On Whose Doorstep? (4 min read)

A political storm has wrecked our nation over the past few months. The putrid waters of conflict have flooded into our homes, churches, and businesses. Regardless of your preferences, you cannot deny the distress thrust upon us. From mandatory lockdowns to the closing of churches by dictatorial governors, we thought we would never see this day. The concerns of a vaccine mandate and conspiracy theories have crushed the unspoken, sacred trust that once united Americans. It seems a viral hatred has infected our entire system of news and information.

Mob violence is not the answer. However, what did socialist-minded leaders expect when they shackled Americans with the chains of their deception? A reasonable American cannot deny the feelings of revolt against the blatant corruption paraded before us. The race-baiting and fountain of hatred have already begun to flow from the monologues of upcoming political leaders.

A few days ago, as I watched President-Elect Biden introduce his cabinet staff, I had a few questions. Can we expect moral virtues to be upheld by an administration that advocates the dismembering of a baby in the womb? Can we trust them to be ethical when the president-elect’s cabinet members were qualified because they represented a minority group or liberal agenda? What an insult to the minorities when one’s race and gender seemed to be the only verbalized prerequisites to fulfill a government job. What happened to selecting a candidate by virtue of their education, experience, and exemplary work history? I will leave it at this.

Is there a peaceful way to resist what we are seeing? Can we find a pathway to healing our nation? Only if the righteous are vocal against the wickedness overrunning our culture can we hope for a future in America. (Luke 18:1-8)

As a Christian, I pray our nation’s future can be preserved by a remnant of God-fearing, patriotic citizens. I write with grave concern regarding the pathway by which we arrived at this dangerous place in our nation. History reveals to us how socialism is the transitionary step between capitalism and communism. When churches are closed because they are too radical in their speech, will it awaken us to unite against evil? When they force vaccinations on children contrary to the concerns of parents, will it awaken us? When the big tech platforms censor out Godly comments and conservative posts by religious organizations, will this awaken us to unite?

You may say, “these hypotheticals will never happen.” Unfortunately, they are already happening. The woeful turn of events in these past few months have proven to be the first steps in dismantling our great nation’s liberties. As we look ahead to the potential reign of a political party that identifies itself as “liberal” and yet seeks to strip our country of liberty, how can we brace for this fatal of irony? It reminds me of the time I visited China. The communist party proudly identified itself as “the people’s republic of China.” However, the most naive of Chinese citizens would tell you that the government cared nothing for the people or the concept of a republic.

How do we displace this wickedness? It begins with the Church of Jesus taking ownership. We must deal with the sin in our families and fellowships. What sins, you may ask?

1. The American Church traded its God-given mandate to make disciples for the fiscally motivated work of constructing church facilities and crowd-drawing programs. For too long, pastors in pulpits across America have focused on a production quality performance each Sunday while neglecting the more impactful work of making disciples. I’m not saying it’s all a pastor’s fault, but when a senior leader in the Church can go years without leading a soul to Jesus or making a disciple, then something is wrong. Even worse is when church leaders fail to see how an inability to make disciples is a problem.
2. The American Christian culture has blindly led families for decades. We’ve been duped into exchanging the journey of spiritual formation for the thrills of pious entertainment. From the songs we sang to the messages we heard, we have largely been deceived into believing a momentary, euphoric experience with God is the goal of the Christian life. Our Sunday mornings have vainly been evaluated to be a success or failure based on the emotional response of congregants. All the while, faithful church attendees have not been guided into a practical and clear pathway of spiritual growth. We stopped evaluating success by healthy marriages, god-fearing children, and personal sacrifices.
3. We discarded the disciplines of fasting, prayer, solitude, and meditation of God’s Word. We replaced this with millions of dollars spent on diet programs, yoga classes, and church coffee bars. Instead of training our children to memorize and meditate on God’s word, we’ve contracted out their spiritual growth to a children’s church pastor who slaves week after week to entertain a mob of device-stimulated kids.
4. We have satiated the hunger for spiritual growth in young believers by offering them convenient methods that bypass fundamental disciplines like Bible studies, prayer meetings, fellowship, and communion. (Acts 2:42)
5. Pastors once taught thoroughly from God’s Word by unfolding the extensive texts of scripture. Today, however, finding a message which extends beyond 28 minutes of hype and storytelling is rare. I’m all for powerful messages, but lectures which only seek to inspire the soul rather than move us to pursue Jesus are more common than we should afford.

All these symptoms point to a profound deficit in the practice of making disciples. So what can you do?

Make a plan to make disciples. This begins with prayer and a thought-out strategy of reaching the lost. If there are no unbelievers in your life, then you need to climb out of your spiritual hobbit hole and realize that following Jesus means doing what He did. What did He do? He went to the places where men and women were bound in sin and taught them how to access the Father. He cared for the broken and needy rather than leaving them to fend off of government subsidies. The Church, not the government, was given the task of caring for the poor.

Think about the men and women who lead the charge in this cancel culture and liberal agenda. Most, if not all, were raised within a few miles of a church building. None of them are unfamiliar with the person of Jesus. Yet, their legislative powers have been directly opposed to His teachings. Why? Could it be they were never discipled in the way of following Jesus? You may think this is an oversimplification of a more complex issue. However, we now have an entire generation with little to no awareness of what it means to follow Jesus. Who do you think is responsible for this gross oversight? It falls only on the doorstep of the Church. When the Church fails to do its divinely appointed mission, Hell will succeed in its unraveling work.

Photo by Sheri Hooley on Unsplash