If you have read any of my previous articles you'll know that my starting point is based upon us either leaning towards God or leaning towards Satan, however I accept that there are a multitude of reasons, attitudes and excuses why Christians find it hard to get mobilised at a grassroots level, i.e. the congregation actually doing activities en-masse.
There is no end of commendable Christian organisations committed to helping or supporting one disenfranchised group of people or another, but what is stopping the church as a whole engaging every Christian and making a serious change in our society?
Don't worry I'm not about to present a mammoth essay about what I think is wrong, but I have prepared a simple explanation.
Part One - The big picture
Just so you're up to speed; although Satan was defeated and disarmed when Jesus was crucified on the cross, Satan was not killed. Therefore Satan and his cohorts and demons are still prowling around goading us into 'saying' or 'doing' something wrong.
So that's part one and it is completely Scriptural
Part two - My analysis!
Satan knew attempting to defeat 'Man' a second time was going to be difficult. The fact that Jesus has already won should've been sufficient for Satan to give up, but he didn't and hasn't.
Over the past 2000+ years, Satan has been biding his time and has put in place a strategy that would cause the most amount of damage to Christianity, such as:
• Creating holy wars
• Creating opposing religions, i.e. Islam!
• Convincing government official to deny the Christian (and Jewish) faith
• Atrocities done in the name of Christianity and so on
Revival vs Retribution
As we near the end times as described in the book of Revelation, over the past 120 years or so we have seen more examples than ever before of God's manifest power, starting with the outbreaks of revival like those that happened in late 1800's, the 1906 Azusa Street revivals in Los Angeles and the Welsh revivals.
As the manifest presence of God's power has increased, so have the attacks on the church, no surprise there then.
Then we had the two world wars which killed millions of men, men who had predominantly attended and officiated at church. As these men were either at war or were dead, the women stepped in and took their place.
Gradually the church has became an institution for tea, cakes and bazaars. As well as flower arranging and pastel colours. Not very manly huh!
As the decades past, we saw the rise and fall of Sunday school attendance, which assisted in the erosion of Bible awareness. And we now have a music culture that plays to the majority, i.e. to women, playing on 'emotional' and 'love' based lyrics.
We have also seen an exponential increase in our ability to communicate over greater distances via telecommunications, TV and now satellite and the Internet.
The communications revolution has enabled Satan to use this medium to influence governments worldwide (over a relatively short period of time) who would endorse and accept world views in favour of Biblical views.
A sin is a sin
Just to recap; the Commandments, rules and laws in the Old Testament along with the instructions as to how we should behave and live in the New Testament establish the basis for our moral and spiritual existence.
Sin equates to commandments or instructions given to us by God, which we have failed to keep.
Jesus came and died on the cross so that the sins we committed would be forgiven. All we had to do was accept Jesus as Lord, repent, stop committing sins, be genuinely sorry and all was good!
Now that's all well and good for say murder or theft. The murderer or thief asks for Jesus to come into their lives, they repent and they are forgiven.
But when it comes to a subject like homosexuality what then? According to the Bible, homosexuality is a sin. A sexual sin. Therefore, to continue in sin is to be influenced by Satan, agreed?
The Crux of the Problem
So herein lays one of the fundamental 'alarm bells'. Satan has convinced governments and churches to accept same-sex marriage which adds to Satan's larger plan which is to divide and conquer, to spread confusion across the world.
Global Communications has also been especially helpful in the publicising of priests abusing young people, however, all of this adds to confusing individuals about Christianity.
Don't worry, I haven't gone off the original subject about what should we do as Christians?
If the Church and governments are now rewriting the statutes and laws that originated in the Bible, how then can a curious nonbeliever or uninformed Christian know what they should or shouldn't be doing when they do actually attend church?
The Erosion of the Bible
The Bible is quite clear. It says in the book of Revelation 22:18–19 (NLT) And I solemnly declare to everyone who hears the words of prophecy written in this book: If anyone adds anything to what is written here, God will add to that person the plagues described in this book. 19 And if anyone removes any of the words from this book of prophecy, God will remove that person's share in the tree of life and in the holy city that are described in this book.
Does completely ignoring or choosing to rewrite parts of the Bible constitute adding or removing? And therefore if someone does, is that person(s) subject to the plagues in the a fore mentioned paragraph? Receiving the plagues described in the Bible and having one's share in the tree of life and the holy city should be seen as a sufficient deterrent but apparently it isn't.
Our deep rooted arrogance for establishing and basing our own significance in other people seems to drown out the word of God for both government and clergy alike.
