November 12, 2017 NOTES NOT EDITED
The Elephant in the Room
The Elephant in the Room
2Timothy 3:1-11
Let me begin today by saying
without reservation or apology, “I am a Christian who loves the Lord Jesus
Christ with all my heart.” Let me say,
also without reservation or apology, “I am an American who deeply loves my
country and all that we stand for, and have stood for, going into our third
century.
I see no conflict theologically or socio-politically with espousing both Christian devotion and American patriotism.
Christianity makes me a brother or sister of anyone of any nation, any race, or any political persuasion, who has sworn allegiance to God through Christ. The beauty of being an American is that we are not narrowly defined by any political or social persuasion, but we come from all walks of life and all colors of the human rainbow. So, my American nationalism is never in conflict with any race for all are represented under the banner of the Red, White, and Blue. I am never forced to choose between my Christian devotion and American patriotism. My Christian devotion informs my American patriotism.
From that perspective of dual citizenship as taught in Scripture, I want to speak in regard to the “Elephant in the Room.” Since my Christian faith informs my American patriotism, I cannot escape what I see happening in this great country, and where these events and attitudes are leading us as a nation.
While the Kingdom of God, of which I am a citizen, is eternal, America is not. With all the political discussion about “Making America Great Again,” or all the prosperity preachers proclaiming that the future is bright and full of promise, my reading of the Bible does not support this positive euphoria about our future.
I think of what Jeremiah said, on the eve of Jerusalem being destroyed and the nation being plunged into 70 years of foreign oppression called, “the Babylonian Captivity.” Jeremiah said,
13 For from the least to the greatest of them, everyone is making profit dishonestly. From prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely. 14 They have treated My people’s brokenness superficially, claiming, “Peace, peace,” when there is no peace.
I see no conflict theologically or socio-politically with espousing both Christian devotion and American patriotism.
Christianity makes me a brother or sister of anyone of any nation, any race, or any political persuasion, who has sworn allegiance to God through Christ. The beauty of being an American is that we are not narrowly defined by any political or social persuasion, but we come from all walks of life and all colors of the human rainbow. So, my American nationalism is never in conflict with any race for all are represented under the banner of the Red, White, and Blue. I am never forced to choose between my Christian devotion and American patriotism. My Christian devotion informs my American patriotism.
From that perspective of dual citizenship as taught in Scripture, I want to speak in regard to the “Elephant in the Room.” Since my Christian faith informs my American patriotism, I cannot escape what I see happening in this great country, and where these events and attitudes are leading us as a nation.
While the Kingdom of God, of which I am a citizen, is eternal, America is not. With all the political discussion about “Making America Great Again,” or all the prosperity preachers proclaiming that the future is bright and full of promise, my reading of the Bible does not support this positive euphoria about our future.
I think of what Jeremiah said, on the eve of Jerusalem being destroyed and the nation being plunged into 70 years of foreign oppression called, “the Babylonian Captivity.” Jeremiah said,
13 For from the least to the greatest of them, everyone is making profit dishonestly. From prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely. 14 They have treated My people’s brokenness superficially, claiming, “Peace, peace,” when there is no peace.
Notice two themes in Jeremiah’s warning—prosperity and peace. Two themes we see discussed often in the messages of T.V. preachers and Washington politicians. Everyone making promises—but they are empty, even evil promises, because they will not be fulfilled.
Just last week, at the very time I was stepping into the pulpit to preach the act of God’s redemption when He dove into the dumpster of our depravity to save us, a depraved man with a black mask and even blacker soul, entered a church in Texas gunning down half the congregation including an 18 months old baby. Horrific reports of the scene detail a carnage that is hard for a normal person to even grasp. Bodies were not just shot, but they were mutilated by the high- powered weapon. It was only about a month before that a deranged gunman mowed down 58 people from his hotel room in Las Vegas. Last week a 29 years old Muslim terrorist rented a truck and ran down bikers on a New York bike path.
