Wake Up, Look Up

Hello everyone and thanks for listening to Wake Up, Look Up, a podcast where we connect events happening in real time to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm Zach Weihrauch and in today's episode we're asking the question, is London the new Babylon? And this is prompted by an article I read in the Washington Post on looking at how London is in an economic freefall. And by the way, when I say, is it the new Babylon? I don't so much mean the wickedness of the biblical Babylon, but more the fact that there is no Babylon anymore. Is London falling apart? And the reason why this question is so relevant is because London's decline, which I'll articulate in a minute, has happened under the supervision of Sadiq Khan, a far left leaning mayor whose secular policies have really driven much of London's free fall. And the reason that's so relevant is because New York City, major American city, is on the verge of electing someone very similar to Sadiq Khan as their mayor. Is secularism going to destroy our cities? That's the question I'm really asking. And in London at least, the answer seems to be yes. London recently fell out of the top 20 global IPO markets, meaning no longer is it seen by entrepreneurs or innovators as a viable place to start a company or even to house a company. Housing, by the way, is on the decline 38% year over year of a decline in housing development. Home sales are down. Uh, Sadiq Khan has taxed the wealthy, he's taxed tourists. There's been a number of anti-capitalist, anti wealth initiatives that are resulting in a flattening of London's economic prospects. And here's the truth. Secularism is a broken ideology prompted by or developed by broken people. In other words, secularism is a belief that there is no God. And so for reference, we must look inwardly for the answers. And as Jeremiah 17 tells us, our hearts are desperately wicked and sick. Looking inward never ultimately leads to success. And that's a good place to start. Listen, I'm all for purpose. I'm all for people gathering together to seek justice, to innovate, to create. But without God, purpose collapses. That's what the psalmist says in Psalm 127:1 when he says, unless the Lord builds a house, they labor in vain to build it. When we set out to accomplish great things independent of the wisdom of God, inevitably those great things fall apart. See the Tower of Babel. That's what that story is all about. The call of the Bible is not away from innovation or collaboration. It's just a call to innovation and collaboration. And as a means of worship, not of worshiping ourselves, but of worshiping God. Moral relativism breeds chaos. Read the Book of Judges. Uh, the writer says over and over again in the Book of Judges that everyone did what was right in their own eyes. It isn't that they weren't trying to do what was right, but what brought about the decline of Israel was that they did what was right in their own eyes. Like children who think eating candy for breakfast must be good because candy is good and breakfast is when you. You eat. But that kind of thinking leaves out all the wisdom that kids don't have. And when you and I decide for ourselves what justice means, what building a city looks like, what collaboration looks like, independent of God, we're like kids eating candy for breakfast. We don't know what we don't know. And one of the results of that is what you end up having is just a mob mentality. The voters you gather, you end up demonizing those that they don't like. So for Sadiq Khan, the demonizing is aiming at the wealthy. You get the lower class working class around you, and you all of a sudden, the wealthy become bad. And look, the Bible's very clear that the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. That's 1 Timothy 6. It does not say that money is evil or that people who make money are evil. In fact, as someone who leads a church, I can tell you, apart from the generosity of people with the gift of making money and giving money, much of what the church does couldn't happen. Sadiq Khan has an opportunity to call the wealthy to see the value in the worker, and the worker to see the value in the wealthy. But that requires a biblical worldview to get there. He doesn't have that. So all he can do is pit one against the other. And that results in a kind of godless justice where the mob is angry and the mob is looking to blame someone. So they do it through taxes, they do it through weaponizing the political system. And as a result, the entrepreneurs and creators simply leave London and go somewhere else. So you end up with angry people with no one left to blame but themselves. Look, these policies aren't just broken politically. They're indicative of a spiritual ideology that is rotten at the core. You know, Jeremiah 6:14 says that the prophets say, peace, peace. When there is no peace. There's a danger in any society of listening to the wrong people tell us what, what the wrong problems are. And that's what's happening in London. Weaponizing the political system, demonizing the creators, the entrepreneurs, the innovators, the wealthy isn't how you build a city. And I hope. Look, none of us can stop London or stop New York, or stop any city that buys into secularism from disintegrating. But I hope we're at least standing, pointing at the rubble and saying, this is what happens when you build a city independent of God. This is the end game of a broken, broken philosophy borne by broken people. And if nothing else, it should make us long for the city that is to come, the new Jerusalem, which will be led by King Jesus, whose policies are righteous and good and true, and it will never crumble. London isn't that. Neither is my city, neither is yours. But we can get closer in that direction if we'll humble ourselves and seek the Lord. Hey, thanks for watching this episode of Wake Up, Look Up. If you enjoyed it, please help us get the word out by sharing it with someone you think might benefit from it. And while you're here, make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to get further content or even download the CCC app, where you'll find even more resources to help you grow in your faith and relationship with Jesus Christ.

Have an article you’d like Zach to discuss? Email us at wakeup@ccchapel.com!