The culture of the west is dying, what to do?

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The culture of death is dying along with the anti-marriage and anti-child culture. How can I say that? It seems just the opposite when you look around and see, for instance, that the great Catholic country of Ireland has approved same-sex marriage while quickly losing its Catholic identity. We see euthanasia, which is fully practiced in many European countries, now becoming legal one state at a time in the U.S. as more citizens come to believe it is licit to kill yourself through physician-prescribed suicide.

Just pick up the daily news and you can read of the growing hostility to Christianity in our laws and practices. In fact, it seems the fight is now over regarding the freezing of human embryos. Sex with whoever you want is in and you can define it however you like. We see gay pride parades on the march even as the churches close.

So where is the good news? The secular west is dying by its own hands. Same-sex marriage doesn’t produce children. Abortion and contraception have reduced the west to a graying population. A recent Pew Research survey tells the story of the next 50 years. Over that span the U.S. will become more Hispanic and have the values of the new immigrants which are traditional and family oriented. The west is dying while India and Africa are growing proportionally young. The future workforce in Europe will come from these countries, and they bring with them values more inclined to Sharia law than same-sex marriage. By 2050 Nigeria’s population will surpass the U.S. The world is shifting south and eastward. That is where the future will be. China will have more churchgoers by 2030 than the U.S. — just as it has surpassed the U.S. in economic growth so it will do so in Christian growth. India has five times the number of Catholics than Ireland and the church there is young.

The decadence of the west and the compromising of the Gospel by western churches foster a cultural death that is contrasted against the rising culture of life in the southern and eastern churches — churches plagued by persecution, exile and martyrdom. But history has shown that the persecuted faithful grow stronger.

So what can we expect from the Christian church in the west? Most likely it will be harder and harder to keep the light of faith. It will get much darker before it gets lighter. The western secular cultural model is collapsing. What do we do? Preach the Gospel that reverences life, children, marriage and family. Provide the moral norms and absolute truths that are needed to find a way out of the confusion. Stay strong in faith and be strong in compassion. The church is a hospital for sinners not a museum for saints. It is not us versus them — good versus bad. We must be humble servants who guard against our own pride.

We have a way out of the secular confusion that surrounds the culture of death. As it inevitably dies the culture of life gives hope, healing and a future.

“But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” (1 Peter 3:15)

The writer is pastor of the Church of the Nativity in Magadan, Russia.