Article Written by the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission

I found it a wonderful work of Providence that shortly after I posted on “Salt and Light,” I received an e-mail from the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission speaking to the same subject. I asked for, and received permission to re-print this article since it is relevant to the latest discussion I started on this blog. I think you’ll find a different view here than you read find at the Outhouse, characterized by this recent article over there about the Pro-Life Movement.

As a note of introduction, the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission is headed by my former pastor, Dr. Gary L. Cass. He earned his graduate and post graduate degrees from Westminster Theological Seminary in California. He is a tireless worker for the Kingdom of Christ, and I am proud to call him friend. When he was the pastor of our small church, he was always at the forefront of the different ministries we were involved in. Evangelism Explosion was one of those ministries. Gary was always faithful to evangelism, constantly telling those of us closer to him that if the pastor wasn’t willing to get out and do the hard work, then he couldn’t expect the congregation to do it either. I later learned that he picked that up from Dr. D. James Kennedy who founded EE, and that Dr. Kennedy was constantly involved in evangelism (even evangelizing the taxi drivers!) to the end of his life.

Anyway, there is much more I can say about what I learned from Dr. Gary Cass during those many years he was my shepherd, but that will have to come at another time. If you can, stop by their web site and see what they are all about. You can sign up to receive periodic e-mail updates about ongoing Christian “bashing” and you can also donate to them through their site.

Enjoy,

Kazooless

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It is disappointing when Christian conservatives who are engaged in the battle for the soul of the nation are subjected to misguided ideas of influential Christians like syndicated columnist Cal Thomas. In his latest column, Thomas pronounces a requiem for the religious right.

According to Thomas, the last election is proof that Christians’ attempt to influence the future of the nation for the past thirty years was in vain. Thomas advocates a retreat from the public square and limits Christians’ duty to preaching the gospel and doing good works.

Letting the culture disintegrate without a peep from Christians while we wait for a revival is, according to Thomas, the righteous thing to do. But this is contrary to our biblical duties and historical precedence.

A Lesson From History

The Great Awakening in America starting in the 1730′s did bring about social transformation. But the Awakening was preceded by efforts on the part of faithful Christians to reform public policy.

James Oglethorpe sought to reform England’s prisons. Due to the “gin craze,” Queen Caroline passed prohibition legislation against the sale of gin. Queen Anne established free schools for indigent children. The Society for the Reformation of Manners helped to convict nearly one hundred thousand people for debauchery and profaneness.

Raising the issue of public sins like drunkenness, brought conviction of sin and helped to break up the spiritually fallow ground in England and the colonies. The revival harvest came forth from seeds planted in the spiritual soil tilled by social reformers. So God used both means; first the preaching of social righteousness and then the gospel.

Thomas minimizes the efforts of Christians who are not willing to surrender their spiritual and constitutional birthrights. He offers a false choice and a limited view of the gospel that is not worthy of the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

What’s a Christian to Do?

Jesus commanded Christians to be the salt and light of the world. As salt, Christians are commanded to act as a preservative, mitigating the effects of sin decay. As salty advocates for biblical righteousness and justice, the Christian’s duty is not limited to the personal, familial, or spiritual realms. Being the salt of the world extends to all of life, including the realm of public policy.

Imagine what kind of world it would be if Christians did not resist the most egregious sinful impulses of radical secularists. Why they might try to take their second grade public school students on field trips to homosexual marriages. They might take their minor daughters to get risky, surgical abortions without notifying the parents. But Thomas tells Christians they should be silent and just feed the poor.

Christians are also to shine as lights, reflecting God’s character and truth. While Christians ought to reflect love and service, they must also stand boldly for biblical truth and morality. God is not just perfect love. God is also perfect truth, righteousness and justice. Christians must reflect all of the character of God, not just the parts we prefer or the world accepts.

This is not necessarily going to win friends. Jesus warned us that the world hates the light because it will expose man’s evil deeds. Being the light means standing for the truth out of a loving concern for the consequences, eternal and temporal, to individuals and society. Often the only thanks you get for doing this are insults.

