How to fight the evil in America
Most people who call themselves Christian in America want to fight the tide of evil they are seeing.
But most of them are misguided and are going about it the exact wrong way.
The Bible says that we are to pray for those who persecute us. (Matt 5:44) Not rail against them.
We are supposed to witness to them. (Mark 16:15-16)
Not blame them for everything that’s wrong in the world.
Actually we’re supposed to judge not nonbelievers, but BELIEVERS. And if they refuse to act like Christ? We are to have nothing to do with them.
“I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging ooutsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.”
1 cor 5:9-13
Did you catch that? GOD judges those on the outside. The unbelievers. We who are believers are to judge OURSELVES.
(1 cor. 11:31)
But do we do that? Certainly we don’t.
If we did you-know-who would not have been President last term. And you know a lot of false preachers who are in it for greed would be out of a job.
This makes us hypocrites folks. We don’t practice what we preach.
Instead we focus on the world and tell them how bad they are. We don’t even offer them the solution! Jesus Christ!
Of COURSE they act like the world and they sin. Because they’re the world. But WE are supposed to be different. We’re supposed to be lights to the world. And salt. But how can we be salt and light when we’ve lost our saltiness? Our difference from the world? (Matt 5:13)
We look act and talk exactly like the world. Check out this study by the Barna group about how pharasiacal professing American Christians are. https://www.barna.com/research/christians-more-like-jesus-or-pharisees/
We should expect that the world will act like the world. And if we truly believe we’re in the end times we will believe what Jesus said about the end times. Jesus told us that near the end things would get worse and worse (Matt 24). As did Paul (1 Timothy 3:13)
But getting mad about it and yelling at people on social media (or God forbid in person) isn’t going to change any of that.
Do you really want to make a difference in your culture?
Start with yourself. With personal repentance. This is the prescription the Bible calls for to heal any land - for the BELIEVERS to repent.
(2 chronicles 7:14)
Believers sometimes start thinking that they’re already saved and so don’t have to continue in repentance and obedience. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Jesus told a parable about the publican and the tax collector in Luke 18:
‘To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable:
“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
“I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” ‘ Luke 18:9-14
If you think you’re righteous already, you’re not going to repent. And Jesus said that a lot to the Pharisees of his day - the religious people - who kept condemning the sinners.
He also said of these same Pharisees, “how will YOU escape hell?” (Matt 23:33). He said this of religious people who thought they were already righteous. Not people who were on the outside, but religious hypocrites.
I see a lot of this same kind of thing today: “Oh no! The liberals, gays, and pro-abortion people have taken over! We need to fight to take our culture back!”
Never mind that Jesus said his disciples don’t fight. (John 18:36) And Paul said the weapons of our warfare are not of this world.
(1 cor 10:4)
Christians are not supposed to be carnal - in the flesh. When we walk in the flesh, That is actually aligning ourselves up with Satan.
(Ephesians 2:1-3)
Then what ARE we supposed to do?
We’re SUPPOSED to practice what we preach. Walk the walk and talk the talk. (Col. 1:10)
We could update Romans 2 a little by saying:
You who call yourself a Christian,
if you know Gods’ will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law; if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of little children, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth— you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself?
Do you dishonor God by watching the same exact entertainment as the world, filling your mind with hours of media violence, illicit sex, off-color humor, or gossiping and arguing on social media instead of the Word of God? How much time do you spend in Gods word and prayer by comparison to the worlds entertainments? (James 4:4)
Do you who think you’re so much better than anyone who is gay or trans, do you watch porn or masturbate or stare at the opposite sex lasciviously or live together without being married or cheat on your spouse?
Do you who say to unbelievers that they need to be moral and stop sinning, do you support anyone by your vote who is immoral? If they’re a liar they’re from Satan.
(John 8:42-47)
Do you support them anyway?
Do you preachers who say not to steal, take money meant for God from the poor, widows and orphans and Spend it on luxury items like designer shoes, handbags, suits, personal airplanes and mansions?
As it is written, Gods name is blasphemed among unbelievers because of you.
(Romans 2 very loosely paraphrased. Go read the original yourself.)
We’re supposed to witness to the world.
But we can’t do that if we’re hypocrites.
What good news would we be offering them?
If there’s no change in OUR lives, then how can we be light to anyone?
This is to our shame.
That’s why the name of God is blasphemed amongst the unbelievers. We have turned people OFF to Jesus Christ by our hypocritical behavior.
We’re supposed To love unbelievers into the kingdom. It is the KINDNESS of God that leads people to repentance. (Romans 2:4)
I don’t see a lot of kindness or love on the part of Christians today at all.
Jesus predicted that too. “The love of many would grow cold”
Matt 24:12
Did you know that your love could grow cold? That you’re supposed to zealously guard your salvation and regularly examine yourself to make sure you’re still in the faith?
Now would be a good time to do this.
If the Christians would repent, get rid of their idols and get off their constant worldly entertainment and go do what Jesus said to do - go into all the world and preach the GOSPEL (GOOD news) then we’d see a turnaround in our culture.
If we’d stop saying we don’t need to do anything but have faith then we’d see a turnaround in our culture.
(James 2:14-24)
Cant you see that the state of the world is
OUR FAULT because we refuse to obey Jesus’ commands including to love ones other and the great commission?
