The Pursuit of God

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The Pursuit of God

Thus there is a dictatorship of speech, a dictatorship of verbal emphasis. 12 The busyness of our lives and the constant noise that comes with this busyness leaves us too busy to pursue God. A third reason we need contemplation is that Christians in the West increasingly live in a “secular age.” Recently, New Testament scholar Dan Darko joined the teaching faculty at Taylor University where I (Hank) work. Darko was born and began his ministry in Ghana, was later educated in Europe, and has taught in North America for some two decades. Darko repeatedly points out that many Christians in Europe and North America have their imaginations limited by the European Enlightenment. We tend to assume as “primitive” the idea that Paul’s description of evil spiritual forces in Ephesians carries ontological weight (6:10–20). 13 Darko’s concerns about citizens of Western society tending to be less aware of spiritual realities fits a larger narrative that scholars like Charles Taylor have told elsewhere. 14 In short, citizens of Western countries like the United States tend to assume that only objects that can be measured scientifically are worthy of study and attention. Digital distractions, busyness, and a secular approach to life will continue as significant challenges to the practice 12 Robert Sarah, The Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise (San Francisco: Ignatius, 2017), 56. 13 Daniel K. Darko, Against Principalities and Powers: Spiritual Beings in Relation to Communal Identity and the Moral Discourse of Ephesians (Carlisle: HippoBooks, 2020), 1–17. 14 Charles Taylor, A Secular Age (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press, 2007); James K. A. Smith, How (Not) to Be Secular: Reading Charles Taylor (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2014).