Add that to the growing number of accusations about the pedophilia and sexual abuse that has been common in the Hollywood scene. Reports are mounting into the multiple hundreds. It is clear now that the filth coming out of Hollywood onto the silver screen has been autobiographical.
The depravity in our nation does not stop with Hollywood or mass shooters, but there’s Washington, D.C. The scandals just keep on coming. The Clinton’s—by there own admission—left the White House “dead broke” and have amassed millions without starting a business or producing any product. This is true of so many politicians that enter the game broke and leave a lifetime later rolling in money, all while on the public payroll.
FBI investigations are the buzz-word in Washington, but now we have to have special prosecutors to investigate the FBI because it has been shown to be as crooked as a dog’s hind leg (to use a phrase common to hillbillies and others).
With all the chaos and depravity around us, most Americans are still holding on to the hope that we will pull out of this moral nosedive and national crisis as we always have before. I’m going to point out the “Elephant in the Room,” and suggest something very different from Trump’s mantra, “Make America Great Again.” The “Elephant in the room” is a common English idiom referring to an obvious problem or risk no one wants to discuss.
America is fast coming to edge of a moral cliff and will soon fall into the sink hole of global obscurity, so Christians need to prepare appropriately.
It would take some time to show you from Scripture that the global rise of the Anti-Christ and his “Evil League of Nations” will not likely take place while America is strong and continues to provide a Judeo-Christian watch over the world. Also, I could show you Biblically that several nations are mentioned in the texts describing the Last Days, like Russia, China, and Iran (Persia) for example, but not America. Also, notice that those three are all driven by religio-political world-views that are the antithesis of America. They are, in fact, our enemies. America’s days have always been numbered.
There are several different ways we
can approach the idea that America is quickly sinking into the pit of
insignificance as a world power. We can
be fatalists, hedonists, isolationists, or triumphalists. The viewpoint we take will not change the
course of God’s unfolding plan, but it will make a difference in where we
position ourselves within that plan. Let’s
read what 2Timothy says about the difficult days ahead and how to respond to them. 2Timothy
3:1-17.
The first option a person has when
these “difficult times” come is to take a
1. Fatalist Approach
1. Fatalist Approach
Fatalism is a philosophical point
of view that states, “all events are fixed in advance so that human beings are
powerless to change them. A fatalist
approach means one simply “does nothing because nothing can be done.” The more overwhelming the chaos and depravity
of the times, the more likely people will adopt a fatalistic view. Look what Paul tells Timothy about the coming
times (2Tim. 3:1):
But know this: Difficult times will come in the last days.
That is a very straight-forward statement packed with a done of pathos, or passion. First, the sentence begins with the imperative mood in the sense of a command literally meaning: “you must know this!” It is not a suggestion, but a command.
This is followed by a word that only occurs two times in the N.T., here, and in Matthew 8:28. The word is, chalepoi. It is an adjective which means, "hard to deal with; violent; dangerous; grievous; painful; malicious; and evil." It is a very dark and foreboding word as it describes the times in which we live--or, what the Bible calls, the "End Times."
But know this: Difficult times will come in the last days.
That is a very straight-forward statement packed with a done of pathos, or passion. First, the sentence begins with the imperative mood in the sense of a command literally meaning: “you must know this!” It is not a suggestion, but a command.
This is followed by a word that only occurs two times in the N.T., here, and in Matthew 8:28. The word is, chalepoi. It is an adjective which means, "hard to deal with; violent; dangerous; grievous; painful; malicious; and evil." It is a very dark and foreboding word as it describes the times in which we live--or, what the Bible calls, the "End Times."
The real significance of this word
comes from the fact the only other time it is used is used to describe two
demon possessed maniacs from the region of Gadara. This is the Southeast region of the Sea of
Galilee. Using a word describing demon activity and using it to describe the
Last Days is extremely important.
