What Have We Christians Become?

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective

In the first century, Christians in large numbers were routinely persecuted, often to the death for daring to worship the one, true God in Christ. In Roman culture, you could worship all the gods you wanted to worship, but that panoply of gods had to include Caesar. As long as a person worshiped Caesar, they were fine and left alone.

The problem was that Christians could not worship Caesar because they knew there was only one God. To worship other gods (which are not gods at all), along with God Almighty was an affront to God Himself and was seen by Him as idolatry. This immediately put Christians at odds with the “state,” the Roman Empire. It meant being put on trial for crimes against Rome (treason), and ultimately punishment by execution in the most heinous ways possible.

As time progressed and came up to the Middle Ages, we also know that many men known as “reformers” stood against the vestiges of Rome and refused to follow in lock step with the wishes of those who had married the government with religion. Men like Luther, Swingli, Tyndale and a host of others were seen as enemies of the “state” (Rome) and were hunted and if/when found, put on trial, found guilty and executed, usually by being burned at the stake.

Throughout our history since the first century, Christians have faced an uphill battle to try to worship in peace while evangelizing the world. This often created tension between governing bodies (whether secular or religious), resulting in persecution of Christians, with many becoming martyrs for their faith in Jesus.

In the world today, one would think that martyrdom would be a thing of the past. After all, aren’t we living in the 21st century? Isn’t the world generally “woke” enough to realize that persecuting Christians to death is so yesterday? In short, no, that is not the case and the Scriptures affirm major persecution of believers during the last days and into the Tribulation. In fact, there are numerous countries that seem to excel at this type of persecution, with Communist China being among them as well as numerous Arab nations.

But what of Christians today in America or other “civilized” countries? Well, it seems that most Christians have no problem being in lock step with any orders that come down to us from our dear leaders, whether mayors, governors or those in Congress or the White House.

I attend a church where with nearly all churches in the area, agreed when the governor called for a “15 day” shutdown of the economy and churches (except of course those seen as “essential” businesses). Isn’t that amazing? Churches should be shutdown but certain stores, bars, restaurants and even strip clubs along with Planned Parenthood abortion clinics should remain open?

Had the “state” come in at any other time with no “illness” present in society and simply demanded that churches shut down, what do you think the response from churchgoers and pastors would have been? The mandate would’ve been rejected out of hand. I believe many pastors would’ve been willing to go to jail because of the seemingly unjust and superfluous mandate dictating to churches that they should be shuttered, relegated to online “digital” meetings.

But the globalists who do Satan’s bidding are much smarter than that, aren’t they? They either took advantage of an illness running rampant throughout society or caused it (depending upon who you talk with), and then issued their mandates out of “concern, love, and social justice” for people’s “health and safety.”

So what happened? We all know what happened. Churches obeyed the unlawful and unconstitutional mandate and simply shuttered their doors for what they believed would only be a few weeks.

Isn’t that remarkable? Christians are far more concerned about their health and safety than worshiping the Lord. But, someone will say, “Churches could still meet! It was just online!” True, but where is fellowship? Where is reaching out to others with the right hand of fellowship? Where is the person-to-person contact and concern for other Christians that happens on Sundays and Wednesdays and during the week?

So, when our church shut down, I asked my pastor why we weren’t doing “drive-in” church at least? Why were we relegated to digital meetings? The answer was surprising. He said, some in the congregation were concerned that we Christians would be seen as defiant.

Defiant? I wonder if the apostles were concerned about appearing defiant? From my reading of Acts, it appears not to be the case. In fact, when they were incarcerated for preaching the truth about Jesus, they relished the fact that they were imprisoned and/or beaten for their faith in Jesus.

Too many Christians apparently believe that God has absolutely no control over our lives at all. A friend on Twitter (a person I  personally know when I lived in California), sent out a tweet that reminds her and anyone who wants to read it what Moses said about God in Deuteronomy 32:39.

I recall when our church made the decision to close down for two weeks. Opportunity was given to us to come to the front and pray. I did so and in my prayer I reminded us all that our lives were in God’s hands. My death, when it occurs, is known by God because He has set that day. While I should walk circumspectly and not tempt God by doing dangerous and stupid things (Matthew 4), the reality is that I won’t die until that time is here.

Will I get sick from time to time going forward? Very possibly. Will I die ahead of schedule? Possibly, but only if I’m doing what the Corinthians did by living outside of God’s will. In that case, God can certainly choose to take me home “early.”

