opinion

Depending on who you ask, Christian nationalism is either a grave threat to the nation and the Church or is nothing more than a label used to demonize and dismiss people of faith from the public square, and therefore no threat at all.

There is a growing attack on conservative Christians, and I have documented it often in the past (for a larger discussion in historical and biblical context, see my book, The Coming Tsunami). Today, I’d like to make a point on this urgent issue I’ve not made before, one that applies as fully to me as to anyone who opposes my biblical worldview.

If those who preach sermons and those who hear them do not believe they urgently need a transforming relationship with Jesus Christ, we should not be surprised when their beliefs and their actions mirror those of our fallen society. The longer we avoid the light, the more our eyes adjust to the dark.

Since the 1990s, fatherlessness has soared while median earnings for men have declined. Boys represent 70% of all D’s and F’s given out at school and are twice as likely to be diagnosed with ADHD. They spend time in juvenile detention at over five times the rate of girls. There will be, on average, two women who graduate college for every male, over the next five years. As NYU marketing professor Scott Galloway mentioned recently on Bill Maher’s show Real Time, “The most unstable nations in the world have one thing in common. They have too many lonely, broke [men].” And yet that’s exactly the type of person modern culture is producing.  

Everywhere you turn danger lurks—yes, even in your church. While this is nothing new, according to the Book of Jude, we seem to have developed an attitude of false security behind the doors of our churches. But truth is, the church has always been a spiritual battlefield.

If you could see the invisible battle going on around you during the eleven o’clock hour on Sunday morning it would scare the bejeebers outta you. And if there are lost people in your congregation, the battle wages intensely.

Sunday after Sunday, Satan and his demons walk away with the high attendance award.

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 5:12 NAS)

Photo credit: ©Getty Images/Kadirdemir

Parents have every reason to demand transparency in school curriculums, even if contemporary curriculums did not assume ideologies that undermine Christian faith and values. But they do, as Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) has documented in its Parents Toolkit on Critical Theory. At the very least, parents should be able to opt out their kids, but they have to know when and what’s being taught in order to make the request.

This relativistic view of morality rejects the only solution for our problem: “You know that [Christ] appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin” (1 John 3:5). If I do not believe I have cancer, I will not consult an oncologist, much less consent to the chemotherapy, radiation, or surgery she prescribes.

How can we respond biblically to such deception? How can we speak the truth in love when such truth is so unpopular?

Scientist Michael Faraday’s reverence for Scripture came from recognizing its moral and spiritual authority. In the absence of external authorities, many look to “the science” to fill a role it simply cannot. So, the authority passes to scientists, who claim both an objectivity and a purview they do not have.

More Americans than ever before believe that people who oppose same-sex marriage are just as discriminatory as people who oppose interracial marriage. It is conventional wisdom today that LGBTQ rights are just as valid and vital as any other minority rights. I plan to discuss several biblical responses in tomorrow’s Daily Article. For today, let’s close with this fact: to persuade people that they need what we have, they must want what we have.

In our culture, cynicism is easy, and it takes no effort. Any person can find fault with another person or institution with a couple of mouse clicks. Finding what is good, right, and beautiful takes a little more work. When we look at the church, there is much to mourn and repent over. Yet, there are also ample reasons for rejoicing.