The force, then, of this compact, straight-forward, non-equivocating command is: “the days ahead will be demon-driven like never before.” In Paul’s first letter to Timothy he introduced this idea:
4:1 Now the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will depart from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons.
Now, the Devil and his demons have existed from before the dawn of man. The Devil once held a place of prominence in the Eternal Kingdom, but was cast down to earth do to his rebellion and pride. We find the Devil doing his dirty deeds in the Garden of Eden with the very first couple, Adam and Eve. So, demon activity is nothing new in the history of man.
In the “Last Days,” demon activity will increase. There will be events take place that will have no other explanation but, “evil.” In Trump’s address from Japan after the slaughter in the church in Southland, Texas, he used the word, “evil,” to describe the gunman.
Others rushed to move away from that description preferring, mentally ill instead of evil. In this way, they can hold out hope that such events can be lessened or even eliminated with “proper treatment of the mentally ill.” With “evil,” there is not such remedy or pill, except the transforming power of Jesus Christ, which of course, American culture has almost totally rejected.
The term, “last days,” has both a general and specific application. It can refer generally to any time after Jesus returned into heaven. It also can refer more specifically to those days leading up to the rapture—or snatching of all believers out this present world—and the Great Tribulation period of seven years which will follow on the heels of the Rapture. These days are described as days of “false properity and false peace” at the same time chaos and calamity increase exponentially, with heightened demon activity leading the way.
This is a very bleak picture of our future as a nation. I can understand why many people would simply throw up their metaphorical hands and declare, “That’s just the way it is and nothing can be done about it.”
This “fatalistic” approach can very easily lead to another approach.
2. HEDONISM
The force, then, of this compact, straight-forward, non-equivocating command is: “the days ahead will be demon-driven like never before.” In Paul’s first letter to Timothy he introduced this idea:
4:1 Now the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will depart from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons.
Now, the Devil and his demons have existed from before the dawn of man. The Devil once held a place of prominence in the Eternal Kingdom, but was cast down to earth do to his rebellion and pride. We find the Devil doing his dirty deeds in the Garden of Eden with the very first couple, Adam and Eve. So, demon activity is nothing new in the history of man.
In the “Last Days,” demon activity will increase. There will be events take place that will have no other explanation but, “evil.” In Trump’s address from Japan after the slaughter in the church in Southland, Texas, he used the word, “evil,” to describe the gunman.
Others rushed to move away from that description preferring, mentally ill instead of evil. In this way, they can hold out hope that such events can be lessened or even eliminated with “proper treatment of the mentally ill.” With “evil,” there is not such remedy or pill, except the transforming power of Jesus Christ, which of course, American culture has almost totally rejected.
The term, “last days,” has both a general and specific application. It can refer generally to any time after Jesus returned into heaven. It also can refer more specifically to those days leading up to the rapture—or snatching of all believers out this present world—and the Great Tribulation period of seven years which will follow on the heels of the Rapture. These days are described as days of “false properity and false peace” at the same time chaos and calamity increase exponentially, with heightened demon activity leading the way.
This is a very bleak picture of our future as a nation. I can understand why many people would simply throw up their metaphorical hands and declare, “That’s just the way it is and nothing can be done about it.”
This “fatalistic” approach can very easily lead to another approach.
2. HEDONISM
Hedonism is the unbridled pursuit of pleasure as the highest
good.
Since there’s really nothing any
individual can do about the chaos and calamity that is coming, why not, “eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we
die.” Fatalism and Hedonism are
cousins that often cruise together. I
think many more people follow this world-view than would admit it. One modern Hedonist just died recently—Hugh
Hefner. Hefner, perhaps more than any
other individual, started and fed the “Sexual Revolution.” I think Hefner can be given credit for much
of the sexual abuse we see coming out of Hollywood and being expressed on Main
Street.
