This week, Chris and Rich discuss if and when Christians can attend certain gatherings as well as what our motivations should be in doing so.
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Category: Uncategorized (Page 4 of 38)
This week, Chris looks at two topics, the upcoming election and a recent statement by Alistair Begg, to encourage Christians to think biblically through difficult issues.
Let’s look back to 2018 when Chris and Rich discussed an article written by John MacArthur about social justice. They talked about the issues and pitfalls Christians would find themselves in for weeks to come concerning that issue.
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This week, Chris highlights recent concerning behavior within conservative politics and asks Christians to look to Scripture first when evaluating our political associations.
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There’s a lot of chatter occurring about Conservatives™️ who endorse and affirm immoral behavior (i.e. immodest dress, lust, sexual deviancy at a lesser degree than leftists, etc). It should not surprise us given that such conservatism long ago left behind any pretense of submitting to the external, objective, moral authority of God.Conservatism today is merely a political tool. An argument for “lesser” government but not small government. A tool to gain and maintain socio-political power. Therefore, it does not concern itself with actual biblical morality.
And that’s really the key to understanding where we are today. While we bemoan the leftist embrace of all that is anti-God, we sometimes forget that all the left has done is strip away the facade and reveal the sinfulness that is the human heart. They opened the floodgates and encouraged people to pursue degrading passions, to be sure, but they were successful because man is wicked to the core, to begin with.
Conservatism does not equal a sinless heart. Within this movement are the same sin-soaked hearts that desire their own way. Socio-political conservatives might express their sinfulness in different or more restrained ways but their hearts are no less evil. This is why Conservatives™️ are agitated by Christians calling out sinful associations and actions. They, like the left, do not want to be called out for their wickedness.
The Christian cannot change the culture by simply voting conservative. We cannot merely hitch our wagon to a political movement and expect the movement to act in a Christian manner by osmosis. Politics cannot change the sin-hardened heart of man. But, the gospel can.
Christians, now is the time for us to recognize we are little more than a demographic to this movement. They want our votes but do not want our voice. We may have some similar goals but we do not have the same motivations. While we will support and vote for similar agendas (and we should be so engaged), we must be concerned about the hearts and souls of this movement even more.
What good will it be to win an election and yet watch those we co-labored with march proudly into eternal judgment? Yes, we may gain a temporal victory in the moment but the same people whose current behavior we are dismayed by will reap everlasting judgment. Remember that in Christ’s day, the religious leaders were concerned about their power and position. They refused to acknowledge Christ because what they had could be stripped away from them.
Modern Conseratives™️ are likewise concerned with power. We must bring them to the foot of the cross, to stand before the Savior they so desperately need. Be cautious of being unequally yolked with the unregenerate to gain a place of power in the nation. Rather, be consumed with the desire to love the lost who happen to have similar socio-political goals. Their eternal soul has more value than their use in the next election.
The modern conservative movement has no objective mooring anymore. It is simply considered an alternative to the “out-of-control” leftist regime. The problem is that, without a mooring, the conservative movement is going with the same current the leftists are moving in. The only difference is the rate of travel. While the leftists have the motor open full bore, the conservative movement is drifting with the current. The problem is, that they are both headed for the falls. Both will drive the nation over the edge and into the rocks below.
Modern conservatives want us to believe they have the means to course-correct the tragic direction of our nation. But, you cannot do that when you are not actively fighting against the moral degradation that is the current you are flowing with. You actually have to put your motor in the water, turn it on, and turn your boat against that current to head back upstream to safety. Conservatives refuse to do any of that.
The reason is that they have abandoned any sense of moral objectivity. We see it on a big scale where they are calling for the abandonment of the fights against sexual immorality (homosexual “marriage”) and abortion. But, on a smaller scale, we see it in their willingness to link arms with moral degenerates (see Dave Rubin), promote sexually immoral entertainment (i.e. DW’s “Lady Ballers”), and even by producing pinup calendars for men to ogle.
The modern conservative movement is not interested in restoring any kind of objective moral standard. They simply want the ability to get elected, hold power, and sell their wares to a particular demographic. Moral objectivity is an obstacle because it means, first and foremost, telling those within your own camp they must be held to that standard. You can’t tell those holding to infant murder (up to and after birth) to stop being evil while you link arms with sexually immoral degenerates who rent women’s wombs in order to custom order a baby as a prop for their vile lifestyle. It doesn’t play well in focus groups.
The only answer to the moral quagmire in which we currently find ourselves is to actually look to a standard outside ourselves to which we must be held. This is where the Christian faith has the only true answer. We know that God is the only true source of that which is right and good. It is by looking to God and His Word that we know good or evil. Anything that is in contradiction to God is evil and must be rejected. Yet, in our fallen state, we turn to evil every single time. That is why we need Christ.
In Christ – who took on humanity, lived a life of perfection (in thought, word, and deed), went willingly to the cross to die for sins He did not commit, and then rose from the grave, defeating sin and death – we find the only hope of escaping our slavery to sin and the judgment to come.
Those who repent and believe in Him will find forgiveness and everlasting life. And, we also are given a new nature, new hearts with new desires to love, honor, and obey God. This is the only hope to right the course on which we currently travel. The only way to combat the immorality which plagues our nation. We must be a people with new hearts.
Christians must reject the ideology of the new conservative movement which promotes no real change, just a slower plunge to our doom. We must call upon the people around us to see their sinful state, turn to Christ, and live in obedience to Him. While we do not preach the gospel as a socio-political statement, those who are redeemed by its message live lives that are counter-cultural to the mess we are in. They live, speak, think, act, and vote in ways that actually change the cultural landscape.
While this is no guarantee that the nation will be “saved” or “Christianized,” what it does do is save eternal souls and honor God in all that we do. Christians, I urge you to reject compromise with the modern conservative movement. Do not settle for a political solution that is headed for the same falls. Call on your leaders and political talking heads to turn to Christ and reject immorality. Preach the gospel to them. Share the message of hope with those around you. Pray for our nation. And most of all, honor God no matter what comes next.
This week we share a crossover event when Chris joined Conversations With a Calvinist to discuss the question, “Is Christmas Pagan?”
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This week, Chris and Rich discuss a listener question: Is there ever a prayer that is too small to bring before God?
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Theology Throwdown – Christmas Traditions
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