Humanism vs. Christianity
~
The Polarization of America
by Patrick Vosse
Part Four
A Spiritual Island in a Sea of Secularism |
Chapter 17 - Community
There is a demonstrated trend toward Secular Humanism and an
increasing opposition to Christianity. Secular
Humanism is riding on the back of the Evolutionism
philosophy and galloping across out culture with
devastating effect. Considering that we are entering a period predicted
by the Bible in which Christians and
Christian values are generally rejected by those in
power over our society, we must ask the question: What should be the
priority of the Christian community?
Should the Christian community be concerned
with arguments over how God organized his creation
or should we be focusing on the Gospel of Jesus?
Should Christians be focusing on non-theistic evolution
being taught in schools when those same
children are also being taught to "celebrate" homosexuality
(and even experiment with it) and the
media is full of Gnostic teachings that
promote heresies and challenge the divinity of Christ?
Should Christians deny the validity of scientific discoveries
with a paranoid fear when those discoveries reveal God's glory
and fear of science labels those Christians as ignorant,
unreasonable and, therefore, brings their evangelism
under suspicion?
Should Christians become political activists?
… Others have the knowledge of things
to come, as also visions and prophetic communications; others heal
the sick by the imposition of hands, and restore them to health. And
moreover, as we said above, even the dead have been raised and
continued with us many years. And why should we say more? It is
impossible to tell the number of the gifts which the church
throughout the world received from God …
Eusebius, Book V, Chapter VII
|
BACK TO THE FUTURE
We discussed in Chapter 11 how the secular world is reverting to the moral culture of
the decadent Roman Empire. Consider the success of
the early Church at that time. Perhaps the modern
Church should return to the ways of a those first Christians.
We should learn from the early Church. The
Church before the "opening parenthesis" (as shown in Figure 4, Chapter
11) and the Church after the "closing parenthesis" have a lot in
common. The early Church had one aim, one single-minded goal. The Church
simply told the world about Jesus. Paul did not
argue philosophy. He knew that would lead nowhere and
be a waste of his time. However, if he converted a person to faith
in Jesus, the Holy Spirit would do the
convincing.
Let us take a closer look at the early Church. In Acts 1:8, Jesus
told the disciples, "But you will receive power when the
Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses
in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the
earth." The Church began at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit
came upon the disciples (Acts, Chapter 2). In Jn 3: 5-8, Jesus tells
Nicodemus that he must be born again—in the Spirit. This is exactly what
happened to the disciples at Pentecost, they were born again in the
Spirit; and the Church was born—in the Spirit. What a difference it
made! The reticent Peter immediately went out, like Billy Graham on
spiritual steroids, preached to a crowd of strangers, and converted
3,000. And that was just the beginning.
There is a word that describes the early Church and makes
it different from anything that anyone had ever experienced before:
POWER. Acts 2:43, describes how "Everyone was filled with awe, and many
wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles.
In Acts 4:33, we are told, "With great power the apostles continued to
testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and much grace
was upon them all." Imagine a Church in which the pastor
preaches with the POWER of the Holy Spirit and the
congregation witnesses with the POWER of the Holy
Spirit. That is exactly what Jesus had in mind, and more
than that. In 1 Corinthians Chapter 12, Paul describes the
manifestations of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, knowledge, faith,
miracles, prophecy, discerning spirits, speaking in
tongues, and interpreting tongues. However, Paul presents this list as
though the Corinthians are already familiar with these manifestations.[1]
His point is that they are all manifestations from one Spirit and,
although each person may have a unique gift, we are one body. These
manifestations of the Holy Spirit are a given, it is assumed they are
familiar with the gifts in their daily lives.
In the first letter to the Corinthians, Paul discussed how some of
the members of the congregation had become arrogant, boasting and
assuming authority. Paul gives them a preview of his testing the wannabe
church leaders.
Some of you have
become arrogant as if I were not coming to you. But I will come to you
very soon, if the Lord is willing, and then I will find out not only how
these arrogant people are talking, but what power they have. For the
kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. 1 Cor 4:18-20
There are those who would say, "The Age of Miracles is over." Why? In 2 Tim
3:5 Paul says that in the last days men will
be, "having the form of godliness but denying its power." If the Church
is without the power of the Holy Spirit,
it is just another human institution (Political Church,
Philosophical Church, and Social
Church). As Paul advised Timothy:
--having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do
with them. 2 Tim 3:5
Another
word that describes the early Church is UNITY. We can
learn from the early Church. For them, "church" was not
just singing and sermons. The Church was a community.
The word "community" is taken from the word "commune," to communicate
intimately. That implies a close relationship. Some of the early
Christian communities actually lived together.
All the believers
were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions
and goods, they gave to one another as he had need. Every day they
continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in
their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the
people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being
saved. Acts 2:43-47
Paul compares the body of Christ to the Church
(Eph 1:22, 23) and with that metaphor, defines this unity in 1
Cor 12:25-26:
So that there should be no division in the body, but that all it parts should have
equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers
with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
In Matt
18:20, Jesus says, "For where two or three come together in
my name, there I am with them." Jesus compels us to take care of each
other:
The King will reply, "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of
these brothers of mine, you did for me. Matt 25:40
And,
He will reply, "I
tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of
these, you did not do for me." Matt 25:45
As we
study the early Church, it becomes obvious that these
congregations had something special. They knew each other. They
socialized together. They ate together. From Paul's epistles,
we learn that they took care of each other. They loved each other. The
apostle John gives a clue to the love that permeated the
early Church:
This is how we know
what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we
ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material
possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can
the love of God be in him? 1 Jn:3:16, 17
The greatest challenge facing the Church today is not
evolution, Progressivism, or the many assaults from the
Humanist. It is regaining the power and unity that the
early Church had. Consider their situation. Heretics
attacked their belief. They lived in a pagan society. They
were socially ostracized. They had to worship in secret. They were
tortured and killed. However, they survived because they were not alone.
They thrived because they had the Spirit. Their numbers
grew in spite of all that Satan threw at them because of the
power and unity.
It is
important for the Christian to understand that he or she
is not alone and that the Christian community is not a
"fringe minority" in the American society. In spite of what the
Progressives would have you believe, America is a Christian nation.
According to the 2007 Pew survey on religion in
America, 75 percent of Americans say they are Christian. However, the
number is declining and the Church has its work cut out for
it.
An "Early Church" for Today
Today there are serious problems facing the Church. Our children
are exposed to the atheistic and anti-Christian
values in the public schools and the
media. The popularity of, and belief in, Gnosticism
is on the rise. Christian values are
accepted by fewer and fewer and even scorned by many. Our culture is
returning to the time of the early Church when a degenerate Roman Empire
was saturated with Humanist values.
However, the danger is not only from without; there is
danger within the Christian community.
In the
last chapter, we discussed the seven churches in the book of Revelation:
Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatria, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea
(Revelation Chapters 2 and 3). These churches, as types for the Church in the last
days, tell us much about the Christian community to day.
Two churches, Ephesus and Laodicea, are backsliders and Humanist.
Their congregations lack the presence of the Spirit. They
have fallen into ritualism. They are the Philosophical and Social
Churches described in Chapter 4. Jesus tells them to repent
and return to true worship in the Spirit. Three churches are Gnostic
Christians, Pergamum, Thyatria, and Sardis. They have been contaminated
with the Gnostic philosophies and idolatry of the
antichrist (1 Jn 4:1-3). Two churches remained true to the Gospel and
remain faithful disciple of Jesus, Smyrna and Philadelphia. Three
categories of churches are defined in Revelation and they exist today:
Christian Humanists, Gnostic Christians and The Evangelical
Church.[2]
To which version of Christianity do you belong? That is an important
question because Jesus tells those who are Gnostic or Humanist Christian
that they do not really belong to the true Christian community and they
will be "removed", Jesus will "fight against them", he will "make them
suffer intensely", He will "come against them with a sward", and he will
"spit them out of his mouth". So, to which church do you belong?