Hefner was a hedonist. He did eat. He did drink. He did die. Was he “merry?” Reports about how much Hefner really enjoyed life, especially his latter life, are conflicting and uncertain. What is not uncertain is: Hefner is dead. In describing the “last days” the Bible seems to be describing life at the Playboy Mansion:
2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 unloving, irreconcilable, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, without love for what is good, 4 traitors, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding to the form of godliness but denying its power. Avoid these people! 6 For among them are those who worm their way into households and capture idle women burdened down with sins, led along by a variety of passions.
There are a few key issues in verses 2-6 that shed light on how our country arrived at this edge of destruction where we find ourselves. The first marker on the road to ruin is “self love.” I’ve been in ministry for over 40 years and the constant drumbeat of “enlightened church and experts on church programs” has been the cult of self-help. In the old days—10 years ago—if one went into any bookstore, one would quickly see that one of the largest, most popular sections would be “self-help books.” Even the Darling of Prosperity preachers, Joel Olsteen, made millions by selling his book, “Your Best Life Now.” Self-love is a cult in the Last Days.
Notice the term, “lovers of money.” What could more aptly characterize our days than the “love of money.” Between cultures “love of self” and “love of money,” there really isn’t much passion left to love much else—especially not God and His church.
The hedonists of the Last Days are defined by their “love of pleasure.” I remember the popular mantra and guiding principle of the 60’s, “If it feels good, do it.” Even the great philosopher, Aristotle, pointed out that the number one driving force in a persons life is the “pursuit of pleasure” (Art of Rhetoric).
Hedonism as a response to the chaos and uncertainty of these days has become a powerful driving force throughout all of our culture: loving self, loving money, loving pleasure and all the other ills listed that come along with a hedonistic lifestyle. Even the church is not exempt. If a church does not feed the passions of self-love, the cult of success or love of money, or the love of pleasure, that church is not likely to draw large crowds. Hedonism is the opposite of the Christian ethic: denying one’s self, the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, and seeking to please God not seek our own pleasure.
How did hedonism get such a hold on the culture and even the church? Look in verse 6: For among them (false teachers) are those who worm their way into households.
Hefner was a hedonist. He did eat. He did drink. He did die. Was he “merry?” Reports about how much Hefner really enjoyed life, especially his latter life, are conflicting and uncertain. What is not uncertain is: Hefner is dead. In describing the “last days” the Bible seems to be describing life at the Playboy Mansion:
2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 unloving, irreconcilable, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, without love for what is good, 4 traitors, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding to the form of godliness but denying its power. Avoid these people! 6 For among them are those who worm their way into households and capture idle women burdened down with sins, led along by a variety of passions.
There are a few key issues in verses 2-6 that shed light on how our country arrived at this edge of destruction where we find ourselves. The first marker on the road to ruin is “self love.” I’ve been in ministry for over 40 years and the constant drumbeat of “enlightened church and experts on church programs” has been the cult of self-help. In the old days—10 years ago—if one went into any bookstore, one would quickly see that one of the largest, most popular sections would be “self-help books.” Even the Darling of Prosperity preachers, Joel Olsteen, made millions by selling his book, “Your Best Life Now.” Self-love is a cult in the Last Days.
Notice the term, “lovers of money.” What could more aptly characterize our days than the “love of money.” Between cultures “love of self” and “love of money,” there really isn’t much passion left to love much else—especially not God and His church.
The hedonists of the Last Days are defined by their “love of pleasure.” I remember the popular mantra and guiding principle of the 60’s, “If it feels good, do it.” Even the great philosopher, Aristotle, pointed out that the number one driving force in a persons life is the “pursuit of pleasure” (Art of Rhetoric).
Hedonism as a response to the chaos and uncertainty of these days has become a powerful driving force throughout all of our culture: loving self, loving money, loving pleasure and all the other ills listed that come along with a hedonistic lifestyle. Even the church is not exempt. If a church does not feed the passions of self-love, the cult of success or love of money, or the love of pleasure, that church is not likely to draw large crowds. Hedonism is the opposite of the Christian ethic: denying one’s self, the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, and seeking to please God not seek our own pleasure.
