The Dark Age

Jesus replied, "You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God (Matthew 22:29).

We tend to think of the Middle Ages as a time when people were very religious. Great cathedrals were built. Several crusades were organized to bring the Holy Land from the control of Muslims into Christian rulership. Christianity was the only official religion of Europe.
But the people of Europe were actually living in the Dark Ages. Elegant cathedrals were built more for the prestige of the city that constructed them than to honor God; most people went to services because they were expected to, not from a desire to become closer to Jesus. Many of the crusaders were motivated less by religion than they were in seeking personal glory in battle, and the opportunity to get rich from plundering Muslim strongholds. And although all Europeans were nominally Christian, most of them had never seen a Bible; even among the clergy of the church, many did not know God’s book; Martin Luther found that some could not even recite the Lord’s Prayer from memory.

In terms of Christianity, our modern world is sinking into a new Dark Age. Many people hold membership in a Christian church, but they rarely if ever go there to worship God. You have to wonder if they maintain their membership only out of a sense of obligation, as opposed to having a desire to truly grow closer to Christ. Much is said about whether or not prayer should be allowed in school, if the Ten Commandments should be displayed in our courthouses, if "under God" should be part of the Pledge of Allegiance—but how many of the people who are passionate about promoting God in these ways actually spend time with Him regularly in devotion or the study of His Word? There are more Bibles in print today than any other book, yet most of them sit on shelves gathering dust. It is disturbing to go into a second-hand store and finding Bibles lying among stacks of discarded books—not only did someone decide that he didn’t need or want God’s book, but apparently he couldn’t even think of someone else to give that Bible to!

How important is Jesus to you? How much time do you set aside for Him each week to pray for forgiveness? How much time do you spend honoring Him by telling others how much better your life is because Jesus is a part of it? How much time do you dedicate to deepening your relationship with Him by picking up His Bible and reading it? How does your time with Jesus compare to the time you spend on your family, your friends, or yourself? Jesus died to save you from God’s curse on your sins; are you living in His light, or are you slowly dying in the new Dark Age?