Can the
modern Church return to the Spirit-led congregations of the
early Church (Smyrna and Philadelphia)
as well? Let us consider some things that we can do. In each of the
Christian priorities discussed below, success will be dependent on three
things. The Christian community must 1) get informed, 2)
get organized, and 3) get active. The Progressives are evangelists too
and they are very good at being informed, organization, and activating
their followers. Christians can to learn from their success.
Priority 1: Evangelism
When discussing evangelism, we must raise a topic that will be uncomfortable
to many. Most Christians do not evangelize. Table 11
summarized the results of the Pew religion
survey mentioned earlier regarding Christian evangelizing.
Table 11. Reported frequency in witnessing about Jesus by selected Christian
traditions.
|
At least once a week |
Once or twice a month |
Several times a year |
Seldom |
Never |
Evangelical |
34 |
18 |
16 |
18 |
14 |
Mainline Protestant |
14 |
12 |
15 |
27 |
33 |
Historically Black |
42 |
13 |
9 |
17 |
18 |
Catholic |
14 |
9 |
13 |
26 |
38 |
Mormon |
24 |
23 |
27 |
18 |
9 |
Other Christian |
21 |
23 |
14 |
24 |
19 |
Obviously, the Christian community will never be successful witnessing
to Humanists if they do not witness to anyone. Witnessing is the
Christian’s prime directive. It should be an integral part of our lives.
We will discuss this more in the next chapter. Let us now consider
evangelizing the Humanist and those who are following the
Humanist lifestyle.
While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house,
many tax collectors and "sinners" were eating with him and his
disciples, for there were many who followed him. When the teachers of
the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with sinners and tax
collectors, they asked his disciples, "Why does he eat with tax
collectors and "sinners"?" Mk 2:15, 16
How could Jesus socialize with the worst sinners? What if your
pastor routinely had dinner with drug dealers, prostitutes, and
homosexuals? Would this type of evangelizing result in an "emergency
meeting" of the elders? Mark continues:
On hearing this,
Jesus said to them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I
have not come to call the righteous, but the sinners."
When Jesus was eating and conversing with the "sinners", he was
evangelizing. We often emphasize the preaching to the multitudes of
thousands but forget that Jesus was a master of the one-one-one
witnessing as well. He was not afraid to get "down and dirty" and remind
us that God loves everyone! He wants everyone to
be saved. However, the focus of this book is the Humanism
and that is where we will confine our discussion of evangelism –
target Humanists. As I mentioned above, the Humanists,
through their implementation agents Progressivism
and Socialism, are active evangelists. They promote a "gospel" of sin
is acceptable. Sexual promiscuity, homosexuality, drugs,
abortion, euthanasia
and, "do your own thing" are all acceptable, even good. Many are drawn
to this "gospel" even though they do not understand Humanism as a
philosophical, social, or political movement. As a result, the Christian
effort to evangelize the Humanist
is twofold: the Humanist ideologue and those who have been
lured into the Progressive lifestyle and merely use the
Humanist jargon as justification.
It has been my experience that the typical evangelical
technique of presenting the "plan of salvation" is
rejected by the Humanist ideologue outright. For the
alcoholic to begin the process of recovery, he must first admit that he
has a problem. The traditional plan of salvation applies the same
principle by starting with Romans chapter 3—all have sinned and no one
does good. When the Christian witnesses to a Humanist and starts with
this approach, he immediately slams into a very solid wall. The Humanist
does not define sin in the same way that the Christian does. For the
Christian, the Bible defines sin. For the Humanist, society and the
individual define sine. Humanists begin with the premise that humans are
essentially good or, at least, can become good. It is intellectually
difficult for the Humanist to accept the need for salvation in the first
place.
Most, if not all, are aware in at least a general way of what Christians
believe. However, they have taken a philosophical position diametrically
opposed to the Christian message. The Christian’s
message is about the spirit; the Humanist philosophy is
about the intellect. The Christian’s message is about the supernatural
as revealed by God and accepted by faith;
the Humanist philosophy is about the natural and accepted
through reason. Arguing the pros and cons of the dividing
issues usually falls on deaf Humanist ears. Since the Christian’s
reasoning begins with a premise based on faith, the Humanist usually
dismisses the arguments as superstitious babble and illogical. The
problem is similar to that faced by the Philosophical Church.
As the Renaissance ushered in a flood of Atheism,
the Church tried to "fight fire with fire" and argue on their level. It
did not work. Flatland-Spaceland.
Christians can oppose evolution, abortion
and the like, and should; however, that opposition is not an
evangelical tool. If anything, used as a method of evangelizing, it
immunizes the Humanist against the Christian message. The Humanists
cannot be reached by philosophy or science; they are reached through the
heart and that mean you must, hold on--love them! John states it very
well in his first letter.
Dear friend let us
love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God
and knows God. Whoever does not love, does not know God, because God is
love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only
Son into the world that we may live through him. This is love: not that
we love God, but that he loved us and sent is Son as an atoning
sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we ought to
love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another,
God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. 1 Jn 4:7-12
In a sermon I heard many years ago, the pastor said, "I you were the only
sinner in the world, God would still send his Son to die for you." That
statement is true of everyone on earth, Humanists included. We need to
practice seeing the Humanist as God does; as an
object of divine love. We are not to judge the Humanist.
Paul was very clear about Christians not judging
nonbelievers.
I have written you my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people—not at all
meaning the people of this world who are immoral or the greedy and
swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this
world. But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone
who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an
idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do
not even eat. What business is it of mine to judge those outside the
church. Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. Expel the
wicked man from among you. 1 Cor 5:9-13
When we approach our evangelism of the Humanist with the position that we are to
love them and let God do the judging, we are much more likely
to bring them to Christ. Let them see God’s love first and then let the
Holy Spirit to the restoration.
I have had the opportunity to discuss the pros and cons of evolution
with several Humanists. In most cases, I have been
successful in convincing them that evolution is a philosophy,
as described earlier in the book. In no case has that
success led to anyone totally rejecting Humanism, let
alone accepting Christianity. However, I have found that being true to
my faith in the Gospel, asking hard questions about
Humanism, and gently and politely engaging Humanists in debate has an
impact.
Three scriptures that are important to remember when witnessing about Jesus
in general and particularly when witnessing to Humanists
and those who have been drawn to their lifestyle.
The first is Jn 16:8-11; Jesus is speaking to his
disciples regarding the Holy Spirit:
When he comes, he
will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in
regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to
righteousness, because I am going to the Father where you can see me no
longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now
stands condemned.
The second scripture is from Jn 6:44; Jesus is speaking to the
self-righteous challengers:
No one can come to
me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at
the last day.
The third scripture is from 2 Thes 2:10-12; Paul speaking about
the resistance of unbelievers to the Gospel:
They perish because
they refuse to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a
powerful delusion so they will believe the lie and so that all will be
condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in
wickedness.
As we discussed in Chapter 4, Paul provides the best example
regarding witnessing to philosophers and ideologues. Simply stay on
message, stay with the Gospel. Present the message of Christ
and let the Holy Spirit do the work. The first scripture
cited above tells us that the Holy Spirit touches
everyone in the world and convicts him or her of sin. Deep
down in every person’s soul there is a "tug" from the Holy
Spirit that tells us what is right and what is wrong. The Humanist
may have satisfied himself that his philosophy
is rational and that Christianity is superstitious bunk,
however, in the wee small hours of the morning, there is that "tug" and
there are doubts, admitted or not.
For this reason, we must work with the Holy Spirit
when witnessing to the Humanist. The Holy
Spirit touches each person and deep down each is
called to the truth. Arguing philosophy, sociology, or
politics merely confirms the Humanist’s mind-set. Working with the
Spirit, we aim for the person’s spirit. The next chapter discusses this
in detail.
