
 

When our three children were still at home, I counted up the number of stereos in our home. Now mind you there was a real good reason for purchasing every single one of them!
 
 

There was the one in the living room, there was the one at my desk, there was the one in the car, there was the one in Tim's room, there was the one in Stan's room, there was the one in Laurie's room, there was the two in the storage area awaiting the garage sale, and then there are the small portable earphone type stereos of which we had five. Boy are we fixed for sound! Everyone of them was a present, on sale, or needed! At the Derickson home over the years the "I want to be comfortable syndrome" has had its inroads from time to time.
 
 

How about at your home?
 
 

I overheard two older men at a garage sale that they were having. One of the men asked the other, "Remember how bad we needed these things when we bought them?".
 
 

Our local churches:
 
 

Self-oriented:
 
 

1. We dwell on self-esteem. Christ is to be pre-eminent in our lives not ourselves. it is not "what I want in life," it is "what he wants for my life" that counts.
 
 

2. We dwell on how I relate to the church. It is very seldom that I hear that someone is coming to church here because he wants to help build the church up for the Lord. It is usually something like "the church really ministers to me." or "the pastor really helps me understand the bible." These are not wrong, but they are not all that "church" is about.
 
 

3. We dwell on how the church ministers to me. If the church does not minister to the person the person usually will find one that will.
 
 

4. We dwell on having a pleasant building or plant to worship in. If we weren't so self centered wouldn't we expand our financial blessings, so that others could be included in the family of God rather than concentrate on buildings?
 
 

5. Because we are giving to self, we have less to give to God. Offerings are down, money is short, expanding missions giving is hard, and there is no money for projects and ministries that come along within the church.
 
 

One of the churches we attended, refused to increase a veteran missionary's support by $50 a month to get him back to the field, yet a month later raised commitments in about five minutes, to give $600-700 per month for a youth pastor for about fifteen kids.
 
 

6. We have poor attitudes toward divorce and remarriage. Divorce and remarriage is a direct result of "My Rights" and humanism.
 
 

7. Church discipline has no meaning: If each person is an authority unto themselfves then there is no one that can tell him he is doing wrong.
 
 

I knew a church that had two couples involved in immorality. It was six months before one of the innocent husbands convinced his erring wife that she had done wrong. By the way the pastor initiated no church discipline, the erring parties were never rebuked, and the pastor shortly after, went on to head up a mission organization. Need we wonder why the church is impotent today?
 
 

If there is nothing wrong with what goes on with two consenting adults then affairs are the person's business, and no problem.
 
 

A Christian man in the Midwest, when confronted by his pastor about the alcohol from his home that had caused a serious accident via one of his children, stated, "You have no right telling me what to do in my home! Get out!"
 
 

8. Leaders and teachers are spending too much time in books and seminars by people that are bordering on humanism in their thinking. More time should be spent in the Word and practical study.
 
 

We hear so much teaching on the raising of families and marriage yet some of these people aren't able to keep their own marriages together.
 
 

The humanist tells us the child has rights - let him try what he wants so he can mold himself. This translates into a teen that has molded himself to do what he wants. This translates into a church member that is going to do as he pleases. This translates into a lack of missionaries and pastors. YES! WE DO HAVE PROBLEMS IN THE CHURCH THAT ARE CAUSED BY HUMANISM.
 
 

The Catholic Church, which is a form of humanism, has a tremendous shortage of priests. They say it is because of celibacy - I have rights - I want - I won't give up my right to sex for God. This is the attitude of many of the young and old alike in the Roman Church.
 
 

9. The stress on enjoying ourselves - good lighting, padded pews, great equipment, maybe a gym, etc.
 
 

I have heard this same story in two places when people were discussing the need of a church building. One was a church with a building and the other was a church that was considering their first building. The same reason for the need of a building was given - "It's so much trouble carrying hymnals in from the car and setting up for Sunday School, in our rented building. This was the main reason for keeping the building in one case and building one in the other case. The church without a building was only paying part of the utilities and were sharing a building with another church. They really had no need of a building except for the inconvenience. The building they were considering was to cost over a million dollars.
 
