As attested by St. Paul to the early Church at Rome, each Christian is set apart from the world. We read…
“I appeal to you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
For by the grace given to me I bid every one among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith which God has assigned him.” (Romans 12:1-3 RSV)
The statement above seems one concerning Christian responsibility.
We of the Christian faith are set apart from the world and called to
sober judgment about ourselves and the times in which we live. Take this commission heart, for we are viewed as threatening by principalities and powers
within an age now focused on human and socialistic universality. What’s
more, I truly believe the Church found in the American realm is slowly
and somewhat unknowingly being diminished in power and number.
The evidence of this societal course was recently highlighted in a
newscast about the tensions rising in the world Olympics in Paris. This turmoil is creating tensions as anti-religious trends emerge.
Though the political call is seemingly for increased tolerance, the tensions
present are not confined. Violence often breaks out against congregations and persons trying to hold to traditional morality. As well, recent racial and religious
unrest among other European nations... and our own continent... is symptomatic of a general decline in Christian influence in the post-modern world.
Am I unreasonably paranoid? Possibly. However, I do think we of the American church should note the causes and live prophetically in coming days. Let us
be aware of the forces in the world poised against the
spread of the gospel and growth of the Christian Church.
Subtlety is their masking. To make my case, first consider trends in birthrate and the act
of abortion. Many mainline Christian church
denominations, now exhibit diminished negative conversations against the
taking of a yet-to-be born human life. Often touting human overcrowding and
family financial limitations as justification, many in the Church have contributed to our reduced national birthrate, one now
below the normative and sustainable worldwide rate. Our baptismal numbers are thus
abysmal. Catechism classes wane and Church populations are in decline
across the congregational spectrum as this "greying" of the Church occurs. These factors persist, yet
denominations such as the Evangelical Lutheran Church in American (ELCA)
freely fund abortions through insurance carriers as elective medical
procedures. In this subtle way, many mainline church leaders and clergy support pro-choice
political agendas. Therefore these make their denominations a sacrifice placed on altars more acceptable to modern societal standards.
Consequently, both American society and the Church is satanically and sinfully being de-populated by these
trends! Like a frog being boiled in a pan, the water in the baptismal font is therefore
heated slowly. We become too self-absorbed in congregational murmur about declining memberships, so that our navel gazing is less than prophetic.
Many mainline Christian denominations also now
embrace alternate lifestyle unions in clergy positions, and are bold enough to claim that
these relationships are without sin. Thus we promote childless a lifestyle and ignore an ancient ban
within the faith passed on to us by ancient Hebraic society. This ban on childless, same sex unions promoted
growth within the tribal systems of the chosen people. We in the modern Church ignore this timeless
biblical mandate against homosexuality, thereby allowing the example of
a self-centered humanism. This avenue mires the Church in lessened populations. As well, in order to demonically offset the loss of Christian birthrate, the state and apostate churches promote immigration via open borders. This causes an influx of persons from other nations, many of whom possess low education levels and criminal mindset. Various denominations applaud this illegal influx as doing works of social justice.
In, But Not Of This World!
Because we Christians are often considered now as “alien residents” in our society simply by our wending our path through a gospel resistive American culture, we take note of lessened reception to gospel proclamation and Christian opinion. Rampant agnosticism promotes this non-procreative thrust until our Christian youth consider marriage as passe’, child-bearing as financially lame, and Church membership is viewed as party to an archaic lifestyle. This slide into Christian population suicide is forwarded by a public education system that challenges traditional sexual norms, family cultivation, and the religious anchors of a faith community.
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Consequently, if we factor in other modern geographic challenges posed to the maintenance of family connections, because our children mature and go into society we find ourselves having communications with them only through electronic social media. Thus we see the numerical growth of real Church community and family structure under great peril. Efforts to use electronic forms of dialog that forward the gospel message often meets with "shadow banning" by computer platforms.
What should be our response? Join together at the altar of our God. Let us join together first in Christian
community and pray to the Father for forgiveness of sins through Christ Jesus. Pray for the
growth of the Church and the future of our witness. Let us learn anew the ancient methods of evangelism beyond those rooted in child birth. Would the granting of these skills put us in competition
with other populations and religious expressions? Surely! But allow the
scriptural record to teach us that in spite of persecution, peril, and
more, God shall preserve the faithful Church. Remember truly that God rejoices in our efforts toward abundance!
Let the historical and biblical record of the people of God provide witness as we break away from destructive societal influences and then remain faithful to our calling from Christ to proclaim the gospel. Through divine power and guidance of the Holy Spirit, the Church shall indeed be transformed to emerge triumphant even though Olympic seas boil with the subtle activities of the satanic realm. Lord.., we pray, let it be so.
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