The second scripture tells us that the Humanists, or for that matter
everyone, cannot come to the Lord unless drawn by the Father; again, the
work of the Holy Spirit. In spite of the Humanist
rhetoric, there resides in each a yearning. Often this is
undefined and difficult to identify. However, when presented with the
truth of the Gospel, the Holy Spirit "tugs" at that
yearning and seeks a response. This is not an intellectual exercise; it
is Spirit to spirit. Working with the Spirit, we aim for the person’s
spirit.
The third scripture tells us that, if the Humanist is
convicted by the Spirit, called by the Father, hears the
Gospel of the Son’s redemptive work, and still rejects God, he
will be allowed to perish. The Christian's role in this
is to reveal the Word of God both by telling and by example. It is God’s
role to convict and call. If the Humanist rejects both God’s and your
efforts, then leave him or her to God, but without judgment. As my
grandmother often said, "Let go and let God." The only thing left is to
pray for the person.
How can
we change the Humanist mind-set and effectively witness
to them?
-
Get Informed. Humanists tend to attack
people of faith and are fond of throwing scriptures, out of
context, in our face. My advice is do not get involved in a debate with
a Humanist unless you are well-founded in the scriptures.
Be prepared to answer challenges regarding inconsistencies in the
Genesis account of creation, the severity of the Law in
the Old Testament, and social atrocities committed by the Church
in the Middle Ages. At the same time, get informed about
Humanism and the particular brand of Humanism to which
your acquaintances adhere. Some Humanist are "fundamentalists" and treat
the Humanist Manifesto as "gospel"; others are
selective in their acceptance of the Humanist philosophy.
Find common ground through neutral conversations.
-
Get Organized. Make a notebook with
pertinent scriptures and Humanist positions. Make lists
of Humanist issues and how you would challenge them. For example, the
Humanists claim the fetus is not a
living human, but the fetus is alive and has unique DNA,
separate from the mother. Make lists of Humanist challenges to
Christianity and pertinent scriptures that defend the attack. Form a
Christian focus group that prepares for witnessing to
Humanists. There are many ways to get organized, depending on individual
situations, but the best way is to utilize the Christian community
and not go it alone. The important thing to remember is do
not try to argue and pressure the Humanist and, most important, be
prepared. Most Humanists have the opinion that a person would not choose
Christianity unless he or she is ignorant and superstitious. If you are
not prepared, that will merely confirm his opinion and he will dismiss
anything you present.
-
Get Active. As mentioned earlier, the
Humanists are evangelists too and they are very successful. Nothing is
gained by complaining about abortion,
schools, and the encroaching Humanist lifestyle.
Christians must be as active as the Humanists are. You
cannot convert all the Humanists in your circle of acquaintances, but
you can focus on one and cultivate him or her. Become better acquainted
with their philosophy; no arguments, please, just ask
questions about their position. If he or she asks about your position,
just explain it without the sales pitch. Go slowly. Take the time to
know what he or she likes and dislikes about Humanism.
Many claim to be Humanist because of intimidation or think it is
politically correct, or that it is a more
intellectual position (this is discussed in the next chapter). However,
in a conversation with a friend, it might emerge that there are a few
issues that are not entirely acceptable. You may have common ground.
This takes time. But this is merely the opening. As mentioned above, it
is unlikely we can reach the Humanist through mental gymnastics and
critical thinking. We reach him by touching his spirit. He or she may
have and external comfort in espousing the politically correct
philosophy but inward there may be emptiness and the sense that
something is missing. That is where to aim the witnessing; the heart not
the head. One-on-one.
There
are millions of people who have been drawn to the Humanist
message, not for philosophical or political reasons, but because the
Humanists accept them as they are. The homosexual
rejected by society, the young, accidentally pregnant, woman seeking an
abortion, the prostitute whose life gets more miserable each day – all are accepted by the
Humanist as they are. Too often, the recruits eventually become Humanist
ideologues adopting both the Humanist lifestyle and the
Humanist philosophy. Too often, the Christian’s attempts to evangelize these "sinners"
drives them away because of judgmentalism. For these, there are three
additional scriptures that apply to the witnessing process. The first is
from James 2:14-18:
What good is it, my
brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has not deeds? Can such faith save
him? Suppose a brother or sister is without cloths and daily food. If
one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,"
but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same
sense, faith by itself, if not accompanied by action, is dead.
The second is from Matthew
25:34-40. It is one of my favorite scriptures.
Then the King will say to those on his right, "Come, you who are blessed
by my father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since
the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something
to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a
stranger and you invited my in, I needed cloths and you clothed me, I
was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit
me.
Then the righteous
will answer him, "Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you or
thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger
and invite you in, or needing cloths and clothe you? When did we see you
sick or in prison and visit you?"
The King will
reply, "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for the least of these
brothers of mine, you did for me."
The third scripture is from Luke 10:30-37:
"A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the
hands of robbers. They stripped him of is clothes, beat him and went
away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same
road, and when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other
side. So, too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed
by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the
man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and
bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his
own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he
took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after
him,’ he said, ‘And when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra
expense you may have.’
Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of
robbers?" The expert in law replied, "The one who had mercy on him."
Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise".
In the first scripture, James exposes the hypocrisy of the "pew sitter" that
prays for the poor, but does nothing to help them; who condemns abortion, but does nothing to help the
confused and scared young girl; who mocks the "sinful" homosexual,
but never invites him to church. If we are disciples of Jesus,
we must show it by acting like Jesus.
The second scripture, Jesus tells a similar story, but he makes
is point a bit more dramatically. Jesus continues in the
verse to tell those on his left to depart from him because they did not
do those things mentioned above for which he praised the righteous,
because in denying these acts of mercy to fellow humans, they denied
Jesus. He tells us, if we do not feed the hungry, clothe the naked,
shelter the homeless, and meet the needs of our brethren, we will not
enter the kingdom! And in the third scripture, he expands our
responsibility to include strangers.
This is not contributing to the missions; this is one-on-one ministering. This
is touching people with compassion and love. This is not telling them
about Christ; it is showing them. The Humanists have done a
much better job of evangelizing their message and drawing the
disenfranchised into their ranks. While the pregnant teenage girl pushes
through a crowd with signs shouting murderer, the Progressives inside
giver her cup of tea and sympathize with her dilemma. Homosexuals
are ostracized, rejected, mocked, physically abused, and
told they are sick perverts. The Humanists tell them they have rights
too and society should, no must, accept them. Jesus never
condoned sin in any form, but he never rejected the
sinner, he died for him.
Back in the ‘70s there was a small Evangelical church in my
city. The congregation was made up of average folks,
conservative biblical fundamentalists. Mostly they were middle-aged and
elderly with a smattering of youth. One of the youth, who was attending
the local college, became friends with a "hippy" classmate. When I say
"hippy" I mean smoking "grass", free sex, and do your own thing. For
some reason, the two hit it off and became friends. The
Christian invited his friend to church and was surprised
when he accepted the invitation. The next Sunday, not only was the
friend in church, but three of his "hippy" friends. Needless to say, the
conservative congregation was not sure what to do with the guests.
However, at the end of the service, the pastor gave an invitation to
repent and accept Jesus as savior. Much to everyone’s
surprise, two of the four walked to the front of the church and received
Christ.
Over the next few months, more than 20 young "hippies" received Christ
and attended the church regularly. "Attending church" does not
adequately describe their participation. They were on fire for the Lord.
Long hair was cut; those who were drifting got jobs, couples got
married, and two began seminary studies. The personality of the church
changed from sober to youthful enthusiasm and even the elderly found the
change refreshing. A year after the first "hippy" friend attended his
first service there the congregation had doubled in
size, largely due to its growing reputation of being "alive." However,
the growth was also due to how the new Christians evangelized. They
befriended others who were using drugs, were gay, and were
homeless. They could empathize with them because they had been there.
One-on-one. Two years after the friend made his first visit to the
church the congregation build a new building and used the old church
building as a school.