Instead we are fighting the world with the worlds weapons. And we’re losing. And we will continue to lose. That’s because God doesn’t sanction fighting with people.
(James 4:1-4)
In fact those who fight and argue do not inherent the kingdom of God!
(Galatians 5:19-21)
The gospel is the GOOD news. Most of us are offering bad news. You’re a sinner! We scream. You must change yourself!
Wait. Is that what Jesus did for you? Demanded you change yourself?
That isn’t the way it goes is it?
Jesus changes people from the inside out. He wants them to come to him as they are and HE will change them.
Making more laws to get people to “behave” the way we want never fixed anything. It never changed one heart. That’s because it’s law - LEGALISM.
Is law what saved you? (Gal. 2:21)
Likewise politicians will never fix anything. If you believe the Bible you know that God directs the hearts of kings for good or for evil. When it’s for good it’s because a nation is righteous and tries to follow God. When it’s for evil it’s for judgment. (Proverbs 21:1, Hosea 8:4)
And if our nation is now evil, it’s because for far too long, “good” men have done nothing. I say good in quotes because if we were truly good, truly on Gods team, we would understand all of these things and we would not be operating in the flesh.
We in America are experiencing Gods’ judgment now. But it’s been coming for decades upon decades. Prophets like AW Tozer and Smith Wigglesworth and David Wilkerson have been warning our nation since at least the 1950s. And only now are we waking up to see that it’s nearly too late. And only now are we trying to do something about it. But if it’s all in the flesh, it will all fail.
Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.
And
For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.
And
Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.
So what’s a Christian to do?
2 chronicles 29 tells the story of king Hezekiah, who brought great reform to Israel. Exactly how did he do it?
He called for repentance and consecration. Consecration is mentioned in this chapter at least ten times.
Most of us don’t even know what consecration is.
Consecration is setting yourself apart for God and his work. Taking out all the garbage from your life, your house, your family. Getting rid of everything idolatrous (think cell phone and media and porn addictions here as well as anything unclean and sinful. Music, movies, toys, apps, you name it), repenting of them all and then walking in holiness and obedience.
Today in some Christian circles, holiness has become a bad word. And repentance is often completely missing from the gospel. Take a look at this tract I found the other day. It’s the first tract I’ve seen in months - yet No repentance is even mentioned.
Repentance IS the gospel.
After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” Mark 1:14-15
Jesus died for our sins so that our repentance would be acceptable before God. (1 cor. 15:1-4)
If you are being taught otherwise it is a false gospel, it’s accursed, and you should run.(gal 1:8-9)
We ALL need to repent and make repentance a lifestyle - daily!
(John 13:10)
Repent of “fighting evil” with the flesh. We have so bought into Hollywood and the ridiculous paradigm of good guys and bad guys that we somehow think that were “the good guys” and the unsaved are the “bad guys.” But the Bible is clear - there ARE no good guys apart from Christ. We are all sinners and we all have wicked hearts apart from Him. (Romans 3:23)
Thinking you’re a good guy who can fix the bad guys is not only erroneous, it’s sin. It’s pride. Christ alone is righteous and only He can save. (Acts 4:12)
Pray for Him to show you this if you can’t see it.
Then you must separate yourself from the world. (2 cor. 6:17. Note that this is Paul!)
That means get rid of your constant distractions and filthy entertainments that you enjoy right alongside the world. And start obeying what Jesus taught. Whatever the Word teaches you to do or not do, start doing it.
Jesus said this in Matthew 7:
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” Matt 7
Also
“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." James 1:22
Pray about this. It’s called consecration. And it’s required of every believer. (Romans 12:1)
Once you do that you will be able to see clearly to take the log out of your brothers eye.
You see, most supposed Christians are living in sin. In bondage. Many can’t even tell because they don’t know the Word of God and their conscience has been seared by ignoring the Holy Spirit for too long. (1 Tim. 4:2)
How can you hypocritically tell gays to turn from their sexual sin when you’re in sexual sin yourself? If you’re living with someone outside of wedlock, or cheating on your spouse, or watching porn or masturbating or even watching movies with sex scenes in them, it’s just as sinful as being gay. It’s the same sin. Sexual sin.
How can you scream about abortion when you’re committing the same sin? You’re obviously angry with them. Which Jesus said is the same as murder. (Matthew 5:21-24)
Can’t you see the hypocrisy here?
We cannot make a dent in our culture until we all repent and start going about things Gods’ way. Not mans way.
And Jesus commands that we ALL repent and believe. Especially “religious” people who think they don’t need to repent.
It is the kindness of God that leads people to repentance. (Romans 2:4) It is love for others that shows we are true believers. (1 John 4:7-8)
It is by what we say and do (fruit) that people will know we’re true disciples of Christ. (Matt 7:20)
If We would repent and start doing what Jesus says - living like him, showing the change he’s made in our lives and TELLING people about Jesus and how he loves them AND wants us to repent and STOP SINNING, THEN we would see a change.
But we’re not going to see it until the people of God, who call themselves by His name, humble THEMSELVES and pray and seek His face and TURN (which means the same thing as repent) from OUR wicked ways.
2 chronicles 7:14
If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
I pray this falls upon soft hearts who are convicted and who turn and repent.
Comments
Post a Comment