Some friends and I got a chance to play as the warm up band for a local Christian political rally just north of Atlanta last night. Coming away from it, a few things rubbed me a little wrong and got me thinking. Here is something I just wrote out on facebook.
In the last census in 2001, 79.8% of Americans claimed to be christian. When you compare that to a Barna study in 2006 that shows 52% of Americans feel the Bible is inaccurate in its teaching, we see a major problem in the American church. The churches are broken. The church cannot be called on to fix the problems of a nation when it is being ... Read Moredragged down under it's own failures.
I am starting to believe that the American church will not see a spiritual awakening until it is faced with major persecution. The church has played a role in the political processes of most major governments since the 3rd century. Every culture that has seen a major Christian influence has seen a decline in people who truly believe and follow Jesus, and lead other to him.
Maybe its the African and Chinese churches who have it right. The meet knowing that it could always be their last meeting. They are even put to death in some areas depending upon the local governments and yet the church is growing there in ways that we cannot even comprehend, and it is not just in numbers.
American Christians are steeped in the... Read More Joel Osteen Christianity. We have become faithless, we are a mile wide and only mere inches deep. Our faith is never truly tested and our biggest concerns are usually trivial compared to that of Christians throughout history and even today in other parts of the world. The Bible is a book that sits on a bookshelf. We can get one any time we want it, and honestly, to most of us, it holds no real value. We turn to Jesus only when things are stacked against us instead of turning to Him in every aspect of our lives. We as a nation are an inch deep, and prayer in schools, or the 10 commandments in a courthouse is not doing anything to fix it.
Maybe we need some good persecution. Maybe the time is coming that God is going to give Satan the authority over us that he gave Job. Maybe that is what America really needs.
I Hate My Brain
15 hours ago
1 comments:
There are two possible sources of persecution, as I see it.
The first possibility is that as the secularists continue to gain power and authority in this country, at some point they will unite with the religious establishment to squash any unorganized religion. The rise of home schooling and house churches has already become a target for both groups. The idea of working outside the government or an "official" church raises suspicions.
The second, and more likely, possibility is that we will see the spread of Islam in Europe extend to America. At the current rate, Europe will be majority Muslim in another two decades. Muslim societies are some of the most brutal in their persecution of Christianity. Our society is showing an extreme unwillingness to battle this threat, both militarily and ideologically.
As much as I want to see Christ revealed through his church, I do not want my kids to grow up in a heavily persecuted environment.
Fortunately, I don't have to make a decision about that, because it's not in my hands. My job is to make sure my kids understand Christ, in a manner quite separate from the clergy-focused, consumerist/entertainment-minded Christianity, and quite separate from the mindset that the government can solve all of our problems. Only then will they be prepared to follow God's call if (and when) true persecution comes.
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