Even though the congregation grew, the value of personal
contact and caring was not lost. Every Friday night families met in
assigned groups for potluck, prayer and Bible study. There,
people ministered to each other. There, you could bring a friend, listen
her problems, and help her find a solution. I moved away from that city
25 years ago so I do not know what the status of the church is today.
But the last I heard, they had set up branches in neighboring small
towns, continuing the one-on-one ministry with the "hippies."
Several years ago Christians from several churches got together and formed FISH.
FISH was an informal effort to help people in the community,
Christian and non-Christians, who needed
help. Christians registered and indicated when they were available and
what skills they offered. FISH had a standing ad in the classified
section of the local newspaper. Word spread and the calls for help
increased every week. The rules concerning witnessing were simple, don’t
witness about Jesus unless asked. If someone asked about
FISH or why you were helping, just say, "We are Christians and this is
what Jesus would have us do." If they responded to that, then you could
continue the witness. However, the primary goal was to help. I had an
old pick-up truck and got a call at least once a week to help move a
large item or, sometimes a household. Occasionally I got a call to help
a single mom clear a plugged kitchen sink. About one in four calls
resulted in some serious witnessing.
One evening I got a call from FISH and was asked if I could put someone up
for the night. She explained that a backpacker had been robbed and his
pack with all his possessions, including his wallet, were gone. He had
nothing and no place to stay. He was hungry. I checked with my wife, she
agreed so we said sure, we will take him. She paused for a moment, and
then said, "He’s black." I said, "No problem." Then she said, "He is
quite dirty." Same response. A half hour later, I picked up "Bear." Bear
was in a sorry state. He had not eaten in two days and his clothes were
rags. That evening I witnessed the greatest exhibition of plate cleaning
before or since. The next day we got Bear deloused and a set of new
clothes. In return, Bear built the kids a tree house and took care of
some badly needed yard work. During our conversations, I came to learn
that he had attended a college in California for two years, most of his
friends there were Marxists committed to the Humanist
lifestyle. He had not gone to church since a child and
had no use for religion. Distracted by drugs,
he flunked out of college and had been drifting ever since. In spite of
his aversion to religion, he accepted an invitation to attend church
service on Sunday. We went to the church mentioned above; I thought it
would be more to his liking. He did seem to like the service, but said
nothing. Some of the people from FISH donated money for a new backpack
and stuff to fill it. After five days, rested and hunger appeased, Bear
said it was time to move on.
I thought that was the end of the story until six months later we got a
letter from Bear. It was from a prison in California. He explained that
the five days spent with my family changed his opinion about religion.
The people at the church were different, he said. He
explained that reason he was on the road was that he was
wanted for robbery. When he left us, he went back to California and
while traveling, God began to work on him. When he got to
California, he found a church and received Christ as his
savior. Then he turned himself in to serve his prison term. He told how
in prison he met other new Christians and they met whenever possible for
prayer and Bible study. One-on-one.
A year after my encounter with Bear, I learned of another group of Christians
who visited inmates in prison. Inmates would register if they wanted
someone from the group to visit them once a month and the organization
would make the match. Over the years, I heard many interesting stories
but the one I like the most came from the women’s prison. A woman, let
us call her April, was serving her term at the women’s state prison and
signed up for the visitor program. The woman selected to make the
visits, let us call her May, lived in a large city about an hour’s drive
from the prison. On her first visit, May learned that April had eight
children who were living in foster homes in May’s city. April could not
talk about anything else; she was so worried about her children. The
next month, May had nine visitors, May and April’s eight children. For
the next two years, May rounded up the kids and they visited April one
Sunday each month. With April’s permission, on the day of the visit, May
collected the children early and they went to church before going to the
prison. The children began to witness to April and three months before
her release, she accepted the Lord. May arranged for a job interview
when April left prison. She got the job. The last I heard April and her
children were attending May’s church and doing just fine. May spent just
one day each month, but that page in her Book of Life has nine gold
stars. One-on-one.
These are examples of how we can witness through action. One-on-one action. It
is "get out of the pew and answer someone’s prayer" type of action. Here
are a few suggestions.
-
Get Informed. Get acquainted with your
community. No, I don’t mean the malls and parks. Where
do the homeless hang out? Where are the young pregnant girls, confused
and scared? Where are the drug addicts that need to enter rehab but have
given up? Where are the homosexuals who, in spite of the liberal efforts
to treat them as normal, are rejected and despised? Find them. The
church youth group can probably tell you about many teens that need your
care. Does your congregation have member who is a
Social Worker who could help?
-
Get Organized. I gave three examples of
how a church or a group of Christians organized one-on-one evangelizing
that was successful. There are thousands of stories like these. Those
that I know of that are successful tend to focus on one activity, but
that is not necessarily a requirement (FISH just met any need
presented). The organization can be as a part of your congregation’s outreach or, much better, a group of churches working
together. The important element in any successful outreach is that a
Christian alternative be presented and supported. The
Humanists welcome the pregnant teenager as she is with no judgment and
provide emotional support as well as the clinical access to the abortion. One-on-one. The Christian
alternative needs to be equally effective. It is not enough to say, "We
will be praying for you," then move on. Does she need help with her
parents? How will she live until she gives birth? How will she pay for
the prenatal care and the hospital? If she cannot take care of the baby,
then what? Effective ministry will answer these questions and actually
provide the solutions.
-
Get Active. It is just a matter of doing
it. With a practiced eye, you can see Jesus in need
everywhere. When you see him reach out to him. It has been my experience
that the more you evangelized the easier it gets. At
first, there is a bit of "stage fright" but in time, it goes away. While
it is true that being organized can be very effective, you need not wait
for a program to develop. It is too easy to procrastinate.
Priority 2: The Christian Community
I thought about it for a long time. Should Priority 1 be Evangelism
or the Christian community?
I think they are equal; it is difficult to conceive on one without the
other. Before the Christian Community can be effective in the struggle
against Humanism, it must be healthy. Individuals are
vulnerable, but in the strength of a community, we are safe. A strong,
harmonious, and loving community will provide the resources we need to
withstand the onslaught and even a devastating attack; things we cannot
do as individuals. However, a community filled with petty complaints,
jealousy, and indifference is merely a collection of individuals. Even
Priority 1, Evangelism, discussed above is less effective without the
support of a dynamic Christian community. It is important, therefore,
that our communities are spiritually healthy and strong in the Lord. As
the perfect storm develops, we need each other more
now than ever.
It is important to be sure your Christian community
is on the right track, scripturally. In Chapter 4, we
discussed the fact that the Church can wander or be
contaminated by ideas in conflict with the Bible. Concepts
such as Gnosticism or collective salvation are readily found in some Churches today. The
Pew survey on religion cited above revealed
some interesting statistics regarding beliefs about salvation
and the existence of a personal God. These are
given in Table 10, below.
Table 10. Pew
religion survey results regarding Christian
beliefs about God.
Church Affiliation |
% Believe in a personal God |
% Believe God is an impersonal force |
% Believe there are many ways to God |
Protestant |
|
|
|
Evangelical |
79 |
13 |
57 |
Mainline |
62 |
26 |
83 |
Historically Black |
71 |
19 |
59 |
Catholic |
60 |
29 |
79 |
Mormon |
91 |
6 |
39 |
Jehovah’s Witness |
82 |
11 |
16 |
Orthodox |
49 |
34 |
72
|
These figures are alarming. The fundamental teaching of the Christian
Church is that salvation comes
only by faith in Jesus and that God is
a personal God who is to be worshipped. This survey exposes that fact
that Humanism has had an enormous affect on the Social
Church and that many Christians have opted for
political correctness rather than biblical
truth. The survey also indicates that those who attend church services
weekly are less inclined to accept the Humanist
philosophy. It appears that pastors and priests have a
lot of work ahead of them. However, in some cases, the pastors and
priests are the problem. Therefore, the first step in a healthy
Christian community is to assure it is on a sound
biblical foundation. If your church is not, find another. Only when your
Church has a true biblical foundation can it give the support necessary
to oppose the tide of Humanism.