No one other than Jesus Christ has ever been perfect salt and light, having come from the Father in perfect grace and truth. He was reviled, slandered and killed because he bore witness to the truth.

Being salt and light is the duty of every Christian. If we refuse to be the stinging salt and blinding light we make ourselves worthless. If we lose our effect as salt, Jesus said we deserve to be trampled on. Thomas would have us abandon our duty, but for what?

Thomas thinks that if Christians will just stick to loving people in his very narrowly defined way, and lay down our duties and rights to preserve and illuminate the culture, we will have real transformational influence, not empty political influence. This is a false choice.

Being salt and light does mean preaching the gospel and seeing God change the individual. It includes doing good to the widows and orphans, the sick and the poor. Studies have shown if you want to find voluntary works of compassion and charity, religious conservatives do much more than any other group. From hurricane and tsunami relief, to pregnancy care centers, homeless shelters, and hospices, it is religious conservatives that are generally the first on the scene and the last ones to leave.

It is not a choice between preaching the gospel or doing works of mercy or standing for biblical values. We can and must do it all.

Being “salty lights” consists of displaying obedience to Jesus Christ in every aspect of life. That includes the political debate about the future of our nation. Christians believe that God really cares about matters of killing unborn babies, the institution of marriage, religious liberty, just judges, parental rights in education, etc. These concerns are based on biblical values.

Cal Thomas suggests that Christians ought to serve in obscurity and a diminution. Ironically, he uses his nationally syndicated column to advance this idea. If he were serious, he would quit writing and go work in a homeless shelter.

Thomas is unable to follow his own advice because it is fundamentally flawed. He writes because he wants to impact the market place of ideas and influence public life. Why does he object when others want to do the same? Thomas ought to applaud Christians who are attempting to do the same thing he is doing only by other means.

 

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Enough is Enough, The Church needs to REPENT!

The Catalyst

This week 3 God hating covenant breakers declared that home schooling in California is against the law. This is just one little symptom revealing the state of our nations relationship to the Sovereign Lord and King. This act by these three judges is their confession that they have usurped God’s authority and the people must obey the state instead. Of course, this is nothing new. Just state coercion to idolatry. It wants us to worship/obey it rather than God. Remember Daniel? Shadrach Meshach and Abednego? Just read the Declaration of Independence and you’ll see that we’ve faced these issues not long ago here in America. How soon the people forget. The Apostle Peter dealt with this issue as well:

Acts 5:28-29
Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us. Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.

Notice that Peter used the word “ought.” He didn’t say that they would “prefer” or that they “felt like,” but that they “ought” to obey God. You see NOBODY has the right to disobey God. NOBODY. God has communicated to everybody what is required of them. The apostle Paul does a great job of defending this idea in the epistle to the Romans. This idea being that ALL men will account to God for their disobedience to Him in this life AND in the life to come. Thank God we have a Savior to rely upon for settling that account. If you’re reading this and you don’t trust in Christ to save you from God’s wrath, stop now and seek His grace, forgiveness and repentance. Get familiar with the Gospel (Good News) and become one of His covenant keepers.

Now, the basic issue here is that God has ordained 3 (some say 4) spheres of authority/responsibility/rights. The family, the church, and the state. The fourth is the individual. So there is a self-government, a family government, a church government, and a state government. God gave each one of these spheres duties that are required of them, rights that are given to them, and ordained servants (ministers) to govern them. There are checks and balances between the three (or four), but each one has its own God given purpose. God’s law is clear that when one sphere steps into the other’s duties or rights, it is disobedience. When the state steps into the family sphere (in this case, education) then it is usurping God’s authority, and it becomes a tyrant. It becomes the beast. It is antichrist.

The Problem

Moving on, I want to talk about why we are finding ourselves more and more in the position of bondage to the state in this once great nation. And to be straight up about it, I’ll come right out and tell you what I think. THE AMERICAN CHURCH IS TO BLAME.

Deuteronomy 28:47-48
Because thou servedst NOT THE LORD thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things ; 48 Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies WHICH THE LORD shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things : and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee.

