West Main

Recently I have been reading, The Last Utopia: Human Rights in History by Samuel Moyn. The quote I’d like to share is a bit heady, but stay with me and I will explain why you should find it relevant. Here is the quote: “In the realm of thinking, as in that of social action, human rights are best understood as survivors: the god that did not fail (italics mine) while other political ideologies did. If they avoided failure, it was because they were widely understood as a moral alternative to bankrupt political utopias.”

All right, some explanation is in order. “Utopia” is a word popularized in 1516 by Thomas More’s book Utopia, a book about a fictional island where people enjoy the perfection of politics, law, economy, and culture. So the word utopia is often generalized to mean “any visionary system of political or social perfection” (Dictionary.com).

Now as Christians we know from God’s revelation that the world is fallen into sin and death, so any vision of life not rooted in the sovereignty of God lacks “perfection” and will fail. Yet, we live in a world as the Apostle Paul says, ^“For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened” (Rom 1:21).

When humanity as a whole abandons the truth of God and gives over to “futile thinking,” such thinking will show up in human society as a philosophy or doctrine of life. What personally concerns me as that Paul gives further insight into this “futile thinking” by noting, “Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons” (1 Tim 4:1).

In spite of the world forsaking God, the world still needs a vision of hope to make life worth the living. Satan’s grand deception is to provide the world with false visions of utopia that promise salvation and redemption (“teachings of demons”). These false visions, philosophies, ideologies, or doctrines come in all shapes and sizes. What makes these “teachings of demons” difficult to discern rests in the fact that “Satan disguises himself as an angel of light” (2 Cor 11:14). Satan wraps his deceit up in presentations of politics (all versions and persuasions), freedom, nationalism, revolution, and religion (to name but a few).

What caught my attention in the quote from Moyn above is the part I italicized concerning human rights as, “the god that did not fail.” While I believe the author is speaking metaphorically about human rights being a “god,” nevertheless, from the vantage point of Scripture, he spoke more truly than he perhaps realized. In other words, when society puts its hope in a declaration of human rights (as much good as they may contain), they put their hope in a false god that will not save or deliver.

Samuel Moyn further states in his book, “Human rights were born as the last utopia—but one day another may appear.” As I read this book, I wondered to myself if the demons are running out of utopian visions to keep the world deceived. We truly are living in the “last days” when perhaps even demons are running out of teachings to deceive. But rather than despair, perhaps we can make the vision of Christ all the more clear as the world stumbles again over demonic utopian visions.

The Church of Jesus Christ is a city on a hill and a light in the darkness of lost utopias, darkened understandings, and futile thinking. What the world needs is Jesus. In our saturated political climate we would do well to remember what is utopian and what is real.

– Terry

Our Annual Women’s Retreat will be held October 5-7 in Bend, Oregon, at The Riverhouse. Our guest speaker will be Katie Turner, a long time friend of the Zielke’s. Her theme is “His Story in Her Life: The Journey of Leah.” Registrations are available in the courtyard. The cost is about $100.00. Cutoff date to insure your discounted room rate is September 18. (Each attendee is responsible for booking and paying for their room at the hotel and arranging for their roommates. See registration form for details.)

Please see the registration forms for complete details on what to bring, costs, and directions. If you need more information and to sign-up, please contact Jessie Pannell.

Deacons and Elders please mark your calendars for the Leadership Retreat scheduled at Cantrall-Buckley Park on September 22 for you and your family. We will begin about 10:30 a.m. and plan to be together throughout the afternoon. More details to come.

Sunday Evenings:

At the home of Gerry and September Flock; 5:30 p.m.

Services at the building at 6:00 p.m.

Wednesday Evening: College Age Life Group

At the home of Gerry & September Flock; 6:30 p.m.

Thursday Evening: The Group That Meets

At the home of Nate & Nikki Walker at 6:30 p.m. In October the meeting day will be moved to Wednesday. Please call Terry Christopher or Trevin Robbins to confirm day and time.

Prayer Requests . . .  For Bob Trimmer for his asthma and other health issues...For Joey Olson that the swelling goes down from his bee sting...For John Ivey who tore a tendon off the bone in his hand - please pray for complete healing...For Matthew York as he undergoes surgery this week in Portland...For the father of Darren Dixon, Preston, who had hip replacement surgery and is still in a lot of pain...For friends of David Mayes, Barbara, Cora and Layla, for their spiritual growth, and that David be more Christlike in his ways...For our President and all of our military men, women and families.

Sept 22: Leadership Retreat; Cantrall-Buckley Park; 10:30 a.m.

Oct 5-7: Ladies Retreat in Bend, Oregon

Nov 4: Anniversary Sunday (Please note the change of date)