Isaiah Had It RIght

The more I read the message of Isaiah, the more I see the similarities between his society and ours. Study the progression of modern philosophy. We live in an era often labeled Post-Modernism. Our society thinks that it is on the cutting edge of human reason and thought when in fact the PM mind is nothing new. The core element to PM is individualism. Everything is about Me. I make up right and wrong, no one can judge me, and there is no reality outside of what I think. Isaiah 2.1-4.1 warns of exalting ourselves to such a level. The outcome will always be humiliation. If you trace the development of modern philosophy back to the Enlightenment period through Kant, Darwin, Marx, Nietzsche and others you will notice that many philosophers were concluding that reality is intrinsic (humans are highest level of existence). Watch what happens when people conclude that God doesn’t exist and there is no purpose to life. If there is no purpose then life is meaningless. If humans are the highest order, then there is no purpose to life or any meaning. Thus, when humans exalt themselves and say that they are the pinnacle of existence the result is that it is meaningless. And so Isaiah was right, when we exalt ourselves we really humiliate ourselves by concluding that we are worthless.
Let’s look at another example of how individualism has crept into religion. The modern “evangelical” trend has become unbalanced. Have you ever noticed that “evangelicals” have grown in our society but morality has declined? It is because the 19th-20th century Christianity had a distorted view of righteousness. It is a compromise between following God and still doing what I want to do. The belief is that God has called us because we accepted Christ’s sacrificial death but personal conduct is irrelevant. If you add this understanding with a false sense of security the results are harmful. You will see the effect: I can live however I want because I have been saved and can never lose my salvation.
Both of these mindsets are based on individualism. How do we overcome individualism? Isaiah has 66 chapters that deal with that question. His answer is servanthood or as Jesus called it, the greatest commandments; Love God and Love your neighbor (Matt. 22.36-40). It comes through submission to God’s will and others well-being. Why is servanthood a Christian virtue? Because God IS servanthood (Isa. 53.10-12)!