Silencing The Christian Voice

Are Christians being duped out of their saltiness and light? Matthew 5:13- 16 proclaims, “You (Believers in Christ as Savior and Lord) are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savor (strength), wherewith shall it (the earth) be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden underfoot of men. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Salt is used as a preservative. Yet look at how we have allowed the secular world to use the lies of Satan to deceive us in such a way as to diminish the effect of our saltiness and very nearly distinguish our light.

This country, for that matter, the whole world is in a battle. God is still in control and we know what the final outcome will be. Hallelujah, He has won the war!! However, until that time, there are battles to be fought. We, Christians, are supposed to be the Lord’s army. As such our saltiness is supposed to be used to preserve the ways, thoughts, values, and principles of the one true living God. The Holy Spirit is the author of the Bible. II Peter 1:21-“For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of men: but Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” Christ told His disciples that He would leave much unrevealed. The Lord sent His Holy Spirit to indwell the Believer to lead, guide and teach us the will and purposes of God as revealed to us in His written word.

As warriors in the Lord’s army we are urged to put on the whole armor of God. Ephesians 6: 10 – 18: “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil
day, and having done all to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness (that is not of ourselves, but that of Jesus); and our feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; and above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the Sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit.”

Further we are to ask the Lord to give us His words to speak boldly (Ephesians 6: 20) and not be ashamed of Jesus or the wisdom of the Lord’s written word. We are to study His word that we can be a “workman that need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (II Tim. 2: 15) For unless we study the word of God, we will not be equipped to think, speak, or behave as we ought. (II Tim. 3:16, 17) “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect (complete), thoroughly (completely) furnished unto all good works.” (II Tim. 4: 2 – 4) We are to “Preach the word: be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine.” To be “in season, or out of season” means to be able to proclaim His words rightly whenever called upon to do so in any time or circumstance. Remember, we are taught to stand fast in the scriptures. “As ye have therefore received Christ the Lord, so walk ye in Him: Rooted and built up in Him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.”(Coll. 2:6,7)

Followers of Christ, are forewarned to be secure in our own faith and able to witness and share the gospel with others? “Beware lest any man spoil (rob) you through philosophy, and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments (principles) of the world, and not of Christ. For in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily (in bodily form)(Coll. 2: 3, 4) Also, we are informed, “For the time will come when they will not endure (accept) sound teaching; but after their own lusts shall they heap to teachers, having itching ears; and they will turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables (fiction).”(II Tim. 4: 3, 4) In other words, man will look to learn, but will be unwilling to learn the truth. They will seek to learn only from teachers who will water down or pervert even the word of God so as to tell only those things that are “pleasing” to the ears of the hearer. You got it, they will hear only what they want to hear and do only what they want to do. That warning is for all of us to heed lest any of us be deceived and fall into the same pit of doubt and unbelief and willingly worship false gods. Remember the atheist is his own god for, in arrogance and pride, he proclaims there is no God and he worships self. The sin of pride is the very same as that which led to the expulsion of the devil and his followers (demons) from heaven.

“Those who are “rooted and grounded” in the limited wisdom of man, that is wisdom devoid of the knowledge of God, are presently winning the battle for the minds of men. The secular world is robbing the Christian of their saltiness and light. We are receiving the lies of the secular humanistic religion. They spread the lie that the voice of the Lord does not belong in the
public places of our society. I do agree that we can not put Jesus on the end of our finger and try to shove Him down the throats of others. But I don’t agree that our voice is to be silenced as is now being proclaimed. Values of the humanist are now being proclaimed as the only ones worthy to have place and predominance in the public places of society. Believers, if we don’t stand up for our Christian values and principles then we have no one to blame if they are completely forgotten. Christians are being shoved into the closet, while every way and thought that is against God’s will is coming out of the closet and being condoned and accepted as good and right. Thus proving that mans’ ways are right in his own sight. We are truly living in a world where right is made wrong, and wrong is accepted as good.

We are constantly told that, “We can’t force our beliefs on others.” Okay, but then look at what is happening. The values of the secularists are being forced on us. So the result is that the only acceptable values are theirs and ours are being cast out and “trodden under foot of men.”
Look at one incident that happened recently in Washington D.C. A group of young believers, standing on public property in front of one of the monuments, spontaneously began to sing our national anthem. A security officer came up and told them to stop as it was not aloud in the public forum to do so. What happened? The young people’s voices were silenced by the persuasion of the power of intimidation, tyranny.