How close to the early Church is your congregation? Paul gives us an example of how the early
Church worshiped. Remember, there were no stained-glass cathedrals or
mega-churches back then; everyone met in someone’s house.
When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a
tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the
strengthening of the church. If anyone speaks in a tongue, two—or at the
most three—should speak, one at a time and someone must interpret. If
there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet and speak to
himself and God.
Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is
said. And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the
first speaker should stop. For you can all prophesy in turn so that
everyone may be instructed and encouraged. The spirits of prophets are
subject to the control of prophets. For God is not a God of disorder but of peace. 1 Cor 14:26-33
That sounds outright … Pentecostal! Could it be …? The fact is, a congregation
without the Spirit actively at work is a dead
congregation, a human institution no different from any Progressive
bureaucracy. As Paul told Timothy (2 Tim 3:5): avoid those
congregations that have the form of godliness but deny its power. To be
an effective ministry, the congregation needs the Spirit and needs to be
an "early Church."
Many
Christian families are in need of financial and social
help. That person sitting next to you at the Sunday service may be one
of them. Do we know each other well enough to identify our brother and
sister’s needs? Do we know their needs? Do we care? I am not talking
about a "Social Church" here. This is ministering to
our brothers and sister in our own congregation on a
one-to-one basis. Remember what Jesus said, "Whatever you
did for the least of these, you did for me." Of course, to do this, we
have to become acquainted. We cannot do that by sitting in the same
building for an hour or so on Sunday. I guarantee that there are
families in your congregation that have needs – some physical, some not physical.
The fruit of faith is love; the fruit of love is service.
Mother Teresa
|
Jesus set the example at the Last Supper (Jn 13:1-17). Before
Jesus and his disciples began the Passover feast, Jesus took off his
robe, placed a servant’s apron around his waist, got down on his knees,
and washed his disciple’s feet. When he got to Peter, Peter objected,
"No, you shall never wash my feet." Jesus responded, unless I wash you,
you have no part with me." Then Jesus said:
Do you understand what I have done for you? He asked them. You call me "Teacher", and
"Lord", and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and
teacher, have washed your feet, you should also wash one another’s feet.
I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I
tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a
messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these
things, you will be blessed if you do them.
If you do them. As James said (Jas 1:14),
"What good is it, my brothers, if a
man claims to have faith, but has no deeds?"
Does that woman sitting in the pew in front of you go home to an abusive
husband? Do you know? Do you care? That gentleman over there to your
right, did he just loose his son in Afghanistan? Do you know? Do you
care? The family that arrived to the service early in a 15-year old car,
are they worried about this month’s rent? Do you know? Do you care?
Have you noticed how God answers prayer? With very few exceptions,
God answers prayer through people. By the Spirit working
through you, YOU are the answer to someone’s prayer. That is how the
"Body of Christ" works. I mentioned earlier in the
book that Christianity was not a religion
but a relationship with Jesus. It is also a
relationship with his "body" the Church. That is why he
said: whatever you do to the least of the brothers you do to him. How
can we assure our Christian community,
the "body of Christ" is healthy and strong?
-
Get Informed. What are the needs of your Christian
community? Many are hidden. Perhaps Ann’s husband
is an alcoholic and abuses her, but she is ashamed to tell anyone.
Are there enough Sunday school teachers? Do they have the necessary
training and supplies? When you go to a doctor, the first thing he
does is give you a physical exam. Get together with some of your
congregation and church leaders and conduct an
examination of your community. Determine what is weak and what is
strong.
-
Get Organized. Organizing the Christian community is NOT the
responsibility of the priest or pastor. It is your responsibility.
Christians are not called to be pew sitters. The passive Christian
is not a disciple. Naturally, efforts to organize the community must
be coordinated with the leadership of the Church, but they should
not have to do all the work.
Think big. In the last chapter, we discussed how the
perfect storm is growing in intensity and the
Christian community will be swept away by the Humanist winds if not
prepared. The very best way to survive these attacks is through a
unified community the larger that community the better. Perhaps it is
time to put aside the petty human-made differences that divide the
Christian community. It is time to unify our community based on what we
have in common. There are many things a large community can accomplish
that a small community cannot. In his letters to the Church, Paul
addresses the community at Rome, Corinth, Galatia,
Ephesus, Philippi, and so forth. The churches in each city
were united.
Think small. How can we become acquainted and minister to
each other in a church of 150, 400, or 2,000 members? Paul
considered the church in each city to be a unified community, but he
also recognized that that community functioned in smaller groups. For
example, In 1 Cor 16:19, he send greeting from those who meet in the
house of Aquila and Pricilla. These houses were typically small by
today’s standards and we can expect the group was small enough for
personal interaction.
-
Get Active. What are your talents? What did God give you for
his service? As Jesus said:
The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest,
therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Matt 9:37, 38
In Matthew (22:14), Jesus says that many are invited but few
are chosen. God does not choose us because we are worthy or
talented. He chooses those who answer his invitation. He calls many to
serve but few answer that call.
Priority 3: Education
Mark Twain once said, "I never let schooling interfere with
my education." Considering the problems describe in
previous chapters, it is time that we not allow public schooling to
interfere with our children’s Christian education, or
secular for that matter. We cannot expect to give all the responsibility
of our children’s education to the public school system–
particularly in
the areas of morality and faith. Nor can we allow TV to be
the unsupervised baby sitter. It is the parent’s duty to raise their
children, not the teachers or the TV network executives.[3]
To do this the parents must prepare themselves to understand the issues
and spend enough time with their children discussing these issues to
assure they have a sound foundation for making good decisions.
The children will face these issues after they
graduate – there is no way to escape the exposure – so we must prepare
them. We must parent them.
However, the Christian community has a
responsibility as well. The unity of the early Church
is desperately needed now more than ever. Consider the teen-ager that
feels alone in a school where his or her peers are buying into the
garbage being taught. Peer pressure is intense. They feel alone.
Temptation is great. They need the company of other teens who are in the
same boat.
Here is where the Church can meet a serious need in today’s
society. These kids need more than Sunday school. They need
supplementary education that deals with
these issues in detail. They need peer companionship and social
activities that support their faith, not challenge it. They
need security. If a congregation is too small to
provide this kind of support, then small congregations need to join
together. Actually, that would be the best approach. Unity. Do not let
their schooling interfere with their education. An old
African proverb says, "It takes a village to raise a child." For the
Christian, that village is the congregation.
Perhaps it is time for Christian educators, managers, scientist,
academics, anyone with the skills necessary, to begin to establish the
educational support system necessary for our children’s education.
Whether it be a complete Christian school, a supplementary
school sponsored by the community churches (or a single
church), or home schooling, it is of the highest
priority. Organization, textbooks that tell the truth, financing, and
Spirit-filled teachers are all needed. Who will do it? Our
children’s education is too important to leave to the public schools. Here are some practical steps
we can take to deal with the problems in public schools today.
Schools Boards. School boards are
intimidated by the ACLU and when just
one Progressive parent complains about prayer, creation,
Christmas carols, or speaking the word "Jesus",
many boards initially resist, however, the threat of a lawsuit is often
enough to make them yield. Lawsuits are costly and time consuming and,
as we discussed earlier, activist judges make the
outcome less than optimistic. Often, those who attend school board
meetings are a Humanist majority and their presence
intimidates the board members. The Christian community
can help.
-
Get Informed. Keep abreast of the issues that are considered by the
school board. If your community knows ahead of time,
you can get prepared.
-
Get Organized. Perhaps form an Education Committee in you church that
has, among its duties, the responsibility to maintain communication
with the school board and the issues it considers and then prepares
the Christian community on issues of
interest. The committee then organizes the members of the community
to attend the pertinent school board meetings and present
well-informed testimony.
-
Get Active. Get out of the pews and into the chairs of the school board
meeting. Establish an Education Committee in your church that
monitors school board activities and volunteer to support it. Attend
school board meetings and become acquainted with the board members;
they are more likely to listen to your complaints if they know you.
