bound up with that
of Europe and the European-driven civilizations
overseas, above all in North America. Until recently,
the overwhelming majority of Christians have lived in
White nations, allowing theorists to speak smugly,
arrogantly, of ‘European Christian’ civilization. . . .
Already, today, the largest Christian communities on the
planet are to be found in Africa and Latin America.”
The struggles of these Third-World nations far outweigh
the moral and political struggles we are facing in the
United States. They have none of our evangelical
infrastructure (a church on every corner), but they seem
to be making remarkable evangelical progress. Only time
will tell what type of evangelicalism is sprouting and
how it will be maintained over time.
As long as we continue to believe in the power of the
Gospel, the future looks bright for these burgeoning
Christian nations. There may also be hope for us in
America as well.
The structures are in place to turn our nation around.
What do we lack? It’s not money, people, organization,
or skills. We lack motivation, knowledge, and vision.
Modern-day American Christianity is not what I bought
into when I became a Christian. The first light of the
Gospel brought a dramatic change in my life. Paul’s
words about being a “new creature in Christ” (2
Corinthians 5:17) were and are real. I believed that
what was true for me as an individual was also true for
the whole body of Christ. But as I’ve traveled around
the United States, watched and listened to what passes
for Christianity on “Christian” television and radio, I
often wonder if Christians really understand the true
power of the Gospel. |
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_____________________________
What do we lack? It’s not money, people, organization, or
skills. We lack motivation, knowledge, and vision.
_____________________________
Vote
I know politics is a dirty word to lots of Christians,
but it wouldn’t take much to reshape the face of
Congress and the Senate. With this accomplished, the
make-up of the Supreme Court and the lower courts could
also be affected. What would it take? Getting Christians
to vote. The few conservative Christian voices that are
struggling in Washington need help. A five to ten
percent shift in the balance of power is possible in
upcoming elections, if Christians will take advantage of
the opportunity. In their book, Mind Siege, LaHaye and
David Noebel point out that “only 48 percent of
Christians bother to vote, even in presidential
elections.”
The goal is not to use politics as a club to impose a
top-down moral regime on America. Christians must
understand that politics has a very narrow focus. The
goal is to stop the homosexual marriage movement and put
activist courts back into Pandora’s Box and close the
lid down tight. Politics is not a reforming agent, but
it is something that needs reforming. It certainly can
be an inhibitor of reform by creating draconian laws
designed to relativize public discourse on any issue.
We are told, for example, that there are no simple
answers. As New York University president John Sexton
believes: “Our |
[secular]
universities are committed to the deep and nuanced study
of humanity. The more sophisticated you are, the more
you tolerate ambiguity.”
There you have it. The goal is ambiguity. That’s why
when Christians prescribe placing the Ten Commandments
in a courthouse, and in granite no less, the political
establishment faints in disbelief. There is a fear that
people might actually obey the Ten Commandments and
begin to believe that there is a God, and He’s not any
of the justices who sit on the Supreme Court.
Am I exaggerating? In Stone v. Graham (1980),
the court wrote, “If the posted copies of the Ten
Commandments are to have any effect at all, it will be
to induce the schoolchildren to read, meditate upon,
perhaps to venerate and obey, the Commandments. However
desirable this might be as a matter of private devotion,
it is not a permissible state objective under the
Establishment Clause.”
The fear is that people might actually believe that
there is a God who demands something of His creatures.
What a shocking assertion. How can Christians remain
silent and still when such nonsense passes as a Supreme
Court decision?
Author Gary DeMar looks at the biblical case for
Christian involvement in contemporary culture in his
book, Myths, Lies & Half Truths, excerpted above
with permission (Copyright 2004 by American Vision). To
obtain this resource,
click here, or call, toll free, (888) 633-1728. |
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