Thus says the Lord of hosts,“Do not listen to the words of the prophets who are prophesying to you. They are leading you into futility; They speak a vision of their own imagination, Not from the mouth of the Lord. “They keep saying to those who despise Me, ‘The Lord has said, “You will have peace”’; And as for everyone who walks in the stubbornness of his own heart, They say, ‘Calamity will not come upon you.’ Jeremiah 23:16-17
In this series we have been discussing the subject of Christian evangelism that has come into direct conflict with an American culture that believes it is wrong to suggest there are moral absolutes. Tolerance has been hijacked and true to Orwellian prophecy has become a double-speak of the highest order.
Intolerance is now state sanctioned. Did that statement startle you? If so what I want you to do now is ask yourself why you are startled by that comment. Saying that intolerance, specifically intolerance toward Christians and Christianity is now a government mandated practice is easily proven from the abundant evidence all around us.
Examples are plentiful. For many years now, the federally funded National Endowment for the Arts has financially supported all expressions of art that serve no other purpose than to desecrate Christian symbols and sensitivities. Compared to other examples this now seems tame.
The US Government’s continues to purge our military of chaplains who insist on praying in Jesus name while simultaneously increasing the number of Islamic imams and Wiccan leadership who denounce Jesus Christ; the suspension of teachers who attempt to teach creation or who dare speak of evolution as theory, and the now notoriously famous re-education of Christians who have refused to cow-tow to political correctness run amok and have stood instead on their convictions that certain behavior is sinful now matter how much government cover and celebratory nonsense it is shrouded in.
Of far more concern than our government’s predictable behavior however, is the behavior of much of the Church. Pastor, author, and theologian John Stott succinctly describes the present delusion of the church: “Tolerance is not a spiritual gift; it is the distinguishing mark of postmodernism; and sadly, it has permeated the very fiber of Christianity. Why is it that those who have no biblical convictions or theology to govern and direct their actions are tolerated and the standard or truth of God’s Word rightly divided and applied is dismissed as extreme opinion or legalism?”
That is the question we will answer next. Look for Part 4 of “Be Offensive in Love” soon.