And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus.This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks. - Acts 19: 8-10 (ESV)
As 2015 winds down, Charisma News is re-running some of the articles they thought to be most important during the year. One was written by Larry Tomczak entitled, "Six Lies From the Pit of Hell That Are Destroying America." I hardly blame people like Tomczak, who is nothing more than a shill for the Republican Party masquerading as a Christian. The truth is that neither party cares for the cause of Jesus Christ. Furthermore, the Bible teaches us that God decides all the leaders of the earth. Lastly, we are to look to God to solve our problems, not any human being. The cold hard reality is that people like Tomczak and a vast amount of Christians today engage in the active idolatry of this country. Who can blame us? We like our excess. We like our braggadocio in who we think we are. Two houses, four cars, eight credit cards? Line em all up! Oh but don't forget to go to church on Sunday! The state of the modern church only validates these trends. You hear a half hour sermon about how great you are, or how much you are like God, or how much God is just crazy about you. Throw in some petulant worship about demanding your blessings and God being your wingman and for only ten percent of your net earnings (gross earnings if your church is harsh) you will be guaranteed to be going to heaven despite all of this narcissism, pride, and idolatry.
So as I was reading the article I originally thought I would simply write about the six lies from the pit of hell that are destroying the church but God began to reveal some deeper things to me. Let us reason together and explore them. First here is the list of the six lies, which Tomczak credits to Dr. James Dobson:
1. Premarital, extramarital, and traditionally abnormal sex are moral and healthy.
2. There should be no sanctity of human life in law.
3. Drug use makes great recreational sport.
4. Divorce offers an easy escape from marriage.
5. Marriage should be redefined to include same-sex unions.
6. God is dead - at least make it appear that way by systematically airbrushing Him from society
Once I saw Dr. Dobson, of Focus on the Family fame, I began to realize the deeper problems. Dobson is one of the purveyors and pushers of the "biblical worldview" theology. Essentially this is where "leaders" promote that everything in the world should be viewed through a biblical lens. This is how people can come up with this silly list of six things that are destroying America. I say silly because you only need a list of one:
1. Sin.
This is what is actually behind everything on his list. This is actually what each item essentially is. Part of the problem also is that the list is not even accurate in many places. For example, I do not know anyone in the world who advocates that extramarital affairs are moral and healthy. Sure there was the Ashley Madison debacle but perhaps Dr. James forgot the hundreds of pastors who were on that list as well? While we are on the subject of hypocrisy, let's switch over to divorce. Do Tomczak and Dobson actually think that this phenomena can be laid at the feet of the world? What did Jesus say about it?
He said to them, "Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery." - Matthew 19: 8-0 (ESV)
The truth is that how the men of ancient Israel often treated their wives would make the owner of the Ashley Madison website angry. It has not become any better in modern churchianity. Paula White is on her third marriage. Tullian Tchividjian recently revealed rampant infidelity in his marriage. It seems a month does not go by without one famous pastor or another falling from grace.
We could go on and on about the specifics on the list but the larger problem is that they are focused on the world at large. You know, those who do not actually believe in God. Those who think the mere thought of God is utter foolishness. Those who are walking in complete darkness. This is who the American idolizers routinely turn to for the derision and blame. Let's take their desires to their desired conclusion. Let's pretend and give Larry Tomczak and James Dobson everything they want according to this list. Do they honestly think this solves America's problem? Do they honestly think that if the unbelievers of this world would just behave better then everything would be OK? That God would stay His wrath? That God would not judge America, as the Bible says He will. More importantly, let's say all the laws got passed that they desired and everyone magically stopped doing all of the things on Dr. Dobson's naughty list. Have the eternal balances shifted at all? No beloved. Everyone who was going to hell before these changes will still be going to hell. Because the Tomczaks and Dobsons of the world have lost sight of the actual problem and that is people are separated from God. They have lost sight of what they need. They do not need a biblical worldview. They need the Gospel.