There is another action a Christian can take, but it is not for
everyone. Become a member of the school board. You need not be a
teacher or a politician to run for a position on the school board.
With the support of the Christian community,
you could even win! Then you could make a real
difference. Christians should also become active in the PTA. A
sufficient number of Christians and like-minded individuals can sway
a PTA group to be more sympathetic to Christian oriented issues.
When that happens, the PTA can be a strong force for change within
the school bureaucracy.
Classrooms: Do you know what is
being taught to your child? It starts with the textbook. Teachers in
K-12 use the textbook as their guide. They may supplement the textbook,
but the textbook is "gospel", so to speak. Progressives know this and,
over the past several decades, many textbooks were written that promote
the Humanists agenda. In addition, Progressives have gained control of
the teachers unions and, as a result, many of the teachers
and principals go beyond the liberal expansion established by activist
judges and become active Humanist
indoctrinators. There is something you can do about this.
-
Get Informed. This will take some effort and time. Get involved with
your child’s education. Read his or her textbooks.
Each day ask what occurred in class. Get acquainted with other
parents. Ask other parents if they have had questionable experiences
with the school. Get acquainted with the teacher. As a bonus, your
child will probably do better in school just from all this
attention.
-
Get Organized. To be effective, it is better to work as a group. If
other parents are concerned about the quality of education
or the content of the curriculum they would probably be
interested in forming a group to correct the problem. They can
divide the textbook review and collectively document questionable
school policies. As the old saying goes, "Two (or more) heads are
better than one."
-
Get Active. If a problem is identified, meet with the teacher. This is
where the organized group pays off; don’t go alone. The teacher is
much more likely to listen and take a complaint seriously if more
that one parent presents their concerns. If this does not work, meet
with the principal, this time with a small group. Go up the ladder
of school hierarchy until the concerns are satisfied. It does not
harm the effort if the press is notified; squeaky wheels do get the
grease and the squeakier the better when it comes to bureaucrats. If
legal action is indicated, the American Center for Law and Justice
(ACLJ) is available to
assist parents in defending against the Progressive agenda. Check
them out on the internet. If you do not have the funds, they can
help for a reduced fee or pro bono. Check out their web site.
Super Sunday School: Inevitably,
we must face the fact that, even if we are able to restrain Progressive
indoctrination and improve the quality of education,
improvement will not be 100 percent nor will it happen overnight. Once
we know what is being taught in the schools and what needs to be
corrected or supplemented, we have the information necessary to act. We
need, however, a means of delivering the supplemental education. The
Church is already structured to provide Christian
education through Sunday school. Perhaps the congregation
can go a step further and expand Sunday school to
supplement public education. If evolution is taught as
fact and the teacher is prohibited from even mentioning creation,
the congregation can correct that deficiency. If liberal
sexuality is taught as normal in the sex education class, the
supplemental school can present the Christian view. In some cases, if
the congregation has the resources, tutoring can be provided. This is
far too much to squeeze into an hour on Sunday morning and, therefore,
requires a commitment of time and resources; and the commitment from the
congregation. The supplementary Sunday school will go a long way in
correcting some of the problems with public education.
The Alternative School: Considering all the problems with public schools,
how would you like to enroll your child in a private
school that has a high academic standing? There is no danger of drugs
and the school is 100 percent safe. Graduates from the school
have been accepted to Rice University, Harvard, Stanford, Cornell, Brown, Dartmouth, and Princeton.
Teachers do not indoctrinate the students in Humanism,
evolution, Socialism, or anti-Christianity. Prayer
is encouraged and Bible study is part of the
curriculum. Sex education is based on Christian
standards and homosexuality is not treated as an acceptable
lifestyle. Interested? One last point; the tuition,
including all education materials, is about $100 per month. The name of
the school is (drum roll, please) home schooling.
You may have heard negative reports about home schooling
and certainly, the elite will look down their noses at it. However, the
success of home schooling presents a real threat to education
bureaucrats and the National Education Association.
Home schooling is an embarrassment to
the state and federal departments of education and the arrogant teachers
unions. Education budgets continually rise and, with each
increase in these budgets, the student scores decrease. The public
school system is strongly opposed to home education for a very important
reason – money. A school district’s funding is based on
enrollment and if too many students opt for home schooling, the school
district’s budget will be cut.
Progressive will try counter the home schooling
movement by saying that it is only the Christian
fundamentalist and far-right weirdoes that home school. Not true. A
2001 US Census survey found that only 33 percent of those who home
school cited religion as the reason. The survey found that
30 percent cited a poor learning environment in public schools,
14 percent objected to the curriculum, 11 percent felt
their child was not being challenged, and 9 percent cited a poor moral
environment as their reason. By 2003, 68 percent cited "dissatisfaction
with academic instruction in public schools" as their reason to home
school and 72 percent cited religion and moral
instruction. It is clear that the American public is increasingly
dissatisfied with public education for both academic and
moral reasons; and they are doing something about it. The number of
children that are home schooled is increasing currently at a rate of
approximately 10 percent per year but that rate is increasing. Homes
schooling is a real alternative for the Christian family or the
Christian community. Below are some of the alternatives
in the home schooling experience.
-
Basic Home Schooling. This is the most parent-intense and is not for
everyone. Lesson units, internet access, and educational materials
are sent to the home and it is up to the child and the parents to
discipline themselves in order to succeed. All indications are that
those who succeed in this type of program not only excel
academically but also acquire better discipline and work habits as
well. A major concern is lack of socialization with peers. This may
not be a problem if the child has friends independent of the study
environment, but this must be considered. Another concern,
particularly in middle and high school levels is the lack of
ancillary programs and facilities such as sports, music, and
laboratories. However, it works. My granddaughter home schooled
until middle school. When she entered the public school system, she
was an average of one year ahead of the other students.
-
Church Home Schooling. This is a modification of the
basic schooling discussed above. Several families within a church
community agree to home school and the church
leadership assists with facilities and sometimes support staff. The
curriculum is the same as the basic home school, however, the church
provides space for study cubicles and the children study in a group.
Because the lesson plans are individualized, it is possible to
include children of all ages in the facility–
something like the
"one-room schoolhouse" that was the backbone of rural education
not so long ago and gave us President Lincoln. The
parents take turns as monitor or, if there are sufficient children,
the parents or the church may pay a teacher’s assistant or a
professional teacher to monitor the group. The church community
mentioned above (with the hippy evangelists) set up a school like
this and it was very successful. This group home schooling has the advantage of providing socialization with
schoolmates and does not require one parent to remain at home with
the child. If the group is large enough, some of the ancillary
activities and facilities can also be provided.
-
Christian Community Home Schooling. This approach
combines the above with a broader view of the Christian community.
Think of it as Church Home Schooling on
steroids. If you live in a larger city, undoubtedly there are
parents in other church communities that are considering home
schooling as well. This approach provides a
network of several Church Home Schools that is centrally
coordinated. Because of the increased size of the home schooling
system, many of the ancillary activities and facilities can be
provided. Already in some communities, the public schools allow use of sport and laboratory facilities.
The Parochial/Charter School: Usually associated with Catholic or Lutheran church communities, the
parochial school has been a part of the American
education scene for over two centuries. The parochial school is a
private school, similar to the public schools, however, the curriculum
conforms to the religious beliefs of the sponsoring institution. Since
the school is private, religious instruction can be included, as well as
prayer, Christmas programs that include Jesus, and an approach to the
standard curriculum that conforms to Christian beliefs. Some parochial
schools are noted for their academic excellence. The Parochial school
must depend on donations, sponsorship, and tuition to cover the costs.
Therefore, parochial schools are more expensive. Often the higher costs
of middle and high school makes parochial education at these levels
prohibitive. However, if a parochial school is established with the
entire Christian community as the sponsor, the feasibility increases
dramatically. Typical advantages of a parochial school are: higher
academic standards, freedom in textbook selection, control over the
faculty, a disciplined environment, and different moral standards than
found in public schools. The advantages of the parochial school are
sufficient to attract many non-religious families.