 

Really! A million dollars so they don't have to carry hymnals! HOW CAN WE CARRY THE CROSS OF CHRIST WHEN WE CAN'T EVEN CARRY HYMNALS? Do you realize a million dollars invested properly would create a fund that would fund five missionaries, or pastors and those that followed them fully, until the Lord comes?
 
 

10. Probably the biggest problem and I only place it here for convenience sake as it affects all of our areas - family, church, universal church, and society.
 
 

Sin! There is nothing that is wrong anymore it seems we have rationalized most sin away in one way or another. Most things are relegated to the gray areas these days. If you can do it with a clear conscience then it is okay for you. There are a few definites yet, but we see even divorce as becoming accepted in churches. One of the main line denominations reportedly has a divorce service in their Ministers Manual now.
 
 

Many Christians allow things in their home, via the television, that they would never have dreamed of allowing ten years ago in light of "well the kids need something to watch."
 
 

11. We dwell on the body (of Christ) at times to the exclusion of the lost.
 
 

Our universal church:
 
 

1. A bloated fleshly mass that is comfortable - so comfortable that we can't send ministers of the gospel out full time. I'm not speaking of missionaries only. I'm sure we would be shocked at the number of pastors in this country, right now, which are working outside their churches to support their ministries. Many other pastor's wives work to help their husband have time for their ministry.
 
 

At least the humanist is trying to change all of man. The church primarily is only trying to improve itself. We are letting the world go to hell while we continually build ourselves up and make ourselves comfortable.
 
 

2. Pastors that are turning down $30,000 plus a fancy parsonage as not enough. I was recently told of a man that had been turning down churches offering $40,000 pay packages, so that he would be able to accept one offering a $50,000 pay package when it came along.
 
 

3. Churches of 125 members with two missionaries on their budget.
 
 

4. Million dollar building programs. One report mentioned that churches spent over one billion dollars on buildings in one year in this country.
 
 

Our mission boards:
 
 

I see in missionaries, something which bothers me greatly, and I believe it stems from humanistic thought in the church and possibly in the workers as well. I see a cold view toward support and supporters. When retirement age comes - you owe me - you shouldn't drop my support when I retire. The thought that this is Gods provision seems to be way in the background. It is a business to keep your support. This is in part the problem of the church in their spastic and oftentimes, sudden ending support. It is also in part due to the worker looking to the church for support rather than to the Lord.
 
 

You write supporters at least every other month, you go see them as often as you can, you send them small Christmas presents, you send prayer letters to report your progress, etc. These things are great so don't take me wrong, but some view this as "have to" to keep their support, and this is not right!
 
 

Some talk I hear concerning support sounds like a farmer talking about so many potatoes that he is going to take to market.
 
 

Some missionaries chose the church they go to while on furlough based on which church they think they might receive support from. Some attend two churches regularly in the hopes of gaining support from both. (One in the morning and one in the evening.)
 
 

I was told once by a pastor of a pioneer work that I was the only missionary that had ever contacted him. "We are too small to bother with," he told me.
 
 

It has been said that there is little money out there so you can be sure the flashiest person will get it. Is that anyway to finance missions?
 
 

Humanistic thought dictates how we approach the lost. In the past God was almost universally held to by the world. It just depended on how they viewed God, or in which god they believed. Today many reject any and all concepts of god. These people must see that there is a God, and then we can introduce them to the God of the Bible.
 
 

The lack of commitment of Christians is making recruitment very difficult. We are going to retire many more workers in the next ten years than we recruit. The search for a fulfilled life is not to be found in the underpaid position of missionary. The fun life style certainly isn't in the South American jungle! Etc.
 
 

When it takes as long to raise support as it does to gain your education, recruits are going to go a different direction.
 
 

Our families:
 
 

Dr. Kienel the executive director of Christian Schools International in a short article shared some thoughts about the humanization of the Christian home. He mentioned "disrespect for authority"/"decline in discipline at home and at school"/"decline in academics"/"self centeredness"/"total academic freedoms"/"total sexual freedom." Any of that ring a bell with you?
 
 

Dare we ask how much television has affected ourselves and our families with this thinking? The screen is pumping their thinking into our families at nearly every show in some way or another -- even if only the commercials!!!
 
 

Our society:
 
 

Schools: It is obvious. We have covered this already.
 
