You may wonder why a Christian blog is starting with a quote from a 1960's radical. The answer to that inquiry is both simple, and complex. Simple, because in order for the Christian to understand how to rightly walk in this depraved world, it helps to understand how this depraved world "thinks." Complex, because, well, the issue is never the issue. The issue is always the revolution, and that takes some more digging to even begin to truly understand. The issue is never the issue. Last night, I saw that eleven players on the Cleveland Browns took a knee during the national anthem. These are men who will make more this year than many of us have made in our lifetimes. They can hardly claim to be "oppressed" by any meaningful definition of that word. But yet, they are protesting the very country that allows them such economic freedom and prosperity from playing the game they love. So why are they kneeling? The issue is never the issue. Last week, statues from the confederacy began to topple. Now make no mistake, I am no fan of the confederacy, or of slavery. And so on the surface, it seems hard to object. But the lawyer in me is forced to ask, what precedent does this set? Once we start taking down statues of former slave owners, where does it end? Robert E. Lee seems obvious. George Washington, not so much. Have you ever wondered what the real motivation is here? And why now, as opposed to ten or twenty years ago? Why do the statues go tumblin' down at the very moment this country is sitting on an absolute powder keg that seems ready to blow? The issue is never the issue. The issue is always the revolution. The end goal of the progressive left, and the Globalists such as George Soros, is to destroy America from within. As Soros said in his book The Age of Fallibility, "The main obstacle to a stable and just world order is the United States." This is the same Soros who funds groups ranging from Black Lives Matter to the Evangelical Immigration Table, and probably dozens if not hundreds of others. He is a modern day Saul Alinsky, but much better funded, and with a much bigger community to organize -- namely, the entire "Globalist" world. So how does protesting the national anthem and toppling statues fit into this picture? Well, the same way that "common sense gun control measures" are really an excuse for chipping away at the 2nd Amendment, with the desired end goal of eradicating it completely. And the same way that "homosexual marriage" and "marriage equality" were never the ultimate issues, but rather the gateway to destroying the family, and the Christian church. (Remember all the refrains -- "just let them get married, they won't bother anyone else"; "but all of my gay friends are so loving"; and so on. Except when they sue and shame and blacklist anyone who dares disagree with them.) The issue was never the issue to the left. The issue has always been the revolution. The issue has always been the attempt to overthrow America, which primarily must happen from within for it to be successful. The issue has always been an attempt to overthrow the pillars of the American society: God, Country, and Family. You take away those three things, and eventually you have no country left to defend, nor do you have anyone remaining who is willing to defend it. And of course, to truly disarm America, you have to disarm its citizens -- hence those "common sense gun control measures" that seem so agreeable and innocuous on paper, but yet are so evil and diabolical in practice. (And this is coming from someone who thought guns were evil as recently as two years ago, not someone who grew up clinging to them, or to my Bible -- although the latter especially has certainly changed since I came to know Christ just under seven years ago today.) The issue has never been the issue. The issue has always been the revolution, and the revolution has always been driven by a series of smaller revolutions. Attack God by destabilizing Jesus' church, and by turning it against itself over issues such as homosexual marriage and "tolerance" for sins. Attack the family by pushing the feminist agenda and the LGBT agenda and the entire sexual revolution. Disarm America by looking for every excuse to pass "common sense gun control measures," and silence America by looking for every excuse to outlaw "hate speech." And now, attack the very foundations of the country by trying to convince us that our Founding Fathers were more evil than the rest of us, in an eventual attempt to topple not only the statues of Lee and Washington, but in fact to topple the entire country. Attack the very unity that has made these United States so great for so long by calling every non-liberal white person a racist, and by protesting our very national anthem on those same grounds. And none of this will stop if we don't wake up, fight back, and turn back to God in spirit and truth, in prayer and obedience both. The issue has never been the issue on the left. The issue has always been the revolution. And the revolution has always been about destroying America from within, and ultimately overthrowing God and creating a new world order made in the image of man, rather than by the power of God. Since this is still a Christian blog***, I'm going to flip the script and end with Scripture, rather than having started with it. And to that end, there are two things that God has put on my heart to say at this point: First, we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. There is not a person alive without sin on their record, and therefore there isn't a person alive who is not in need of forgiveness from God. Oh, that precious forgiveness, which