How did hedonism get such a hold on the culture and even the church? Look in verse 6: For among them (false teachers) are those who worm their way into households.
Several translations use the idea
of “worming one’s way in.” The originally word means to “sneak in.” In Classical Greek the word,
“enduno,” meant to “put on clothes,”
as one would a disguise. How did
hedonism “sneak into our culture and take
such a hold?” One word answers this question: television
(or movies). Public education has
bolstered this world-view, but Hollywood popularized it. In the form of “innocent entertainment” young people consume hour upon hour of the
hedonistic product of Hollywood—in the comfort of their own home—and now, the
convenience of their mobile devices. All
the while, parents are clueless to the damage being done.
Just recently, on ABC News, the founding partner of FaceBook, Sean Parker, admitted that they designed Facebook—and I will quote his words—“to consume as much of your time and conscious attention as possible.” Studies are now beginning to indicate that significant use of social media alters the brain function, particularly in the area of impulse responses.
The hedonistic worldview has wormed its way into our culture through various media outlets consumed in massive quantities without much consideration for how they influence us.
Fatalism is one response to these “difficult and perilous times.” It might be called, “giving up.” Hedonism is a close associate of fatalism and might be called, “giving in.” Another possible response to the downward spiral of American culture might be
3. ISOLATIONISM. While fatalism might be seen as simply giving up and hedonism seen as giving in, isolationism might be viewed as hiding out.
The most devastating event in the lives of the Twelve Disciples was watching their Lord and Leader brutally murdered on a Roman cross while the Jewish leaders and pagan mob cheered. John 20:19 says,
In the evening of that first day of the week, the disciples were gathered together with the doors locked because of their fear of the Jews.
And . . . many disciples have been isolating themselves from world affairs ever since.
I’ve often spoken of how churches refer to the worship center or auditorium as the “sanctuary,” or a “place of refuge or protection.” For most people the church is God’s “hide out.” It should be God’s “headquarters.”
If you want to be safe, don’t follow Jesus. Yet, most people value safety much more than they value sacrifice and service. If the Jehovah Witnesses ring the door bell, then pull the curtains, lock the door, turn out the lights, and hide until they go away. This is the same strategy many Christians use to deal with Halloween, which I dealt with a couple of weeks ago.
Actually, our text seems to support isolationism. Look what it says in verse 5: Avoid these people! Seems straight-forward enough. But, does that mean we should avoid the world in general. The key to rightly dividing the verse is to understand the demonstrative pronoun, “these.” While “lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful people, proud people, ect.” can refer to the depraved culture in general, Paul seems to have in mind a specific group that should be avoided. Those
“having a form of godliness but denying its power,” referring to the power of the true gospel and all it entails. You might call these, “sinners with an agenda.” These are people who have a religion already but it is the wrong one and they are seeking converts.
Notice verse 6, in the context of verse 5. The thought continues like this, “avoid these . . . who worm their way into households.” These are sheep in wolves clothing. We should have nothing to do with them. We can be “friendly,” but “never friends.” If we “associate” with them we are giving our tacit approval to their false teachings.
The heart and soul of the gospel is found in The Great Commission. We are to engage the world to spread the Light into every dark corner. We are not to be ISOLATIONISTS, who “hide our light under a basket” (Mt. 5:16).
So, in the face of our decaying and declining culture drifting closer to the edge of global significance every day, we should not be fatalists and give up. We should not be hedonist and give in to culture. We cannot be isolationists and hide out from culture. We must be
4. TRIUMPHALISTS seek victory over culture. Look at vss 10-1l.
Just recently, on ABC News, the founding partner of FaceBook, Sean Parker, admitted that they designed Facebook—and I will quote his words—“to consume as much of your time and conscious attention as possible.” Studies are now beginning to indicate that significant use of social media alters the brain function, particularly in the area of impulse responses.