The charter school is similar to the parochial school but my be secular. It
is actually part of the public school system, however, it is established
privately and often with private donations. There are fewer restrictions
placed on a charter school and, like the parochial school, there is more
control over curriculum, discipline, and avoids the problems associated
with progressive teacher unions and higher costs associated with them.
Also, like the parochial school, the students usually score higher and
enrollment waiting lists are long.
In many areas, voucher programs exist that subsidize the student’s cost if
attending parochial or charter schools and, in some cases, home
schooling. The voucher system is based on the concept that the student’s
family has already paid taxes for their child’s education and if they do
not use the public school system, the money should be applied to the
alternative education chosen by the parent. School vouchers are strongly
opposed by teacher unions and Progressive politicians because it takes
money away from the public school system, reveals that the problem with
public school education is in the system itself, and blocks the Humanist
intimidation common in public schools.
These are a few examples of how some are meeting the challenge of academic and
moral failures in our public schools.
As mentioned before, the education bureaucracy and
Progressives will oppose any efforts to remove our children from their
influence and philosophical indoctrination. However, their objections
are mostly unfounded and a Christian community
can, working together, create an excellent learning
environment that maintains Christian values.
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Get Informed. Google "Home Schooling" or
"Christian Home Schooling" and study the available
options; there are many. Contact your school district for information
regarding how to register your child as a home school student. Ask what
facilities are available to home school students (your taxes have
already paid for the facilities). There may be others in your community
or nearby cities that are already home schooling
and they can give some valuable tips. Do not forget
the most important step–
talk to you child about this and include him or
her in the process.
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Get Organized. Coordinate with your
church leaders to set up a meeting of parents who are interested in home
schooling. The effort will be much easier if
several families are involved than a solo effort. A classified ad could
put you in contact with families outside of your church and open the
possibility of a Christian Community Home School System.
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Get Active. Once you have the necessary
information and either go solo or join a community
system–
act. It will seem like a big step, but once you make to
decision to do it, press the "go" button. When you have the opportunity
(if necessary make the opportunity) tell the school district officials
why you are home schooling. They should be
interested and it is important for them to know why they are loosing a
student, or several students, and the associated funds.
Priority 4: Engage the Secular World
How did Jesus engage the world of secularism and contaminated religion? We
discussed how Jesus was a master of one-on-one engagement. However, he
is most famous for his engagement of the community in the broad sense.
The stories of how he fed 5,000 (Matt 14:13-21) and 4,000 (Mk 8:1-9)
during his sermons. These numbers counted only the men. In rural Israel
2,000 years ago, it would represent most of the people from more than
one village. Jesus was public with this ministry because it was
efficient. Another characteristic that is seen in his ministry is
debate. The scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees constantly challenged him.
He met those challenges head on, usually in front of a crowd of
onlookers. Finally, Jesus ministered to the people publicly. He healed
and worked miracles among large crowds of people, showing them the love
and power of God.
We have an obligation to show Christ to the world. Sitting passively in a pew is
like hiding the good news. We must show Christ to the world. We must
engage the secular Humanism that is engulfing our society.
You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light
a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and
it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your let
your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and
praise your Father in heaven. Matt 5:14-16
When we speak out against pornography, abortion, sexual promiscuity, and drugs,
we shine light on God's moral standards. When we
feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, and comfort the sick, we show the
love Jesus has for everyone. When we refuse to participate
in the Humanist lifestyle, we shine God’s
light on sin. As Humanists engage the world, they will win the
battle for souls if Christians remain passive and avoid engaging our
brothers and sisters. Engaging the secular world is a challenging
effort.
The light shines in
the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. Jn 1:5
Just like the Flatland-Spaceland dilemma, the
Humanists do not understand the Christian mind-set. That is why we must
engage the secular world with the Spirit and leave our egos at home. At
the Last Supper, Jesus described our relationship with the
Holy Spirit.
If you love me, you
will obey what I commanded. And I will ask the Father, and he will give
you another Counselor to be with you forever – the Spirit of truth. The
world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But
you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. Jn 14:15, 16
Christians should consider engaging the secular community
as Jesus did. In addition to the one-on-one ministries, Christians need
public ministries to show Christianity and the message of Jesus to as
many as possible. Here are a few suggestions.
The Public Forum
Today we think of a forum as a public meeting. In Jesus
time, it referred to the market place where people gathered and gossiped
or engaged in discussions on politics or other issues. This is where
Jesus often encountered the Pharisees and others. Today television has
replaced the market place but the concept of public debate continues.
Several cable news broadcasters have "forum" programs. These usually
consist of a panel of expert, perhaps three on the pro side, and three
on the con side, who present their arguments on a selected issue. After
the experts give their arguments, the audience asked questions and this
stimulates further debate. A well-moderated forum of this type can be
very enlightening.
One of the criticisms Humanist often charge against
Christians is that they are unreasonable, uninformed, poorly educated,
and do not have a good grasp of the issues. The Pharisees tried to pin
that label on Jesus as well. I would like to suggest that the Christian
community consider sponsoring forums to debate issues such as abortion,
Progressivism in the public schools, and other topics of interest to the
local community.
Held once a month, the forum would be similar to that
described above using local experts to represent each side of the
argument. The discussions must be maintained with discipline and
civility and must not be seen as overt evangelizing. The purpose of the
forums is to present the Christian position in a reasoned, logical, and
considered manner. In addition to presenting the Christian position on
the issues, the community will see that Christians are not as the
Humanists would have them believe.
Organizing forums like this would required the
cooperation of the entire local Christian community and a commitment of
time, energy and, in some cases, money. However, it provides the means
to engage the community in a way typically not encountered by the
secular world and may give a few Humanists food for thought.
Community Action
Every community has needs and good citizens respond. The
Christian community can be an important factor in the improvement of the
community in which they live and, in the process, be a witness to the
love of God. Are there homeless people or citizens out of work with
hungry families? Attend city council meeting and present the problem to
them. Then ask what the Christian community can do to help. Each
community has unique needs but every community has needs. Feeding the
hungry, providing child care, school volunteering, and sheltering the
homeless are but a few selected from a very long list.
By working with city councils, school boards, and other
organizations, the Christian community can become a vital source of
assistance to the community. As the secular world sees Christians from
this perspective, and understand that the fruit of God’s love is
service, a few may inquire about the source of that love.
The Political Christian
There is very little in either the New Testament or historical accounts of the
early Church that indicates the first Christians were
involved with either politics or the law. I do not think that the reason
is theological. More likely, they did not have the
opportunity. Most Christians in the Roman Empire were
not Roman citizens; they were conquered subjects of the Empire and had
little or no say in the politics of the Empire. In addition, the Roman
Empire was not a democracy as we have in the United States today. The
only thing that kept the senators in line politically was the threat of
riots. However, when given the chance, the early Christians did take an
interest in politics and the law and used to their advantage.
A good example of Christians using the law and politics to their advantage is
the narrative of the apostle Paul given in
Acts, chapters 21-28. Briefly, Paul was witnessing about Jesus
and several Jewish leaders objected to his message and stirred
up the crowd against him. The crowd began to beat Paul to death. The
commander of the Roman army in the area sent soldiers to stop the
rioting and they put Paul in chains and brought him to the soldiers’
barracks. The crowd followed and demanded that he be turned over to
them. Confused, the soldiers took Paul inside the barracks and tried to
beat him to get a confession. As they stretched him out in preparation
for the scourging, Paul asked, "Is it legal for you to flog a Roman
citizen who hasn’t even been found guilty?" Eventually, Paul was brought
before the governor and this placed him in a difficult position. On one
hand, the Jewish leaders could stir up a significant riot and that would
reflect poorly on his leadership. On the other hand, here was a Roman
citizen that had been exposed to public ridicule and beating and had not
been found guilty. Even the charges against him were unclear. The
governor tried to get rid of the problem and asked Paul if he were
willing to stand trial in Jerusalem in front of the Jewish leaders
there. Paul said no and that he wanted to be tried by Caesar’s tribunal
as is his right as a Roman citizen. Eventually it became clear that Paul
was innocent. However, because he had demanded a trial before Caesar, he
was sent to Rome. In Rome Paul witnessed for several years
and converted many to Christianity before he was eventually executed.
