The 'Great' Divorce

 A Reason to Rejoice in a… ‘Great Divorce’!

In the midst of so much double-mindedness in churches and amid the disparaging differences between the shared spiritual Life of local churches revealed in the scriptures and the independent self-seeking life of most Christians today… there are still reasons to rejoice in what’s going down!

Over the last ten to twenty years you would have had to live in a cave not to know there has been an exponential rise in the opposition to authentic Christian faith. Even though much of the reaction from the world has been as a result of the terrible conduct of people who claim to walk in authentic Christian faith… but don’t. Yet, all the while our non-flesh and blood adversary has been taking full advantage of the situation.

Hardly a day goes by that there isn’t some shameful event splashed across the headlines of the major news networks concerning Christianity. Whether what’s reported is true or just made to look true, the overall effects are the same… disdain for Christ and His Church.

Articles heralding the decline of the Christian faith and the rise of the religion called humanism are rampant. It’s definitely not cool anymore to say you are following Christ. (For those truly walking with Christ… it never really was.)

As we have stated in previous post, this horrifying failure of Contemporary Christianity  was foretold in the scriptures and even more recently by great men of God fifty or sixty years ago. Men like T. Austin Sparks, A. W. Tozer, and Watchman Nee to name just a few, warned that the ‘great falling away’ already had begun. Keep in mind those warnings were said half a century ago…just where do we think things are today?

So that’s the bad news… what’s the good news? We believe it to be this…

Two things seem to be happening at once and the first one is causing the second.

The first is… inadvertently a line of fidelity is being drawn in the sand by the cultures and governments of the West.

The second is... because of that line being drawn, people are having to make decisions about where their loyalty really lies. In other words … its going to become a lot easier to see who really believes and who is pretending! 

Many times in the past God has used governments and cultures to force His people to ‘choose sides’. Consider the stories of Ruth, Daniel and others.

Whether the issue is homosexuality, validity of the scriptures or the relevance of the church, everyone is going to have to come clean with what they actually believe. Why? Because the culture we live in is going to force us to do so.

Decade’s back, to be a patriotic American and a devout Christian looked to nonspiritual eyes synonymous (Though it never really was, it appeared so). To so many Americans, the enemies of America were the enemies of God.

That viewpoint developed because of the marriage relationship Christianity had developed with Western culture and that mindset created a great evil in the minds of non-believers all over the world. The non-believing world assumed that whatever America did was what their God was doing as well. A wonderful treatise on this subject can be understood through the book entitled ‘The Myth of a Christian Nation’, by Gregory Boyd.

But in the last forty or so years a divorce has been taking place and Americans will now have to decide which ‘parent’ they’re going to live with.  The reason for this divorce is ‘irreconcilable differences’. Which by itself should be encouraging.

The cause of this divorce lies with the weakened European Christianity America started with and the terrible spiritual unreality that is produced when Christians mix politics with religion. This caused ‘American Christianity’ to never be clear (never even understood?) about its previous marriage to Christ. Growing apart was inevitable. The result of the growing discontent with each other has produced … ‘The Great Divorce’.

Now, as with any divorce, begins the awful business of seeing what and who belongs to whom. It seems as though the American government and culture is determined to throw Christianity and her children out of it's house despite her reluctance to leave.

 It is our profound hope that it does just that … throws her out… and that Christianity comes to its senses. The outlook looks promising. Click these links to see some of the things happening in the military.

http://radio.foxnews.com/toddstarnes/top-stories/congressman-there-is-a-war-on-religious-belief-in-military.html

http://radio.foxnews.com/toddstarnes/top-stories/congressman.html

Don’t think these situations are isolated. They aren’t. The government will continue to purge religion out of anything it controls. Having absolute control of the military the purge shows up quickly but whatever the government has the slightest influence over will be purged as well.

Think of how culture is making it odious and the government making it illegal to mention of Christ in public schools. Culture and government always work hand in hand. Think again how any mention of God has been removed from government property. It would probably be a good idea if churches began rethinking their addiction to their 501 C 3 relationship with the government.

We are not in favor of Todd Sterns, Fox News, the Liberal or Conservative side of things. Nor do we want to be associated with any of their agendas, but we do strongly believe that there should be a clear line of separation between fidelity to God and responsibilities to secular government. True disciples of Christ have only one Commander-and-Chief and the differences between Him and Obama are becoming more apparent every day.

Again; we do not believe Christians should be passive and we do believe cultural and societal change can come when God’s people start doing what they are supposed to do and not relying on the government for that change. Remember the outcome of the stories about Ruth and Daniel.

From our very beginning there has always been a sharp line of demarcation between true spiritual followers of God and the agendas of world governments/cultures. Just a quick look at early church history will reveal what happens when God's people are clear that their loyalty is with God and not secular governments.

Having suffered through the devastating effects of divorce on everyone involved, I can only think that this ‘divorce’ is the only exception to it's terrible consequences. Although this divorce will be painful as any divorce is, this separation can give all involved a chance to know who they are following and what they really believe. Remember … what you say is only what you think … but what you do is what you really believe.

So … Hallelujah…and bring it on! This is our time to shine. It may cost us our jobs, homes and even our lives but in the words of a great uncompromising leader serving in a similar day of compromise and mixture… Choose this day whom you will serve!

"Now therefore, fear the LORD, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River (or ocean)  and in Egypt.  Serve the LORD! And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River (or ocean), or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."
(Joshua 24:14-15)