Religious Stew – PC Poison in the Pot

When Jesus asked a crowd of people who felt their religion justified them about what he would find at his second coming, he said, “But when the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?” (Luke 18:8) No one in the crowd answered him because the answer is understood. The answer is of course; No! So what replaces faith? What could possibly come before faith in the gospel? The answer is unlikely and strange; it is religion itself.

Religion, if focused on the finished work of Christ, creates a nice complement to express and renew faith, but often becomes a substitute rather than a complement. In apostasy this substitution is accelerated by ecumenism, syncretism and liberalism. The need to bring all religions under one roof is most often expressed in the penchant for ecumenism. The catalyst for ecumenism is syncretism, which is a forced alignment of different doctrines and beliefs so that one size fits all. Syncretism cannot be achieved without liberalism. A laid-back attitude that says that a particular religion or belief is as good as any other. It is the key of liberalism to open the kitchen cupboard and throw anything and everything into the pot.

It is good to note that while the secular worldview of strict evangelicals, fundamentalists, and any sect that adheres strictly to the gospel is that they are intolerant and perhaps even belligerent, Christ does not see it that way. For him they are the faithful blessed of the earth, in fact, the very “salt of the earth.” Unfortunately, in today’s PC climate, tolerance, and diversity, some of the salt is losing its flavor. (Matthew 5:13)

Apostasy is not just a promise and assurance prophesied in the Bible, it is one of the specific elements that help usher in or precipitate the second coming of Christ. (2 Thes 2:3) The “New World Order” is based on the threefold idea that there should be one world government, one world economy and one world religion. The best way to stop the bickering and infighting in various religions is to throw them all into one pot and declare that they are one substance. Are they all of the same substance? Not in your life!

Did Buddha die for the sins of the world? Has Muhammad risen from the dead? Will Oprah destroy Israel’s enemies at the Battle of Armageddon? Will the city built on the God-given New Earth that is 1500 miles tall be built by the Army Corps of Engineers? No, all religions are not created equal and no comparative religions course, even if it is 202 or higher, will explain the above honestly.

Liberalism in Christianity has almost all the same aural markings as political or secular progressive liberalism. Keep a close eye on the economy, the image of our country in the world and do not overtax citizens and almost everything else is of little importance. Hollywood can turn on us and our children, legislators can promote any agenda they like, and academics can teach our children anything they choose to imagine. As long as we don’t commit serious crimes, we can do anything we want with relative impunity. That is the secular world view and the liberal church view is a bit behind that.

When liberalism hits the church, it is the basic tenets of the faith that get cut off first. First, adherence to strict biblical doctrines and the promulgation of the gospel are attacked. In the end, the churches can carry on as usual, but you can take a kind of 12-step approach to God and he can be “whatever you perceive him to be.” In fact, I heard someone say that God could be a light bulb to you and it wouldn’t matter. Sadly it makes God a liar and if possible a fool too. Is it not a foolish act on God’s part to let his only begotten child die for the sins of the world if they could obtain redemption in any other of innumerable ways? What a waste.

Not everyone in the Christian church is gutted when the New World Order dances in. Some churches and believers will remain faithful to the simple gospel of salvation until the end. As with any good army, someone is at the front “holding the line”. They will take the fire and many will make the ultimate sacrifice if necessary. It will be necessary?

According to the prophet Daniel and the book of Revelation, believers will surely come under direct attack from the coming world dictator known today only as the antichrist. Not so well known is the fact that he will first throw out the ecumenical and liberal churches and then persecute the remaining faithful. He (Antichrist) will have no mercy on any religion, Muslim, Judaic and Hindu religions will not escape either.

It will be a life and death struggle that for a time will seem utterly hopeless. That hope will suddenly return to the church at the end of the antichrist rule because Christ himself will intervene. No wonder the apostle Paul referred to that change as a “blessed hope” in Titus 2:13. At the end of the reign of the antichrist, the hope of all true Christians will be glimpsed, they will see his Lord subdue the earth and remove the governments of the planet from the hands of men.

The arch-deceiver (Satan) is also the arch-distractor. He can drive away the apostate church (some of them) with what seem like wonderful causes and missions like global warming, social causes and a plethora of similar nonsense. Those who know the scriptures know very well that global warming has nothing to do with the coming judgments and it will not be how the world will go to its knees. Both the penchant for personal and collective sinfulness is heating up much faster than our temperatures are rising. Social issues, all syrupy and general, will be just as successful as the peace movement has been. Peace? There have been more wars in the last 100 years than in all the rest of history combined, and the end is nowhere in sight.

Churches that have not succumbed to the prosperity gospel or emerging church doctrine, dominance-ism, Oprah-ism, New Age, and half a dozen or more other latter-day schemes are often fooled by something apparently much easier to swallow. The social gospel is full of PC appealing causes that no one would dare argue against, they come with a conscience-soothing balm called “surrogate behavior.” In short, that means doing good things to make up for a bad life and total rebellion against God. Being worried cannot be entertained by being condemned; the wages of sin is still death Ro. 6:23. The death of a soul is never very social and the jingle of change in an offering plate is no substitute for a change in the way we live.

This is not an angry conversation, this is a desperate conversation. God desperately loves humanity and has offered ample proof of the same. He would rather we appreciate not backsliders, and the message won’t change until the last star falls. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16.

Knowing that God loved the world so much is not enough sometimes, what is needed is the reminder that God loves you. It is a personal matter, one on one for each man or woman. In 1948, legendary songwriter Hovie Lister, who started one of Southern gospel music’s most beloved groups, “The Statesmen,” may have said it best in the last two verses of his famous song “How Long has it Been.”

How long have you not talked to the Lord?

And did you tell him the hidden secrets of your heart?

How long since you prayed, how long since you stayed?

On your knees until the light shone?

How long has it been since you woke up with the sunrise?

And did you feel the days were worth living?

Can you call him your friend, how long has it been?

Since you knew that He cared about you?