Christianity hasn’t offered anything new for quite awhile. It’s been a little over two thousand years since the last update. A lot has happened since the 1st Century. Here we are in 2020 with an orange President, racism at 100%, anti-police sentiments at 100%, people marry everything from house plants to hamsters, and children being butchered and sold for parts. Conventional wisdom tells me the church must respond to the culture. As usual, conventional wisdom is wrong.

One of mankind’s greatest sins is believing we can solve all our problems. We can solve a few minor problems. We build shelter to solve the problem of getting wet in the rain. We grow food to solve the problem of starvation. We build machines to multiply our strength and speed. We can solve MANY problems and that leads us to believe we can solve ALL problems.

God gave us dominion over the Earth. He would not have done that without equipping us for the task. Humans are the most capable animal in the galaxy for subduing this planet. There is no other life-form that comes close. We dictate the terms by which all other life on Earth exists. When a weed grows in our garden, we kill it. We put chickens in pens and harvest their eggs. When a fox kills our chickens, we eliminate the fox. No creature on Earth can oppose our will. And, because we’re fools, we forget that we didn’t put ourselves at the top of the power structure.

God gave us the ability to solve all our problems except one. We can’t get rid of sin. Only God can do that. God gave us the power to eliminate weeds and foxes. If it were possible for us to eliminate sin, He would have given us that power too. Apparently, sin is tougher to handle than weeds and foxes.

The solution to sin is the same as it was two thousand years ago. Jesus Christ was (and is) the only solution to the only problem we cannot solve ourselves. There is no update.

It’s confusing when Christians talk about God “doing a new thing.” The scripture says that God doesn’t do new things.

“I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the LORD Almighty.”

Malachi 3:6-7

Jesus doesn’t change either. The Son is responsible for “upholding all things,” and that’s why physics works today just like it worked two thousand years ago.

And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

Hebrews 1:3

It is not true that our culture needs a new revelation. It is not true that the church needs to adapt to changes in culture. Christians who suggest that we can fix our problems with unity, or reparations, or conversations, or a brand-spanking new philosophy; are wrong. And a “woke” new ministry won’t help either. Actually, all our new ideas for healing society’s ills are making everything worse.

But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let that person be under God’s curse!

Galatians 1:8

Sadly, the Gospel is not sleek, sexy, and modern. It hasn’t changed with the times. That shouldn’t embarrass us. We haven’t changed with the times either. We’re doing the same wicked things they did in the 1st Century. Our sin isn’t sleek, sexy and modern. It’s the same thing our primitive ancestors did.

There is nothing new under the sun. The solution to modern problems is only found in ancient wisdom.