The hate crimes that have recently been passed are really what amounts to be criminalizing thought. They are mainly directed at silencing our pastors from preaching the full Word of God. John Hagee was recently sued for saying that we are under attack of Islamic Fascists. He won the case at the cost of $10,000,000. It’s politically correct to trash and bash Chrisitians in every arena, but the Islamic religion is treated as though it were a sacred cow. People who believe that the practice of the sin of homosexuality is not acceptable to God as taught in His Word, are now bigots and hate mongerers. The thought police say that we are guilty of a crime for our beliefs. Yet, where is the cry of outrage when women are stoned to death for just being seen in the company of another man other than their husband. The life of a turtle is protected by the building of special tunnels as a route of passage across roadways, but viable babies as late as nine months are aborted in the name of womens’ Right to Choose.

This is accepted and condoned as right in the eyes of man. The hate crimes and thought police are only aimed against doing away with Chrisitan values.

I thought tolerance was suppose to be a two way street. I have family members that are practicing homosexuals. God loves them, even if they don’t love or obey Him. Anyone who says that God hates homosexuals is a liar and the love of God is not shed abroad in his heart. God says that we are all sinners and have fallen short of the mark. He loved us first, even when we did not know Him or worship Him. He does not want any of us to perish, but rather desire that we would all have eternal life through faith in Jesus our Lord and Savior. Each of us is given the liberty of free will, to reject God’s ways or to believe and walk in obedience. That being said, Chrisitans are being criminalized, not tolerated, for their belief that practicing homosexuality is a sin.

There are laws against beating, killing others, etc. and they should be enforced fully. A crime is a crime and therefore should be punished. But criminalizing “thought” that may or not be attached to a crime therefore assumes that reading the mind of the offender is a valid bases for prosecution as a second crime added to the first. This is very close to the assertions put forth in a recent movie whereby persons were arrested and tried for crimes that they were suspected of committing some time in the future, rather than a crime that had actually been committed. Criminalizing thoughts or beliefs is tyranny, not valid rule of law.

Daniel was thrown into the lion’s den because He continued to openly worship the one true living God, and he refused to bow down and worship any other person or being. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were thrown into the fiery furnace because they refused to bow down and worship an idol, but stood, even to the death, for their belief and commitment to the one true and living God. Christians, where is that same willingness to stand and speak in boldness for our right to practice our faith even in the public arena, even at the cost of being ridiculed and persecuted? We can continue to cower and bow down to the politically correct “gods” of the present religion of Humanism, or choose to stand and live our lives boldly for God. Where is our boldness to stand, pray, and praise God in any place whether in be in private or public? When those around us tell us that we can not pray at a football game, what would happen if all believers refused to bow to the tyrannical rule of the secular world, but stood in mass in prayer or praise to our Lord?

I witnessed something the other day that occurred at a board meeting that simply warmed my heart. Someone asked, “Are we going to open the meeting with the pledge of allegiance?”

The official leading the meeting began to expound on the inappropriateness of doing so. While she was doing so, someone boldly stood up and began reciting the allegiance. Before you knew it, many others stood and they all joined in. This was certainly an excellent example of the positive change that can occur when we are willing to stand for our values and stop the barrage of power that would have us be silenced forever.

We have bowed to and swallowed the lie that our praise to God is not acceptable, while the open ridicule of God is not only accepted but condoned. We are letting the world rob us of our saltiness. We have bowed to secular politically correctness to the point that we have actually received the lie that the body of Christ, collectively and individually, should be silent and hide our light under a bushel, or in the ‘closet’. When Martin Luther King began practicing peaceful civil disobedience to right the wrongs of society against people of color, he was first willing to stand as one lone voice crying in the dark, when all else around him said, “No, be silent or you will pay a great price.” Then a few others began standing with him, in spite of the ridicule and danger. He, and others, knew the danger they were placing themselves in. Yes, eventually it cost him his life. He was fighting for equality and the hope that one day people would be looked at not for the color of their skin, but for the quality of their character; as one race-the human race. Where is that self same willingness to begin as one crying in the dark, that others may be then inspired to join with us against the evils of this increasingly godless world? Christians, be the bold army of God that we were meant to be. “If God be for us, who can be against us?” Throw off the bonds that would silence your voice and mine for, “Greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world.”

Ginger Rahn