What do BRICS and Bitcoin have to do with God?

Nothing. BRICS is an economic coalition of developing nations, mostly led by China, that seeks to improve their economies and free themselves from control of the US dollar . Bitcoin is part of a decentralized blockchain financial system that wants to break the control of the central banking system ruled by the US dollar. What they have in common is progressive, utopian thinking. If they can just be FREE, they will create a better world for everyone! But their plans leave out a very important ingredient in their better world, God.

BRICS and Bitcoin are evidence of the moral decline of America. Despite it’s many failures, the USA has had one thing going for it since it’s founding, faith in the existence of, and fear of God. This widespread belief in God, Christian morals, and a desire for freedom based on God-given rights, helped America become the greatest country in the world. Another way of putting it is that America was built on natural, moral laws.

However, these morals and beliefs have been successfully eroded by two things 1) progress according to the teachings of anti-God Marxists and humanist progressives, and 2)profits at any cost. In only a little over 100 years, these two seemingly opposing forces have successfully removed the moral guardrails that protect society from human nature. This moral decline didn’t start in America, but it will end here.

The obsession with progress and profits has created an epidemic of depression and lack of meaning. Progress has taken people away from communities, families, and faith. Profits have caused people to compromise on justice and values. Industrialization, the credit/debt monetary system, and technology have enslaved both body and soul. People have lost their connection to what is good about being alive in the first place, our relationship with God.

How did we get here?

Humans, tend to repeat the same mistakes. Some students of history have recognized multiple similarities between the 1970s and the current period of history. Not only did we have an energy crisis, high inflation, and cultural upheaval, we were dealing with Russia and China. Fifty years later not much has changed in human nature, despite many technological changes and multiple economic booms and busts, aka market corrections or recessions.

And yet going back 50 years is not enough. We can look back 100 years to the beginning of the Progressive era, or 400 years to the Enlightenment period, or even to Jesus’ day when philosophers were debating the same issues. People have not changed despite years and years of seeking to understand and improve ourselves.

Despite all these years of ‘progress’, there are still poor people, middle class people , rich people, and ultrarich people in every country. Each person is still born into the world with a particular personality that is very difficult to change, if not impossible. And yet, progressives continue to try to improve human nature using behavioral modification, drugs, and talk therapy.

What is the cure?

The only proven cure for our human condition is to be born again by confessing one’s helpless and sinful condition and then to submit oneself to the guidance of the Holy Spirit and authority of God.

What is being born again? All humans are born fatally separated from God due to the sin of the first humans. This means that we need to be reconnected to God. God explains all this in the Bible. He sent Jesus Christ to provide a legal way for us to be adopted back into the family, despite our sin nature. Jesus died for our sins.

If we are willing (and able) to believe that we are sinners, that Jesus paid for our sins on the cross and was resurrected, and then confess our need for forgiveness, we can be reborn spiritually. This new birth and adoption by God changes us. We now have the Holy Spirit of God inside of us who will lead us into truth, that is, He will transform our thoughts and actions by replacing the world’s ways with God’s ways. Jesus gave us a sample of how that looks in practice when he talked about loving our neighbor as ourselves.

Jesus was very countercultural. Being a Christian today should also mean being very different than the unbelieving world. If you are a Christian, it should be obvious by the way you live, talk, and think. You are no longer living for yourself, but as a servant of Jesus. Everything you do is for his glory.

Progress is a Dead End

The problem with having progress as a goal is that there is no endpoint. But Christians are not meant to be seeking endless improvements for their lives through selfish ambition, climbing the ladder, or keeping up with the Joneses. This doesn’t mean we can’t work to make things better, but the motivation for the work is different.

While some progress has been a net benefit, many modern inventions have actually made life a lot worse for people. And even though lip service is often paid to developing plans to help those displaced by new technology, this usually does not happen. People are simply left behind or reduced to working as menial workers in mindless jobs that will later be replaced by robots.

Is it hopeless?

The world looks bleaks for those who worship the gods of progress. No joy, no family, no love, no meaning, no art, no satisfying work, no God. But those who are connected to God can have peace, meaning, love, contentment, and beauty, even in this fallen world, and by living forever with God.

It may be too late for the world in general, but there is hope for those who don’t like the way things are going. You must be born again.

Will you confess your need for Him today?