 

Business: From Beneficial National Bank, Wilmington, Delaware. "Dear Mr. Derickson: Only those who 'have arrived' will receive this particular offer, Mr. Derickson. . .and rightly so. You see, at Beneficial, we've created the prestigious preferred credit program with successful professionals like you in mind. . .proven individuals who have already achieved a station in life far above many people, and most of your peers." WOW! What a dose of humanistic thought to get me to borrow from them.
 
 

Labor: We have already mentioned the problems of labor.
 
 

Government: Governor Richard Lamm of Colorado once said that terminally ill old people ought to just die and get out of the way. He likened the dieing as humus for the other plants to grow on. He felt that keeping terminally ill patients alive was ruining the countries economy.
 
 

How do we combat the effects of humanism?
 
 

On ourselves?

On our local churches?

On our universal church?

On our mission boards?

On our families?

On our society?
 
 

Ourselves:
 
 

1. Take time to know humanism and it's god - Satan. realize what it is, and commit yourself to avoiding it's teachings.
 
 

2. Commit yourself to holding to the Word only, and not trying to apply humanistic thinking to it.
 
 

3. Ask God to show you any areas where you need to change your life.
 
 

Our local churches:
 
 

1. The board should be educated about the subject. They should consider motives, methods, and programs of the church to see what influences of humanism have crept in. All new programs should also be reviewed in light of this problem.
 
 

2. Inform all people in the church of the problems of humanism - from adult to child. This should be done with a strong eye to the Biblical absolutes that humanism tries to destroy.
 
 

3. Be sure that new staff members are knowledgeable of the problems as well.
 
 

What areas should we consider and evaluate?
 
 

Music: Does it bring glory to God or the performer?
 
 

Education: Are we using proper materials and teaching proper concepts.
 
 

Worship: Is it centered on making us feel good, or is it centered on God?
 
 

Church government: Is our church government Scriptural or do we accept a lot of tradition?
 
 

Youth Program: Are we teaching the Bible, or some feel good about yourself material?
 
 

Discipline: Is it properly administered? To all people?
 
 

Our universal church:
 
 

1. As you meet other Christians challenge them with what you have learned - challenge them to do their part at their own church.
 
 

2. Leaders: See to it that the schools and seminaries are teaching a proper view of things in all subjects such as theology, philosophy and psychology. If they aren't, don't send them money or students.
 
 

Our leaders should be educating Christians through magazine articles, books, and teaching.
 
 

3. Is not the overemphasis on "Jesus" in our music and in some of our movements a "Humanizing" of Christ? Keeping Him on our level - Someone we can identify with as a man, and not be convicted because we don't see Him as God, and pure, and holy? Just a question.
 
 

Our mission boards:
 
 

1. This is similar to the items mentioned for the board of the local churches. Education of the people.
 
 

2. They might even want to change some of their procedures. Possibly their fund raising is a bit out of line. If so, they should change it.
 
 

Our families:
 
 

1. I am not a proponent of Christian schools usually, but this is one very good way of cutting the amount of humanism that your family is submitted to. Most of what your child learns of humanism comes from the public school system. The rest from the media.
 
 

2. Be on the alert to what they see and read, and help them to understand the Scriptural precepts involved.
 
 

3. Limiting television will help, to be sure.
 
 

Our society:
 
 

We need to be helping govern. The public schools are going to keep pumping out humanistic centered people. We need to have our own spokespeople. Help govern. Help run public schools. Get behind politicians you can support, even work for them if you have time.
 
 

I won't go into the detail of a study I did once, but let it suffice to say if you compare humanism to Hitler's program and to the Roman Catholic Church, I'm sure that you will find many similarities.
 
 

What does it boil down to then?
 
 

Be knowledgeable, be sure you aren't a sermon for humanism, share the knowledge you have, be challenged to labor harder for the Lord, serve and give of yourself, and watch for signs of wrong thinking in your family. Correct it as soon as you can
 
 

Be assured, the one world government and economy won't come until God is ready for it. The humanist movement can't get ahead of God, yet it can affect our families and churches, as well as our own effectiveness.
 
 

Think about something for me for a moment. Is not all of sin tied to satisfying self? Is not all of humanism tied to satisfying self?
 
 

I REST MY CASE!