Kerby Anderson

Erwin Lutzer calls for Christians to take a bold stand for Christ in a collapsing culture in his new book No Reason to Hide. He says we should not be complicit with the culture, nor should we be complacent in the culture. Instead, we should be courageous.

He identifies all sorts of threats coming at Christians from the culture. Most of them are from outside the church, though some have made their way inside the church. One chapter was surprising to me. He focused our attention on the issue of self-worship.

Erwin Lutzer uses an illustration he heard from John Stonestreet, president of the Colson Center, that illustrated the modern self-movement. Suppose that you are lost and have a compass that points to true north. That means you can figure the direction in which you are walking. But let’s now suppose you have a magnet in your backpack that causes the compass to always point to you. Without a point of reference, you have no idea of which direction you are heading. This is an apt metaphor for self-worship today.

He also quotes Carl Trueman and his book, The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: Cultural Amnesia, Expressive Individualism, and the Road to Sexual Revolution. I did an interview with him when the book came out and have been encouraged to see how many Christians are reading his book. He explains how Sigmund Freud’s drive for sexuality was combined with Karl Marx’s quest for political power.

Sex is now politics. Our modern society now associates sexual freedom with political freedom. Therefore, the great sin in our culture is repression of our sexual desires. That is why Christianity, the church, and the Bible are seen as enemies that must be overthrown. That is why we Christians find ourselves in a society of self-worship promoting sexual freedom.