THE BIG LIE - In the Church

It has been more than a week since I promised this post, but sometimes it takes a bit longer than one plans. I had written about the big lie in terms of Iraq - it seems every day I hear the same lies repeated by people who simply do not know better, who have limited their knowledge to predigested viewpoints from suspect sources. As stated on our prior post, the keys to the big lie being successful are endless repetition and a squelching of other opinions. We see these Nazi techniques practised by many who probably have no idea that they are doing it.

There are a lot of big lies, actually. Perhaps the biggest one is that it doesn't matter what you believe as long as you believe it. Nothing could be further from the truth. What you believe is CRITICAL. The Scribes and Pharisees sincerely believed they were following Abraham and Moses. Jesus showed them they weren't. They stuck to what they believed and only a handful found eternal life. Another big lie is evolution - this damnable theory often presented as fact infects all modern thinking. It has accelerated racial polarization, it has condoned low morals, and the constant retelling of the lie has brainwashed many people, even Christians, to the extent they no longer have confidence in the inerrant word of God. The world laughs as Christians try to accommodate humanistic thinking into their faith. The world does NOT in the slightest accommodate Christ or the Bible into their thinking.

I wish I could say that the world, the flesh and the devil are the sole incubating environments for lies. Unfortunately, that is not true. Many church people accept lies as a matter of course. In addition to the lies above, here are some more...

1) You have to be real sensitive to the world to win the world.
FACT - you don't offend needlessly, but you need to tell the truth. If the truth offends, so be it. Jesus offended people regularly. Those who were convicted by the truth accepted him. Those who persisted in evil did not. So many Christians pussyfoot around so much that the world has NO IDEA what we really believe. The Bible is an authority on religion, science, history, literature, love, and economics. Christians should have intensive Bible knowledge. Unfortunately, over half of Christians don't even READ the Bible regularly, let alone STUDY it. YOU HAVE TO BE REAL SENSITIVE TO GOD TO WIN THE WORLD. The only way to be sensitive to him is to KNOW him.
2) Politics is bad for Christians to get involved in. FACT - most Christians are involved in politics, but it is either limited to voting, and often uninformed voting at that, or often naive politics or as shills for demagogues. I hear Christians spout the same positions as some in the world - sometimes using the same words and the same rage. In fact I heard Tony Campolo on Michael Medved's program talking about Iraq and he repeated the same misconceptions and lies and when confronted was grossly ignorant of somerather basic facts. I hear Christians often talk about the Supreme Court taking God out of the schools when in fact many states had already dispensed with daily devotions in the schools. It is crtiical to know the whole truth. Yet Christians on both the left and the right tend to repeat sound bites and do not do the slightest amount of research themselves. Isn't the SPIRIT OF TRUTH different from the spirit of this world - the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience? If all born again Christians refused to support those who justify abortion, homosexuality, perverted "marriages", restrictions on the rights of Christians, and all the other issues which are seemingly non-controversial to any blood-washed Christian, a whole lot of evil leaders would not be in power. A whole lot of laws being proposed AS I WRITE THIS are being written because Christians often vote in a way to cancel each other out just as husbands and wives vote to cancel each other out. It is our Christian duty to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, not our pet political issues. How can Christians blame the world for our problems when Christians are ill-informed, misinformed, or simply parrot what they hear in their media of choice? Christians must not compromise for political power. They ust hold their candidates and officials accountable and READ THEIR VOTES, not acept sound bites tailored to the specific target audience. If Christian candidates and officials stand blameless before God, like Joseph and Daniel, God will give them favor even in the eyes of sinners and they will be a blessing in this world to bring God's purposes to bear. The Word of God does not change. Being a sophisticated political maneuverer is not God's pattern for leadership.
3) No One Can Be Perfect. FACT - No one is walking around saying they are perfect, but God has commanded us to be perfect, and he has little tolerance for people justifying sin in their lives. God does not accept any EXCUSES for sin. We need to demand this from our political leaders as well - we cannot keep accepting deeply flawed persons who throw us few bones. Christians should have an unapologetic leader who is able to put the Christian worldview in the marketplace. The wisdom of an unapologetic Christian should dwarf those in the world who do not have the light of Christ. The world saturates us with what they believe - we try to be oh-so-subtle. In the battle of ideas, we cannot be shy. We also must hold each other to high standards. If church folks had been less eager to get Jimmy Swaggart and others restored to their pulpits and more eager to deal with their sin, we would not be such a laughingstock today. We have to hold ourselves and our leaders to impecable standards - God is satisfied with nothing less.

Be bold! Be strong! For the Lord your God is with you!