God used the politics and law of Rome to his purpose.
While Paul was confined in jail in Israel, the Lord came to
him and said, "Take courage! As you have testified about me in
Jerusalem, so you must testify in Rome." God used the political and
legal system as a mean to bring attention to the Gospel in the capitol
of the Roman Empire. Throughout the Bible
there are scriptures that stress the importance of being a good
citizen. Pay your taxes (Matt 22:18-21, pray for those in authority
(1Tim 21-3), and submit to and obey government authorities (Rom 13:1-7).
These are all passive in nature because that was how
the Empire was structure. Today in modern United States of America, all
those admonitions still apply, but more is required if one is to be a
good citizen. Being a good citizen in America requires one be active.
An American has the privilege to vote. Throughout the history of mankind
and even today, voting is withheld from those who are ruled. However,
voting, real voting, requires the people study and understand the
issues. In a polarized America with the complex issues raised by
Progressives, it is more important than ever. The Christian
community has the responsibility to be
informed about the issues important to Christians and where the
candidates stand. Is the candidate pro-life? Will the
candidate oppose appointment of activist judges?
Together, voting as a community, the Christian
voice becomes a shout. This does not mean every Christian
should vote for Democrats or Republicans.
Nor should all Christians think the same on every
political issue. Christians can have an impact, however, on those issues
that touch the heart of the Christian community such as abortion, public
expression of faith, liberalization of promiscuous and
deviant sex, and the Humanist indoctrination of our
children in the classroom.
When politicians understand that there is a significant part of their
constituency the demands a government with Christian principals, at
least does not oppose Christian faith, the possibility of slowly
regaining a non-Humanist society will be realized. If the political
action is focused on issues not religion, the question of separation of
church and state is mute. In our democracy we have the power to change
things, but only if we are active. Here are a few suggestions for
consideration.
Since voting is the lifeblood of a democracy, the Christian community can
provide the mechanisms for facilitating voter registration within the
Christian community. However, the lifeblood of a democracy needs
metaphorical oxygen and that is information. The Christian community
must be informed about the issues and the positions of the candidates.
The League of Women Voters can be a model for political action that defines
democracy. They investigate and interview political candidates and then
publish a voter’s guide that allows voters to make an informed decision.
The Christian community could publish a similar Christian voter’s guide.
Interviews would focus on the candidate’s position of issues such as
abortion. Candidates for the Senate would be asked which Supreme Court
Justice they admired the most
and why; this would give insight to whether they would vote to appoint
an activist or not. Candidates could be invited to the Christian forum
mentioned above to participate in the debates.
Perhaps the most effective activity for a Christian is to participate in the
local party precincts, Republican or Democrat. Each party is organized
from the bottom up. The local precinct is at the grass roots. Each
precinct select a delegate to participate in the next level, the county
convention and there delegates are selected for the state and finally
the national conventions. In addition to delegates, the party platform
is debated and finally established in the same way. By being active at
the precinct level, a Christian can guide the party platform away from
the Humanist agenda and possibly become a delegate. It is a small step,
one among many, however, if enough Christians get active in the party of
their choice, they will have an effect.
This political activity is not partisan. It should focus on those issues that
affect the Christian community, the schools, and the children. While
good citizens will be informed and participate in secular politics, this
activity is aimed at to issues that are at the heart of the
Humanism-Christianity conflict. Being politically active does not
require changing parties, work within the party of your choice. It is
not necessary to change your opinion on the economy, taxes, or other
secular issues; Christian are as varied on these as anyone; that is what
makes us a democracy. The politically active Christian, however, will
focus on the issues that affect the moral climate of the nation and the
freedom to express the Christian faith and values in the schools, the
malls, the city council meeting, the clinics, and the public venues in
general.
LET GO AND LET GOD
As Paul told the Corinthians, we can be "in the world but not of it",
but we cannot do it alone. The individual Christian cannot oppose the
rip-tide of secularism flooding society, but the
Christian community can create islands of refuge; refuge, not just for
Christians, but also for Evolutionists,
Humanists, and Progressives who feels the tug of the
Holy Spirit and want to respond.
The Christian community needs to be a place
where new Christians can experience
the love of Christ, receive the ministry of others, and
learn how to minister to others. We need not live in the same building
to live together, but we do need to commune. As the world polarizes, the
need for a strong community life will increase and we will
need a new paradigm for "family."
Perhaps it is time for Christians to reconsider the structure
of their community. Political, social, and legal agendas
have not succeeded in holding back the avalanche of secular morality
that is so offensive to the Christian. We are faced with
the moral decay in the schools and throughout society. We cannot escape
it. Our situation is very similar to that of the early Church and the solution is the same as theirs. Christianity
must mean more than a Sunday service. The Christian
community must be more than the congregation that
meets on Sunday. To do this, Christians must heed the
final words of Jesus just before he was taken into heaven:
… but you shall
receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses both in
Jerusalem and in all of Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part
of the earth.
That is the solution to the challenge of Humanism. But we
must venture into this challenge alone. We need the support of the
Christian community and, most important, the Holy Spirit.
As my grandmother was fond of saying, "Let go and let God." Or, as Solomon advised:
Trust in the Lord
with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. Prov. 3:6
That is the model the early Church gave us, Spirit-led
activism. That is the model I propose here for the modern Church. We
need a Church (that’s you) that has Sprit-led evangelism,
Spirit-led engagement with the community, and Spirit-led congregation
building.
There is one last thought I would propose before we leave
the subject of the Christian community. The priorities presented here,
evangelism, community development, Christian education, and engaging the
world, all require time. When a Christian repents and commits his or her
life to Jesus, what does that commitment include? To obey God and adhere
to his commandments. However, his commandments involve evangelism,
community development, Christian education, and engaging the world, as
well as sitting in the pew each Sunday. The commitment to Jesus includes
the commitment of your time.
We are continually reminded to tithe our money, and
correctly so. Supporting the Church, the missions, and helping the
unfortunate is part of our duty. But what about our time. Jesus would
have us get involved personally with the ministries; in fact he demands
our personal involvement. We need to seriously consider tithing our
time.
Allowing for 8 hours of sleep each night, we are awake
112 hours per week. A tithe of our time would be 11 hours each week. If
Sunday service is 2 hours, you read the Bible and pray 1 hour each day,
that leaves 2 hours a week for activities discussed in this chapter. Is
that asking to much? For an individual it is negligible. However, if the
entire Christian community tithed their time, and did so
effectively—make way for the Early Church. This means that we cannot be
"Sunday Christians"; we must be "between the Sundays Christians."
[1] Eusebius’
Ecclesiastical History, Baker Books, was written in the 4th
century and is a detailed account of the early church. This is
an excellent resource for any Christian interested in the
challenges to and the success of the early church. The power and
unity of the early church can be a model for Christian
communities today.
[2] We use the tem
Evangelical here in its originals Greek
meaning: to present good new, i.e. to tell
people about the Gospel. An Evangelist is one whose Christian
focus is the Bible with out the philosophical, social, or
political artifacts and who tells others about the good new of
salvation through Jesus. The
Evangelist, therefore, rejects Gnosticism and
Humanism.
[3] Even "educational" channels such as Discovery and National
Geographic are not safe. These channels present numerous
programs that promote the Gnostic gospels
as legitimate scriptures possibly more correct than the
accepted Christian Bible. They also
present programs that emphasize the "historical Jesus"
as just a man, possibly married, and never resurrected. Their
Gnostic roots are showing.
Copyright © 2011 by Patrick Vosse
All Rights Reserved
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