The hedonistic worldview has wormed its way into our culture through various media outlets consumed in massive quantities without much consideration for how they influence us.
Fatalism is one response to these “difficult and perilous times.” It might be called, “giving up.” Hedonism is a close associate of fatalism and might be called, “giving in.” Another possible response to the downward spiral of American culture might be
3. ISOLATIONISM. While fatalism might be seen as simply giving up and hedonism seen as giving in, isolationism might be viewed as hiding out.
The most devastating event in the lives of the Twelve Disciples was watching their Lord and Leader brutally murdered on a Roman cross while the Jewish leaders and pagan mob cheered. John 20:19 says,
In the evening of that first day of the week, the disciples were gathered together with the doors locked because of their fear of the Jews.
And . . . many disciples have been isolating themselves from world affairs ever since.
I’ve often spoken of how churches refer to the worship center or auditorium as the “sanctuary,” or a “place of refuge or protection.” For most people the church is God’s “hide out.” It should be God’s “headquarters.”
If you want to be safe, don’t follow Jesus. Yet, most people value safety much more than they value sacrifice and service. If the Jehovah Witnesses ring the door bell, then pull the curtains, lock the door, turn out the lights, and hide until they go away. This is the same strategy many Christians use to deal with Halloween, which I dealt with a couple of weeks ago.
Actually, our text seems to support isolationism. Look what it says in verse 5: Avoid these people! Seems straight-forward enough. But, does that mean we should avoid the world in general. The key to rightly dividing the verse is to understand the demonstrative pronoun, “these.” While “lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful people, proud people, ect.” can refer to the depraved culture in general, Paul seems to have in mind a specific group that should be avoided. Those
“having a form of godliness but denying its power,” referring to the power of the true gospel and all it entails. You might call these, “sinners with an agenda.” These are people who have a religion already but it is the wrong one and they are seeking converts.
Notice verse 6, in the context of verse 5. The thought continues like this, “avoid these . . . who worm their way into households.” These are sheep in wolves clothing. We should have nothing to do with them. We can be “friendly,” but “never friends.” If we “associate” with them we are giving our tacit approval to their false teachings.
The heart and soul of the gospel is found in The Great Commission. We are to engage the world to spread the Light into every dark corner. We are not to be ISOLATIONISTS, who “hide our light under a basket” (Mt. 5:16).
So, in the face of our decaying and declining culture drifting closer to the edge of global significance every day, we should not be fatalists and give up. We should not be hedonist and give in to culture. We cannot be isolationists and hide out from culture. We must be
4. TRIUMPHALISTS seek victory over culture. Look at vss 10-1l.
10 But you have followed my
teaching, conduct, purpose, faith,
patience, love, and endurance,
11 along with the persecutions and sufferings that came to me in Antioch, Iconium,
and Lystra. What persecutions I
endured! Yet the Lord rescued me from them all.
Christianity is a militaristic movement where the battle is spiritual and our weapons are spiritual and our goal is spiritual. We are not called to “save culture” but to “seek and to save souls!” Political victories are never the goal of the Christian life, but a means to our goal of seeking the lost.
America is like a sinking ship and the Church is like the life boats. Just as Paul endured great persecutions, tribulations, hardships, and every manner of spiritual attack, he was never overcome. He always “triumphed,” because his goal was not to save himself, or to save culture, but to save souls. That is God’s goal, and when we join Him, we have the most Powerful Partner in the Universe.
The Bible tells us (2Cor. 2:14) But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.
So, even as the ship of this great nation rocks upon the sea of our own rebellion, we do not have to give up, give in, or hide out. Our world-view should be TRIUMPHALISM, as we seek, not to save culture, but to OVERCOME it.
The one who is victorious and keeps My works to the end: I will give him authority over the nations (Rev. 2:26)
The Bible knows nothing about giving up, giving in, or hiding out. The Bible only talks about overcoming. We must work until Jesus comes. When we are out working for Jesus, Jesus will be working things out. Darkness is already beginning to fall. We must work.