I recommend that you read all of chapter 28 in Deuteronomy. It’s quite an eye opener. But what does this have to do with our covenant breaking ‘friends’ in the California judiciary and the American church? Plenty. Take a look at my post “There is only ONE kingdom” and you’ll get an idea of what I’m getting at. You see, America is a wonderful inheritance that God established and gave to us. It should not be squandered. It is the land wherein each citizen possesses more liberty than this world has EVER seen. This was not some mistake of evolution or natural law or man’s ingenuity. America is a result of God’s providence AND His reward to His faithful servants who studied God’s Word and put it into practice as best they knew how. It is a blessing to His covenant people, and that blessing ran over and has blessed the covenant breakers as well. The blessing was so great that there is still blessing today AND even the WORLD has been blessed as a result. God is gracious. He is faithful, and His blessings last for generations. But the church has turned her attention inward. She has neglected the GREAT commission and replaced it with the ‘doom and gloom’ commission instead. The concept of God blessing or cursing a people can be seen in the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. The ultimate judgment would have been stayed if there were just 10 God fearers. God blesses His people and he also chastises them. The church is starting to suffer His chastisement, and will be responsible for her ultimate modern day exile that is to come if she won’t repent.

“Repent from what?,” you ask. From her partial obedience. She obeys God in many ways today. That’s wonderful. But God demands full obedience. If one only obeys partially, then one is in some way disobeying partially. The extent of disobedience will determine the extent (or the area) of His chastisement. I wrote about whether the church has something to say to politics with the affirmative answer. She has neglected this part of her calling. We are suffering as a result.We are squandering our inheritance. Christians have a majority in America. We have a government made up of men (and women) representatives. With this majority, there is no excuse, no reason, for our government to be filled with God haters and covenant breakers. Sadly, this is the case though, because the church ignores this duty when she disciples her families and individuals. She only disciples partially. She doesn’t teach us that part of our commission is to engage the culture. There is no other reason for this rise in our government’s disobedient tyranny. Even those Christians that are representatives aren’t discipled to know how to properly serve under God. It is a sad state indeed.

A Flawed Excuse

On a related subject, why is the church this way? I don’t know, really. I don’t have the answers. I believe that the history of the church here in America is a complicated one. There are many events and attitudes that have occurred over the past four centuries that have brought us to this point, and I am not going to try and cover them in this post. However, I will address at least one attitude and doctrine that I have encountered that is partially responsible for this sin of the American church. Yes, I called it SIN. It is the idea that we are to be like the Jews in Babylonian exile. We are to suffer in the here and now, or else we’re not representing Christ properly. We are to look forward to glory, but for now we are just pilgrims with nothing to say to this world, this culture. It is a theology of pessimism. A theology of doubt toward God and His Word. It is a sorry excuse for their lack of obedience. You see, they say that “this is the way it is supposed to be.” We can’t do anything about it. And so they do nothing about it, with justification. And then they teach our pastors to teach us the same. It’s no wonder we’re so weak and useless. But that’s not God’s plan. The Christian life is one that promises blessings for obedience in this life AND in the life to come. I sometimes wonder if our theologians have forgotten about the “already” in the phrase “already and not yet.”

I went to a live taping of a radio show last night. It was about the sin of the church leaning toward consumerism and meeting felt needs. The sin of “selling” Jesus. I agree that this too is a problem and a sin in our church today. I do not at all advocate these views. But in bucking against the one extreme the opponents of the church’s consumerism have gone too far to the other extreme. They basically said that the good news of the Gospel is all future. Until then we must suffer. Dr. Clark answered a question I asked by saying that he’s been accused of preaching a “doom and gloom” gospel and to that he can only reply: “Welcome to the Kingdom of God.” This faithlessness makes me want to vomit. And cry. And plead with our Lord to have mercy on us.

The Solution

I say to the church of God here in America: “WAKE UP! REPENT! Keep doing what you’re doing right, and add to it repentance for leaving this world behind. Christ came to destroy the works of the devil. He came to destroy sin. So everywhere that sin rears its ugly head is where we are called to take the fight. But we won’t even take the fight where it belongs, if we don’t believe that it belongs there. May God have mercy on us.”

kazoo