Satan's Plan
Whenever someone mentions Satan, most people roll their eyes and think that that person has lost their marbles and the plot. However, I see it as a ploy of the enemy (Satan!) to establish this as a retort. What better defense for Satan than for non-believers and Christians alike to ridicule the person than actually believes the whole Bible.
I find it incredible when Christian leaders tell us not to put much emphasis on the devil because he's already defeated. However, the whole point of Jesus' crucifixion was to disarm the devil – not kill him. So if the point was to sort out Satan, how come there are still billions of unsaved people in the world and why are Christians being asked to go and do good 'works'.
If Satan wasn't still a problem, we wouldn't be asked to do anything – I think this is called a dichotomy.
To bring you up to speed, Satan's plan is that he will establish an anti-Christ on Earth who will be seen to smooth the waters of an ever increasing world in turmoil. In order for this to happen, the 'world' needs to be 'prepared' and what better way than to usurp the tents of the Bible and figuratively 'stick one on God' than by confusing his children with the help of governments and the church!
So when the 'anti-Christ' appears on the world stage, the world will be falling over itself, gagging for him to be installed at the highest level.
For born again Christians, this is not a problem, however for those still sitting on the fence, trying to decipher a newly rewritten Bible, it will become more difficult for them to accept Jesus as their Saviour.
Biblical or Worldview
When we look at the atheist arguments, the worldview arguments and the whole realm of political correctness, it is very easy to see how much confusion and strife has become so much a part of our everyday life, for where there is envying and strife there is every evil work (James 3:16)!
So when it comes to motivating mobilising Christians to do not only good works, but to be effective evangelists wherever they are, the overriding message of Christianity is being deliberately drowned out and ridiculed.
Whether it's a view on abortion to simply speaking out what it says in the Bible, it is now losing people their jobs. Individuals are pandering to laws that freeze out Christianity.
Standing Firm
The Christianity I'm part of puts the one and only God first above everything and everyone:
• That knows what Satan's plan is
• That knows that Satan can't touch us
• That knows God will provide
• That knows we are saved
• That know there will be an almighty showdown
• That knows the Bible talks about a secret plan
• That Knows born again Christians will be with God for eternity
You can probably guess I'm not confused and have an understanding of the big picture and can genuinely say that I am excited to see what God is going to do next.
I've never been to war. But I do know that we're all in a battle and irrespective of our beliefs, we're going to experience something so amazing and more out of this world than we could ever imagine in our lifetimes.
Lead or Get Out of the Way
Christian's need to be made aware of what this faith is actually about. They need to know the big picture and what we're working towards and to get some kind of handle on the future.
We are here because God wanted us here. We're not a mistake and as Christians we shouldn't be waiting to die simply to get off this earth because it's too tough.
The church needs to explain this to people who are not afraid of a fight and are 'up' for some spiritual warfare. There is an anecdote in business that says "if you're not leading, get out of the way!" The same needs to be applied to church leaders.
Even when Ministers and Pastors talk about the reduction of men in church or the feminisation of the church, they never seem to be able to do anything about it, possibly because of the general consensus and belief that Christian men are either weak and ineffectual individuals or simply jumping on the music and worship team bandwagon.
The Solution
My grassroots solution is that Church (big 'C') needs to regularly explain the big picture to congregations and help them understand where we are now and how we should be thinking and living as well as explaining what it's going to take to get this message out to non-Christians.
There is an assumption that the congregation 'know' their Bibles or at least know the over-arching story and thrust of what its about, when in fact most of them have probably never read it at all.
Welcome packs handed to visitors need to explain more than the Alpha basics and every member of a congregation needs to be made aware of the 'Big Picture' either via monthly sermons or via their cell/home groups.
There is no excuse for complacency. Ministers and Pastors are specifically instructed to equip God's people to do his work. The Pastors are expected to teach and congregations should be made aware that Pastors can't always do both, i.e. roll their sleeves up and do the work too.
The Pastors and Ministers must teach the big picture as they will be held more accountable than church attendees (Ephesians 4:12)
Trust the Bible, Not Man
I believe that the analogy of putting on your own oxygen mask first is essential, and in this case it is your responsibility to help people grasp of the significance and importance of reading and understanding the Bible.
It's not about hidden text, it's about genuinely submitted to God and listening out for him every day and the most effective way to do this is by reading the Bible.
God knows what you're doing and will communicate with you instantly. There's no need for long drawn out prayers, God knows where you're at and he wants to get along side you to help you become the best you can be.
Don't forget, God wants you for eternity and Satan wants you dead!
Only when we're following the same guidelines can we act as a co-ordinated group of committed Christians who cannot and will not be swayed by some false politically correct desires of a few people that in reality is a Trojan horse for something even more destructive and insidious.