4 We must do the works of Him who sent Me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” (Jn. 9:4-5)
Those that know me know my patriotism runs deep. It pains me to watch my great nation drift into global insignificance. My Christian devotion does not diminish my love for my Country, but it embellishes and informs it.
But, I cannot deny the Elephant in the Room. I cannot see how a nation that kills a baby every 2.5 minutes, or a nation that fully embraces homosexuality and nearly any sexual perversion, or a nation that can no longer even acknowledge the difference between male and female—I do not see how such a nation can long survive.
Then, with the lenses of Holy Scripture I read the table of nations involved in the global issues of the Last Days, and I see clearly Russia, China, Persia and others, but I see no America, then I must conclude the days of our glory have past. I do not say this with any sense of fatalism, but with a sense of triumphalism and an unshakable hope in Christ.
As long as the American flag flies I will stand in respect and salute It with honor. As long as freedom allows, I will use my freedom as an American to bring about the most just and kind and godly society as such participation can create.
But, when the American flag no longer flies over a nation that is a global super power, or when an anti-Christian, antagonistic, oppressive culture squeezes out my political freedoms and silences my political voice as a Christian, I will still fight on as a Christian soldier knowing that triumph is promised and victory assured!
The tragedy unfolding, the Elephant in the Room that nobody wants to talk about is the fact the God can, and will, exist without America, but America cannot exist without God.
Christianity is a militaristic movement where the battle is spiritual and our weapons are spiritual and our goal is spiritual. We are not called to “save culture” but to “seek and to save souls!” Political victories are never the goal of the Christian life, but a means to our goal of seeking the lost.
America is like a sinking ship and the Church is like the life boats. Just as Paul endured great persecutions, tribulations, hardships, and every manner of spiritual attack, he was never overcome. He always “triumphed,” because his goal was not to save himself, or to save culture, but to save souls. That is God’s goal, and when we join Him, we have the most Powerful Partner in the Universe.
The Bible tells us (2Cor. 2:14) But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.
So, even as the ship of this great nation rocks upon the sea of our own rebellion, we do not have to give up, give in, or hide out. Our world-view should be TRIUMPHALISM, as we seek, not to save culture, but to OVERCOME it.
The one who is victorious and keeps My works to the end: I will give him authority over the nations (Rev. 2:26)
The Bible knows nothing about giving up, giving in, or hiding out. The Bible only talks about overcoming. We must work until Jesus comes. When we are out working for Jesus, Jesus will be working things out. Darkness is already beginning to fall. We must work.
4 We must do the works of Him who sent Me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” (Jn. 9:4-5)
Those that know me know my patriotism runs deep. It pains me to watch my great nation drift into global insignificance. My Christian devotion does not diminish my love for my Country, but it embellishes and informs it.
But, I cannot deny the Elephant in the Room. I cannot see how a nation that kills a baby every 2.5 minutes, or a nation that fully embraces homosexuality and nearly any sexual perversion, or a nation that can no longer even acknowledge the difference between male and female—I do not see how such a nation can long survive.
Then, with the lenses of Holy Scripture I read the table of nations involved in the global issues of the Last Days, and I see clearly Russia, China, Persia and others, but I see no America, then I must conclude the days of our glory have past. I do not say this with any sense of fatalism, but with a sense of triumphalism and an unshakable hope in Christ.
As long as the American flag flies I will stand in respect and salute It with honor. As long as freedom allows, I will use my freedom as an American to bring about the most just and kind and godly society as such participation can create.
But, when the American flag no longer flies over a nation that is a global super power, or when an anti-Christian, antagonistic, oppressive culture squeezes out my political freedoms and silences my political voice as a Christian, I will still fight on as a Christian soldier knowing that triumph is promised and victory assured!
The tragedy unfolding, the Elephant in the Room that nobody wants to talk about is the fact the God can, and will, exist without America, but America cannot exist without God.
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