Religious Public Enemy #1 - Evangelical Christians?

This article originally appeared in the Calvary Chapel of Jonesboro Newsletter.  It is being reprinted here for our friends on the church website.  

    Greetings in the name of our wonderful Savior Jesus Christ!  May God bless you and prepare you for whatever it takes to maintain your testimony for Christ in our nation.

    I imagine that the opening for this week's article may seem a little stark.  What could we be facing in the United States - the bastion of religious freedom - that would illicit an opening where we speak of persecution - and even laying down our lives for Christ?  Unfortunately an incident has happened that is at the least - very disconcerting.  That incident is what took place as an approved training event for the Pennsylvania Army Reserves.  I've included in this week's article information from a WND article that reported on this event.

"Soldiers in the U.S. military have been told in a training briefing that evangelical Christians are the No. 1 extremist threat to America – ahead of groups like the Muslim Brotherhood, KKK, Nation of Islam, al-Qaida, Hamas and others.

“Men and women of faith who have served the Army faithfully for centuries shouldn’t be likened to those who have regularly threatened the peace and security of the United States,” said Col. (Ret.) Ron Crews, executive director of the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty.  “It is dishonorable for any U.S. military entity to allow this type of wrongheaded characterization. It also appears that some military entities are using definitions of ‘hate’ and ‘extreme’ from the lists of anti-Christian political organizations. That violates the apolitical stance appropriate for the military.”

The briefing, which was given to an Army reserve unit in Pennsylvania, came from a U.S. Army Reserve Equal Opportunity training brief titled “Extremism and Extremist Organizations.”  

The material mentions neo-Nazis, the KKK and other white supremacist organizations. Pictures are shown on various slides of people in Klan attire and Nazi flags. The significance of gang tattoos, and racist acronyms and the significance of numbers were also discussed.

While the material on gangs and racist organizations is similar to what one might receive from a local police briefing on gang issues, after teaching on neo-Nazis in the military such as Timothy McVeigh, the material makes an amazing link.  A slide titled “Religious Extremism” lists multiple organizations such as the Muslim Brotherhood, al-Qaida, Hamas, the Nation of Islam, the Ku Klux Klan and the Christian Identity movement as examples of extremist groups.  However, the first group on the list is evangelical Christianity. Catholicism and ultra-orthodox Judaism are also on the list of religious extremist organizations."
(http://www.wnd.com/2013/04/military-warned-evangelicals-no-1-threat)

    Though I am saddened by this information that is being spread by our government - I am not shocked by it.  I have known for a long time that this day was coming - and will be eclipsed by information even more incidiary and damaging to evangelical Christians.  Let me attempt to explain why I am not shocked by this story in the news.

     The dominant worldview in our nation has not been that of Christian Theism for a long time.  The worldview that has dominated our culture has been Humanistic Naturalism.  This worldview gained strength through the teaching of evolution over the years.  This view denies the existance of God - or so marginalizes Him to the point that He has no credible place in our society.  God has not been seen as Creator for some time, and the Word of God is not viewed as credible on matters of science.  When humanistic science gained this triumph over the Biblical account of creation, it was only a matter of time until Biblical morality and ethics would have to be jettisoned as well.  

     For a brief period the rise of Humanistic Naturalism tolerated the morals of the Evangelical church - but have always desired to see them discarded.  They did not want to see God and His revelation in the Bible as the authority in such matters, preferring instead for the "culture of humans" to make up their own morals - which would shift like the sand as time progressed and morals declined.

     The way Biblical morals would be overcome was by making them seem extreme rather than mainstream.  This begin first in the arts - and then through mediums like televisioni sitcoms, dramas, and news programs.  At first Christian morality would simply be mocked and put down.  But In time Evangelical Christians would be compared to the most violent of religious movements.  That is why Evangelical Christians, who have never been guilty of any terrorist act, are now being compared to al-qaida, the KKK, the Muslim Brotherhood, and Hamas.  The goal was to say these things often enough that people would believe it.  With their willing accomplices in the media and entertainment - the job is almost finished.

     One of the final steps would be to have a moral cause by which Evangelical Christians can be divided.  This moral cause is now, and will be, homosexual marriage and the normalization of homosexuality as a morally, and biblically valid lifestyle.  When this happens (and it is close to being done) those who hold to the biblical worldview will be called extremists, haters, and eventually verbal terrorists (a term or one like it that will refer to a Christian who holds to biblical texts like Romans 1:18-32 as well as others).  Laws will be passed to make such speech illegal - arrests will be made (some during church services) and the true church will have to go underground.  The United States military and other law enforcement officials will be used to do this job.  Those within the military and law enforcement who will not comply - will be removed from their positions.  

     I know that this is difficult to read - but I believe these things will not spell the end of the church.  To the contrary, it will be the dawn of revival in the church.  It will most likely happen after there has been devastating losses.  But God's people will return to Him - and they will be revived to be a voice for the gospel in the midst of a wicked and perverse people.  

    There is one possible alternative to this scenario.  That is that God's people will wake up now - fall to their knees in prayer - and God will move in revival now.  Whether that will happen or not, I do not know.  But one thing I can assure you - the other scenario of which I have written in this article will continue to progress.  It has been gaining speed in the past decade - and will begin moving with an even more alarming pace.  The time for us to repent and return to God in brokenness and repentance is limited.  May God help us to see - to repent - and to return to Him.  May His mercies break forth with new passion and power among His people.  May God have mercy on the Church in the United States.