This is the eighth week in a nine-week class entitled “The Killer-Isms: A Christian Look at Lethal Philosophies.” This session looks at the three “isms” of time, traditionalism, existentialism, and utopianism.
From Pastor Phil:
I got the majority of this content from a sermon by Ravi Zacharias, so let’s make sure that he gets full credit. This session of the class looks at three basic views of time/history.
Traditionalism: “Doing what has always been done will keep us save. We must safeguard the past to secure the future.”
Existentialism: “The past doesn’t matter, and the future may never come. Live for the now, without boundaries and without limitations. Enjoy the moment.”
Utopianism: “I will rewrite the past and sacrifice the future in order to make the future perfect (in my eyes). I will create a new, perfect world by the force of my own will.”
Each of these views are unbiblical in themselves, but they each also offer a piece of the view that Christ offers us. As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 11:
“For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”
Let’s break that verse done slower. “For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup (in the present), you proclaim the Lord’s death (in the past) until he comes (in the future).
Amazing how Jesus brings unites all three parts of the timeline in and through His death?