Hello everyone!
Today’s topic may upset some of you, and that’s okay. I decided a long time ago I am not here to be liked or please people. The only side I’m on is God’s side. I choose to love you, even if these words upset you. I hope you will hear my heart for you and for this nation. I hope you will hear the heart of God.
What is American Christianity at this point in time? To the outsider it may appear that American Christianity is a mix of politics and faith; more politics than faith these days. Why do I say this? I say this because I have never seen the conservative political animal wrap itself in the Bible and the cross like I see right now. In fact, it has slowly been doing this for years, perhaps even 20 years or more; little by little, inch by inch. The problem is, not everything that represents conservative politics represents the Bible or the character of Jesus, just like everything in liberal politics does not represent the Bible or the character or Jesus.
Why is this a problem? It is a problem because the more you wrap Christianity in a political identity, the more it moves away from the true Gospel and morphs into something else manmade or even demonic. The more you wrap Christianity in a political identity, the more you remove the character of Jesus. The more you wrap Christianity in a political identity, the more you move away from worshipping Jesus and you replace Him with nationalism, the flag, your “rights”, politicians and political ideology. Those become your gods. They are not God. They will not serve you well, in point of fact, you will end up being a spiritual slave to them. These gods do not love you and they would never die for you.
American Christianity has gotten itself into another dilemma, the prosperity dilemma. Let me be clear here, there is nothing wrong with being wealthy. There is nothing wrong with managing your money effectively. I firmly believe God sets people in places of wealth to have that wealth serve Him and the Kingdom, not the other way around. However, when that wealth is exploited in the name of Jesus or when pastors use money to measure faith in Jesus, we have a genuine problem. The highly sought-after American Dream has not sacrificed itself for anyone yet. When wealth is pursued above everything else, we have another problem. We have an abuse of spiritual authority and we have an “it’s about me mentality.” “It’s about me” cannot serve Jesus’ Kingdom purposes, it can only serve self and gratify self. Abuse of authority can never serve the Kingdom because abuse only serves itself.
Do you see what I’m getting at? American Christianity and the Gospel have been tainted and skewed by those who seek to serve their own agendas and be their own gods. Afterall Church, was that not the arch angel Lucifer’s (aka Satan’s) original downfall and the reason he was kicked out of Heaven? He wanted to be God, he thought he could do it better and he had his own agenda. How did that work out for him? Not so well.
So where do we go from here?
The answer is simple Church. We get back to the Bible, to the red letters. We pursue Jesus and no one else. We worship Jesus and no one else. We make it known to our politicians that if they choose to do something against the premise of the gospel and the character of Jesus Christ, they will not be supported in any way, shape or form in that particular decision. Note I did not say not supported at all in any decision. Why? Because all politicians do make some noble decisions because they are God’s image bearers too and He put that in them, I don’t care what side of the political isle they are on. And just as they do any noble things, they do hurtful things because they too come under the influence of the vile Deceiver, unbeknownst to them.
Again, let me be clear, I am not saying we have to hate America to right this wrong. However, we can’t love America more than we love Jesus because our allegiance lies with the King, not political boundaries or parties.
We denounce and reject a gospel based on the building of power and wealth, for it was not earthly power and wealth that Jesus built his Kingdom upon. We must denounce and reject Babylon and in so doing, we will denounce many systemic issues that plague this country even now.
Church, we can turn the tide of American Christianity, but we will have to do the heart work and the hard work in our communities. There is hope to turn western Christianity back in this nation to what Jesus intended in the red letters of the Bible. People are dying. Politics and wealth won’t save them and don’t love them, but He does and He can. He calls us back to our first Love. Will we answer?
Love,
Elizabeth