What is known as the West has developed for the last 200 years culturally, socially, and economically significantly faster than the rest of the world, transforming itself into the richest countries of the world today. These are often the ones with the highest standards of living. Therefore, the dream of many inhabitants of poor, less developed countries is to immigrate to the developed world.
But with the marked increase in living standards, something else has become prominent in the West. It is the phenomenon of secularism. Not long ago, the only atheist countries were all Communist, while the rest of the world maintained strong religious beliefs. The Western world for centuries was a bastion of Christianity. But today, in addition to countries with a Communist background, the richest countries in the world have all become secularized. The spiritual and material have disengaged and drifted away from each other in these countries.
Since there is usually no hunger, no suffering, no pain, but most people live safe, secure, and content lives in the industrialized world, we believe we do not need anything spiritual, supernatural, or intangible in our lives anymore. The mind-soul connection has been lost. The physical comfort and the material now take precedence over the spiritual and the non-material in the rich countries. Therefore, for many people, God has become irrelevant in our modern world!
The Theory of Evolution aims to provide answers to the physical aspect of the Universe’s creation and development. But scientists have no way to measure or confirm the existence of a higher power, so the very possibility of god is often very conveniently put aside or discarded in the scientific world. The biggest problem with this theory is that it ignores the intangible nonphysical aspect present in it. For instance, human beings can see a beautiful nature scene (100% physical), but an emotional, spiritual response of beauty and peace will be generated in us due to this physical scenery. That is because, in addition to the physical component present in us, there is also an emotional, spiritual one entangled. There is a physical-soul connection in us. God is the greatest expression of our spiritual component, and rejecting him is the best way to damage this facet of us.
Research indicates that regular prayer can have many mental health benefits. Studies have proven that prayer inspires hope and resilience, provides inner peace and rest, increases our capacity to cope, and decreases anxiety and fear in us. It has even been proven to improve our sleep quality. But since rich countries are neglecting the presence of God in our lives, our capacity to develop our spiritual component has significantly decreased, with dire consequences for society. And the medical-scientific solution to our inner issues or mental, emotional, or psychological problems is often prescription drugs, while many people also self-prescribe illegal ones.
The results are that, in case you did not know, in the United States at present, there is an opioid crisis. There is also a mental health crisis in the country, with estimates indicating that over one in five adults are affected by mental illness, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. We have built the perfect world. It is only missing one thing, God! This is the same supernatural being that most people pray to when they are afraid, in distress, or pain (There are no atheists in the foxholes, I heard!). But he is also always there for us when everybody hates us and we feel lonely, and he helps us to find direction, deal with difficult emotions and situations, find comfort and peace, and gives us strength during difficult times. But if we turn our backs on him, do not be surprised at the consequences of our rejection.
Studies consistently indicate that in the United States, Generation Z (Gen Z), generally considered those born between 1997 and 2012, is currently the least religious generation in American history. Research also shows that Generation Z is often described as the “loneliest generation,” with statistics indicating high rates of loneliness and social isolation among young adults. Do you see a connection there? When God becomes irrelevant in our lives, we are not only hurting him, but ourselves.
Interestingly, Christianity, instead of fighting this trend, got on board with our materialistic way of thinking. The Prosperity Gospel, which teaches that God blesses the faithful with financial blessings, wealth, and overall abundance in this life, is an example. But the Prosperity Gospel ignores the fact that Jesus and his disciples were spiritually minded, choosing morality, love, truth, and high values over material things, and often suffering persecution and hardship due to their ideology. Or what about the many churches that operate as businesses, for instance, measuring success by the numbers, instead of by the quality of each individual, or marketing themselves as a business would do. The result of their distorted mentality is increasingly empty pews in churches.
“Command those who are rich with things of this world not to be proud.
Tell them to hope in God, not in their uncertain riches.
God richly gives us everything to enjoy.”
1 Timothy 6:17
Paul, in the previous biblical verse, advises us that we should not put our trust in material wealth, but rather in God, who provides us with all our needs. In the Bible, Jabez prayed for true prosperity, and the Lord answered that prayer, but the exclusive purpose was that he (Jabez) could be made a great blessing to other people. On the other hand, one of the ideas of the Prosperity Gospel is that the believers sow a financial seed to the man of God (which usually is the preacher teaching this idea and who then buys his private jets, Bentleys, and mansions with the money from the fools who believed in that doctrine), so God would then return this seed in the form of financial rewards and blessings to the sower. The ultimate goal here is our security and well-being. So we can trust our bank account more than our god.
Although many blind religious teachers and distorted philosophies have done much to destroy the Church, we need to understand that God and religion are not the same thing. We should strive to maintain a relationship with the true god, not based on the description of god that each particular religion and religious teacher promotes. We need to seek truth and certainty in our beliefs about God because having a relationship with him and having a relationship with misleading doctrines will bring different results. For instance, all the suckers who believed in the Prosperity Gospel only got ripped off. It is not easy to find the true God, but the alternative is much worse.
Regardless of what the Theory of Evolution says, we were created to maintain a close relationship with God, where we are the weaker, needy partner, and God nurtures and protects us in every aspect. We require some humility to maintain this relationship. You, not having a good relationship with God, indicate that you probably do not really know him. There must have been a good reason why, in the past, martyrs were willing to be eaten alive by lions rather than forsaking God. They knew something that most people today do not. Something so significant that they were willing to gladly give their lives for. In the rich countries, we have lost that something.