by Chris Cole
We live in a time where the culture has returned to a pre-Christian stage, in which every man does what is right in his own eyes (Judges 21:25). Things which were considered too shameful for polite company within the lifetimes of man of us living today are now common fare in entertainment or taught to our children in government schools.
While it is true that the American government has been on a crusade to scrub the Christian presence from public society, I don’t blame the government. And while it is true that there are influencers in government and the media who hate the Gospel and seek to silence it, I don’t blame them. Unbelievers must be expected to hate the Gospel (Romans 1:18). That’s what makes them unbelievers.
However, when I see the church complacent in its own suppression, then I find cause for blame.
We have public religious figures – I don’t call them Christians – such as Joel Osteen, who refuse to talk about sin because they don’t want to offend anyone. That is who deserves the blame.
In 586 BC, Judah, the Southern Kingdom, was conquered by Babylon and carried away into exile. Why? Because they had abandoned the faith on which their kingdom was established, and turned to pagan deities and practice.
What did their religious leaders say about that apostasy? Did they denounce the sin of the people, and fight against that apostasy?
“Your prophets have seen for you false and deceptive visions; they have not exposed your iniquity to restore your fortunes, but have seen for you oracles that are false and misleading” (Lamentations 2:14). No, no denunciations; no warnings of judgment. Rather, the religious leaders joined in that apostasy, soothing the apostates with assurance that God was happy with their perverted worship and lives. Does that sound like today’s religious world? I think so.
But what does God say? Is he bound by the soothing words of apostate preachers? “If I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand” (Ezekiel 3:18). Not in the smallest bit. Rather, He promises that judgment of sin will come, but it will begin with false teachers who failed to preach a warning about the consequences of sin.
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