Every team likes having the homefield advantage, especially during the playoffs. I mean, who doesn’t like playing in front of your home crowd in front of your fans on your field? Years ago I would have argued that Christians were playing on our turf. Now, the Christian community is definitely in the minority in America.
Charisma Magazine ran an article a few years ago stating that the United States was entering what it referred too as a, “Post-Christian Era.” The article went on to state, “The United States is rapidly becoming a foreign nation to committed believers.” The Apostle Peter actually beat the article to the punch when Peter referred to the church as “pilgrims and sojourners.”
There is definitely a culture war being waged in America. The Church of Christ is at the crossroads of this battle. A moral dilemma of significant proportions. Paul referred to it in the book of Ephesians as a “Cosmic Struggle.” We cannot reclaim lost time or territory by ignoring the crisis or containing the values of scriptures in the four walls of our grand and glorious sanctuaries. Only when the church sees itself as the conduit for cultural and spiritual change will it be heard and respected. Paul writes in Philippians 2:15 that we are to become “Blameless and harmless children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.” Notice, Paul described society as both “perverse and crooked.” There is no question that biblically sound churches will be under constant attack by the crooked and perverse.
A few months ago, the place kicker for the Kansas City Chiefs addressed the graduating class of students from a Catholic University. There he praised motherhood and the family unit as the first priority of both moms and dads. Years ago this speech would not have made one headline. Why? Because contemporary culture at that time cherished and protected the traditional family unit. Today, those comments are seen as pre-historic and dehumanizing to women who view their careers as a priority. Rabid feminism has marginalized the roles of both mothers and fathers within the home. Actress Candace Cameron Bure came under fire from the “tolerance and diversity mob” when she made a personal decision to vacate the Hallmark Channel and associate herself with a more “faith based” network. By the way, the Great American Country, is one of the fastest growing cable channels in America. She simply stated, “My beliefs didn’t align with the direction of the Hallmark Channel.”
So, how does the 21st century Church of Christ re-engage and retard the moral and spiritual erosion and corrosion taking place in our nation? Can this culture war be won by Christ’s disciples? Or are we simply fighting a loosing battle? I say the army of God can win again. Hebrews 10:35 states, “Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward.” Confidence born out of hard work and ceaseless prayer meetings. Confidence not in oneself but in the one who created us. Listen church family, you have as much right to shape and mold society and reshape culture as anybody else. Do not let contemporary culture marginalize you anymore! From Moses, to Nehemiah, to Daniel and Jonah, all of these men were “world view missionaries.” Paul wrote in Romans 1:16 “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ.” Why you ask? “Because it is the power of God unto salvation.” This is not the time for God’s people to duck and run. This is not the time for God’s army to retreat. This is not the time to wave the white flag of surrender and compromise. We are living in a period of time when intelligent God-fearing, Bible believers are being silent, so that the unintelligent won’t be offended.
Every worldview and narrative that stands itself up next to the scriptures is anemic at best. Colossians 2:8 Paul writes, “Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.”
I believe the Christian Worldview is the only message that comprehensively answers the most thought-provoking questions facing society. [1] How did we get here to start with. [2] What is wrong with the world in which I live and, finally [3] How can the brokenness be fixed.
Chuck Colson writes, “Only Christianity offers a comprehensive worldview that covers all areas of life and through every aspect of creation. Every human being yearns, deep in their hearts, for deliverance from sin and guilt. This is the great human predicament. Sooner or later, even the most decent among us know that there is a rottenness at our core. We all long to find freedom from our guilt and failures, to find some greater meaning and purpose in life, to simply know there is hope.”
Tony Evans in his book Kingdom Politics states, “Unless God and His revealed Word is the overarching influence and rationale over how our electoral decisions are made- then God cannot be the overarching influencer of our nation.”
God and his Divine Word must be the source of all truth. Why? Because it is. We simply cannot exist as a free society unless the hierarchy of all that is right and good comes from a source that is all right and all good. We have the greatest playbook in the world. We are coached by God Himself. Our teammates are fellow saints who are seasoned and prepared for whatever Satan and the opposing team use against us. Let’s break the huddle church, and run the play and play to win!
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