can only be found in Jesus Christ and His finished work on the Cross, and only applied through the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer. But what is necessary for us to receive that necessary forgiveness from God? Well, according to no less of an authority than Jesus Himself, it's this: "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." ~ Jesus (Matthew 6:14-15) Now, why do I mention that? Why did God put that on my heart to say? Well, for this reason: If we are commanded to forgive even those who directly sin against us, then we are most certainly expected to forgive those whom we never even knew, and those who did absolutely nothing to directly harm any of us. I'm talking about men like Robert E. Lee, and George Washington, and Francis Scott Key, who, if you don't know, is the man who wrote the national anthem. I want each of you to let that sink in: If you can't forgive these men for things that weren't even done directly to you, then Jesus Christ has promised in His Word that you will not be forgiven, either. (Sometimes, the issue actually is the issue.) Above, I said there were two pieces of Scripture that God put on my heart to address, and here's the second: "Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves." (Romans 13:1-2) As hard as this can be to understand at times, we are told that all governmental authority is from God. For the Christian, it was hard to understand how a man such as Barrack Obama could be from God. But yet faithful pastors preached this passage to us even then, even on the dark morning following Obergefell, and many other times when it seemed like the sky was falling on the church, the country, and even the world. And so yes, the same is most certainly true now with President Trump. As hard as this may be for my more liberal friends (and especially the non-Christians among us) to accept, President Trump truly is an answered prayer for a great many Christians. He may literally be the only man alive today with the internal fortitude to stand up to the full-on assault from the media, culture, liberals, leftists, and even many of the Establishment Republicans within his own "party." He's not perfect, but guess what? Neither are you or I. He, too, is a sinner in need of a Savior. But until then, He is still a man chosen by God for a time such as this.
And so, not only are all people everywhere commanded to repent and believe the Gospel, but in bowing the knee to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we are also obligated to keep the rest of His Word, as rightly divided and understood, and to the best of our ability. And at a bare minimum, at least for purposes of this discussion, that includes forgiving America for her past sins, and obeying the governing authorities that God has placed over us in this day. Because, sometimes the issue really is the issue after all. Sometimes, we have to recognize that He is God, and we are not; that He knows all, and we don't; that He is wise and just, and will repay our actual enemies by heaping burning coals on their heads, and that is not our role (nor do we want to be on the wrong side of that judgment). But if you're still tempted to continue in your rebellion against both God and America, remember that in the words of 60's radical kingpin Saul Alinsky, the original radical was Lucifer himself. As Alinsky reminded us, "the first radical known to man who rebelled against the establishment and did it effectively" was Lucifer, and that in doing so, "he at least won his own kingdom." But let us also not forget that, in the words of no less an authority than Jesus Christ Himself, that "kingdom" (i.e., this fallen world) is passing away, and all will be made new after Satan is justly punished for his rebellion. And when that happens, you most certainly want to be on the side of the One True King, Jesus Christ Himself, rather than confined to an eternal punishment apart from all love, hope, and goodness with the original radical and his minions. Sometimes, the issue really is the issue. *** PS - While this post was somewhat unusual in that it started with a secular quote and ended with Scripture, perhaps that was appropriate for a post about a current rebellion -- but yet a rebellion that will ultimately end in God's restoration for some, and God's judgment for others. In other words, the good news (as well as the somber warnings) come at the end of the story, just as in the Gospel narrative of Scripture. But regardless of how you frame it, the main reason I wrote is because God put this heavy on my heart this evening. And as Providence allowed me to see, I wasn't the only Christian blogger to write on this same general topic. As I was googling the main quote to see who wrote it, one of the first pages that popped up was a similar Christian blog -- "Preaching & Politics" -- and its post on the same quote, which seems to be making the same general argument. As that post concludes near its end, so will I: "Christians -- quit playing defense. You don't win football games by playing defense and you don't win culture wars that way either. Go on the offense. Take the fight to them. Remember, the issue is never the issue. The issue is the never-ending revolution to overthrow God." Good night, and may God truly bless America. If you liked this post, please like and follow Uncompromising Gospel on Facebook.
1 Comment
Chuck Green
5/12/2024 06:54:27 am
All this is, perhaps, more applicable than ever. Sometimes I feel as though we are living in some ridiculous fantasy where truth is entirely abandoned. I rest only in the promises.
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