But what about CV-19? Isn’t it deadly? Yes, to some it is and by now, everyone should know that the group that is most likely to be hit hardest is the elderly with compromised immune systems and underlying health conditions or comorbidities. However, everything we are getting from the “state” media tells us that we should be in constant fear because of all the “cases” that are being recorded every day.

I’d like to know who is getting tested every day and why and what about these particular tests that are being used? Don’t we have an obligation to know more about them; their limitations as well as what they actually cover?

Interestingly enough, Top pathologist Dr. Roger Hodkinson went before the Canadian government and testified via phone about the tests being used. He said in part, “‘the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on an unsuspecting public.’ Hodkinson, who is the CEO of a biotech company that provides COVID tests, says ‘There is utterly unfounded public hysteria driven by the media and politicians.’ We are seeing ‘politics playing medicine, and that’s a very dangerous game’” [1]

He further noted that the tests being used do not necessarily mean a clinical infection even when the test comes back positive. But since the mainstream media relies heavily on the number of positive “cases,” this works to drive up the fear in the minds of people throughout society. They believe if they’re not careful, they will become infected with CV-19 and die, even though the survival rate of this illness is well above 99%. This fact is lost among the din created by the media related to the growing number of cases.

Even Christians have succumbed to the fear, as though God has no control over our lives and possibly hasn’t even noticed that CV-19 exists! Whom do we worship? To whom do we give our allegiance, our loyalty, and worship?

Is God not capable of guiding our lives to their predetermined end, or is CV-19 so powerful, it will derail God’s will for our lives if we don’t mask up, social distance and get the upcoming vaccine? What’s the reality here? Not sure about your area, but I am seeing more masks in my area in stores and there is no mask mandate in my state.

These to me are serious questions and each person needs to ask themselves those questions and determine the answer. How will YOU answer? How do I answer?

I’m very concerned. There are numerous states in the USA that have shut down churches and fined them horrifically (and illegally) because of the presumption that society’s safety is more important than our right to gather together in worship with other Christians. These draconian, tyrannical, fascist, and illegal mandates from state or city officials need to be ignored. Remember, the same people who are now saying they are concerned about our health and safety are the ones who also tell us that a woman’s right to “choose” (whether or not to kill her unborn child), is sacrosanct!

The people issuing these mandates do not care about our health or our safety. They care only about bringing the world together as one in its final global empire. However, they’re not even aware of the final results of what they’re working to accomplish.

Folks, we Christians have already lost the battle if we will so willingly give in to the dictates of the state and literally set aside our ability to be physically present together in worship with other Christians as guaranteed under the First Amendment. No other country has this amendment, yet many in other countries are willing to put their lives in the crosshairs to worship God with others. We on the other hand seem all too willing to give it up and without a fight!

But how does this reasoning apply in other areas of our lives? If we are so concerned about our health that we are quickly willing to stand down where God is concerned, are we shorting God in other areas? Possibly.

Every Christian has faults. We all fall at various points. We are all – hopefully – though, still doing our best to be like Jesus through the submission of our will for His. So even though I may not have a problem seeing through the fiasco called CV-19, do I fail to see where I come up short in other areas? Am I more concerned about my own safety in society rather than submitting that to God? Do I hold things more precious to my heart than God Himself? In other words, am I holding things back from God, trying to control them instead of allowing Him to do so?

I’m sure of it. Because of that, I must spend time in introspection, praying that the Lord will shine His revealing light on the “self” spots in my life, the areas that I have yet to give to His Lordship. We can become very comfortable with our own likes, dislikes, and outlooks on life. In doing so, we can become blind to the things in our life that causes us to stumble where His Lordship is concerned.

What am I holding back? In what ways am I not trusting Him? Is it CV-19? Is it my wife? My kids? My grandkids? My dog? My life itself? There have to be things I have not yet given Him to control. There has to be.

Lord, what are they? Show me, Father, that I might come to the point of giving those things to you and allowing you to work in and through my life so that you would have free and perfect rule. Open my eyes to the things that I tend to worship, to the things that are not allowing me to know you in a more complete way. In Christ Name, Amen.

[1] https://redpilluniversity.org/2020/11/21/provider-of-covid-tests-says-pandemic-is-biggest-hoax-ever-perpetrated/

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective