Advertising is fast becoming the bane of smart-phone and computer users.  Talk about intrusive...!  Follow the latest click bait and you often end up at a web-page where there’s four times as much advertising as there is ‘whatever it is that you went there for’.  My bread-machine recently died and so I hunted on EBay for a replacement.  Guess what dominated my adverts for the next few weeks.  Yep... you got it – bread-machines!  I note with some satisfaction that there’s now an app to kill off the adverts on your smart-phone.  At least, I assume, until some tech savvy guy finds a way to bypass the app.

One recent advert I often spotted and avoided on social media claimed that married couples are more likely to divorce if they were born under certain zodiac signs.  It’s fashionable in some circles to compare your star signs – to check whether you are really compatible with your lover.  Well, this advertisement mentioned a book which referred to a Swiss survey of more than 360 thousand couples, based on the birthdates of both partners.  It claimed that Aries, Gemini, and Taurus were the signs that had the most divorce cases.  Scorpio and Sagittarius were the signs least likely to separate.  Of course this was an advertisement... so the aim was to click on a link to put you in touch with an Astrologist offering you advice before tying the knot in holy matrimony.  Just make sure you have your MasterCard handy...!

Maybe you’ve browsed through the astrology columns in a magazine or newspaper at one time or another.  Good for a laugh!?!  If we happen to know our own astrological sign we might even read what the forecast is for our particular zodiac sign.  We smile and then forget all about it – because we notice that all the predictions are general and vague enough to apply to numerous situations.  We wonder how people can be so gullible as to take it seriously.

But the point is that many do.  Barry Eaton is a psychic and astrologer who wrote a book on how astrology changed his life.  In his own words: “I wouldn’t waste my time on astrology if it was a sham.  I know it works.  I see it working.  I’m experiencing peace and harmony.”  Eaton admits to being twice married and twice divorced.  Even his first wife admits he’s a changed man.

It is interesting at this point to make a comparison with the Christian faith.  Many who have gone through troubled times and have come in touch with the saving work of Jesus have also had life-changing experiences.  They too know that their faith works.  Thousands of Christians have said: I know Christianity works; I’m experiencing peace and harmony.

At this point a cynic may say: “Well, that just goes to show that all religions are the same.  As long as what you believe is meaningful to you and makes you a better person then that’s great.  Some find it in astrology; others in Christianity”.

Here I must be more than a little critical of modern Christianity.  Today Christianity is drowning in a sea of subjectivism and pragmatism.  We try to “sell the gospel” because it ‘works’.  We seek to convince others of the Christian faith because it has made such a wonderful change in us.  Please don’t get me wrong.  The gospel DOES work and it HAS wonderfully changed my life too over the years.  But that is not the basis on which we should promote the gospel of Jesus.  If we do that then we have nothing further to offer the astrologist.  His astrology works and has changed him too.

When we argue for Christianity in terms of its results in our life then we are bringing the gospel down to the same level as every other religion available in the religious market-place.  The heart of the issue is not first of all whether Christianity works but whether it is true.  We need to be able to state the objective truths of the Christian faith: Jesus died; Jesus arose; Jesus is Lord!

No!  I do not want to play down Christian experience.  That has to be real too, for if our lives are a denial of the truths that we proclaim then we have a massive credibility gap.  But when all is said and done we have to ask: does salvation lie in the Zodiac signs... or is it found in the doing, the dying and victory of Jesus Christ?

John Westendorp