Wakeup Call
In recent months I’ve seen more and more instances in the news where the founders of this country are increasingly portrayed as villains. The statements they made and the revolution they brought about would, in today’s anti-western worldview, get them arrested, villified, and possibly murdered by the very country they founded.
But the same thing is happening in “Christianity”, and few talk about it. It’s as if we have our own counterpart to the “drive-by media” who cover up ugly truths and are mere propaganda machines for the current Marxist government. What popular “Christian” magazines, blogs, or newsletters ever talk about the scandals ripping through the churches and denominations? What mega-preachers or sought-after authors are exposing the rampant evil being perpetrated by the very leaders who are supposed to be protecting or “covering” people? Instead, they mock and condemn, and sometimes threaten, those poor saps who still believe that salvation is only through faith in the crucified and risen Jesus and have come to Him to be reconciled to God.
In both the political and religious spheres, those who once were honored as people of the highest morals and deepest commitment are now written off as rednecks or fundies, terrorists or “tares”, regressives or relics. Just as in the book/movie I Am Legend, monsters and normal people have traded places. But scripture warns, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.” (Isaiah 5:20)
Hardly a day goes by without another “pastor” getting caught in a scandal of sexual immorality, lying, slandering, aiding and abeting pedophiles and abusers, demanding blind obedience, forbidding to be questioned, living in luxury from the “tithes and offerings” of the people they fleece, tax evasion, swindling, blackmailing, and every other sin the world is known for— and often to a greater extreme.
But why do we put up with this? As someone asked in a trailer to the documentary Cartel, why aren’t we rioting in the streets (:53–:59)? Why aren’t we Christians “shutting the temple doors” (Malachi 1:10, Amos 5:21)? Why do we think that a pedophile can be “forgiven” if he’s a “pastor”, but woe to the “little people” who so much as ask questions? How can we make excuses for proud and entitled professionals who blame everything on those they’re supposed to nurture, and treat those Jesus freed as their own personal slaves? And how can some “Christian” husbands demand their wives’ blind subservience while utterly disregarding the command to love them as Christ loves the church? And why do the wives think this is Christianity?
I think one of the most insidious tactics of Satan has been to bring us to this point by telling us it is unloving to “judge”, especially to judge someone’s salvation. And that is a bald-faced lie. Think about it: if you aren’t allowed to judge, you won’t complain; you won’t question; you won’t discern; you won’t stand up; you won’t oppose. It’s like writing evil a blank check, or disarming the country’s citizens so you can do whatever you please.
And this wasn’t begun yesterday. The study of church history is a study of institutionalized subversion, regardless of which side of the Reformation one is on (and many had the sense to stay away from BOTH sides, but paid with their lives). We have been suckered into giving up the leading of the Holy Spirit for that of sinful human beings. We have been sold the lie that we cannot understand the scriptures. We have been fooled into believing that all of us, like children or morons, need a professional to “cover” us and “oversee” us as euphemisms for micromanaging us. We have been persuaded to give up freedom for security, only to find out too late that security was never part of the deal.
How bad does it have to get before we rebel against all this, whether we’re talking about politics or the Christian faith? How long will we continue to pay our taxes/“tithes”? How long will we read the news/listen to “sermons” that we know are filled with lies? How long will we “not get involved” when someone is assaulted, whether physically or spiritually? How long will we worship our captors? How long will we bow low before them and stoke their over-inflated egos? What will it take until we care enough to act?
Soon this country will treat “Christians” the way China treats them, and then we’ll find out who goes to the State Church and who goes underground. We’ll see what becomes of those who worship “Christian” leaders when said leaders swear allegience to the State. We’ll find out whether the “faith” of many who claim Christ can stand without the bells and whistles of religiousity and ritual.
But we still have a final moment in which to take that stand. I’d like to see people turn the tables on those who refuse to be questioned. We have to start demanding answers from the entitled and stop letting them hide behind their entourages, “manors”, book deals, endorsements, “anointings”, cherry-paneled offices, and call the emporer’s new clothes exactly what they are. We MUST “judge their salvation”! Actions speak louder than words, and the actions of so-called Christian leadership today are vile and filthy and self-absorbed. Call them out! But above all, stop giving them money and praise.