Posted by
PaulDerengowski on Friday, January 04, 2008 1:25:08 PM
I was digging through a bunch of papers that I needed to file away
today, when I came across an email that was sent to me by a friend
quite some time ago. The subject line was entitled: The Obituary of An
Old Friend. The Old Friend in this case was common sense. But, the
more I thought about it, and the more I see Christians being infected
by postmodern and relativistic thinking, the more it seemed to me that
not only has common sense died among so many people, so has biblical
sense. By that I mean, whereas at one time most people had a pretty
good grasp on biblical principles, and then attempted to pattern their
conduct as God would have them live, now truth and living is a matter
of capriciousness. Truth is what one makes it to be, rather than what
it is.
Hence, I would like to offer the content of that email here and
substitute the world biblical for common, along with a few other adjustments to fit the context, and express my condolences to
the loss of an "Old Friend," with the express hope that maybe someday
in God's own grace and time, He will resurrect it in the lives of so
many Christians who have essentially abandoned it.
Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Mr.
Biblical Sense. Mr. Sense had been with us for many years. No one
knows for sure how old he was since his birth records were long ago
lost in religious relativism. He will be remembered as having
cultivated such value lessons as knowing when to do unto others as you
would have them do unto you, why God will not be mocked without severe
repercussions, and that if a man does not work he should not eat.
Biblical Sense lived by simple, sound financial principles (don't spend
more than you earn); and reliable parenting strategies (adults, not
kids, are in charge).
His health began to rapidly deteriorate when liberal thinking scholars
and philosophers began to question his authority, and even his
existence. Reports that his author did not really author it in the
first place led to more and more people writing their own chapters,
none of which we related. Jesus was reduced to a mere human, since to
imagine him as a miracle worker did not jive with the philosophical
intelligentsia and their "enlightened" discoveries. Hence, now we have
lawyers settling no-fault divorces between adulterous husbands and
wives, a government that is fiscally out of control, and children
acting on all the madness through abject rebellion and nihilism, with
many of them committing suicide before they ever hit the age of 20.
Mr. Sense declined even further when the educational system starting
"educating" without any real focus on why education was important to
begin with. God, who is the absolute source of knowledge of our
existence, was expelled in the 1960's, and now with humanistic religion
leading the way, Mr. Sense was no longer needed. Yet, since Mr. Sense
was expelled, the educational system has devolved from attempting to
understand ourselves and our place in the universe as God's creatures
to a careless romp through a meaningless life, where children have been
exposed to just about every hedonistic exercise in futility to make
them think that they are gods. They are the creators of their own
destinies, and are answerable to no one, which is why more and more
schools resemble the battlefields of World War II Germany, Viet Nam, or
Iraq.
Mr. Biblical Sense lost the will to live when fewer and fewer Christians
decided to actually pick up their Bibles and read them. Pastors became
irrelevant pontificators of the latest secular marketing schemes,
rather than shepherds commissioned to go out and make disciples, and
then baptize and teach them. And church members were no better,
learning from the pastors how to live gimmicky lives, rather than godly
lives, whereby everyone showed up on Sunday as a matter of convenience,
rather than conviction, to demonstrate how pious they were to the rest
of the impious, and then live out the rest of the week as practical
atheists.
Mr. Biblical Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and his
wife Wisdom; his siblings, discernment, knowledge, and understanding.
His cousins, Responsibility and Ethics are on their death beds, and are
not expected to live much longer. His three, rebellious stepbrothers, Me, Myself,
and I, are all doing well, as they continue to fuel the madness, and
rejoice over the loss of the one that kept their idolatrous selves in
check for such a long time.
Additional information concerning Mr. Biblical Sense's demise: Not many
attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. Remnants of
him can be seen gathering dust in back windows of many cars owned by
those claiming to be Christians. If you remember him, please pass
along this little obituary notice; if not, join the majority and do
nothing!