The American church is in the process of repeating the history of the German church in the 1930’s. During that time, the church was largely silent in pushing back against a tide of evil that took the lives of more than 60 million people. The church has been called by God to be the pillar and foundation of truth and to be salt and light in a dark world. But where is the church in America today? One could argue that it is in decline, confused, compromised even complicit in the spiritual battle raging in America.
The church is not a political entity. We are not called to be ambassadors of any party or organization. However, we are called to be ambassadors for Christ. That calls for involvement in our communities, schools and families. In his book, “Letter to the American Church”, Eric Mataxas exhorts the church to not follow the failure of Germany’s churches. The threats to our freedom today in our First Amendment are grievous.
We are given the God given right to free speech and freedom of religion. That means the ability to call sin sin! If we are not doing that, the church has no message. Toleration does not include whitewashing evil. All the prophets in the Old Testament were continuously challenging leadership with consequences for abandoning God and His laws.Those same consequences apply to any nation that violates God’s Word. God will not be mocked. If we say we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar (1 John 1:10).
When was the right time for the German church to confront Hitler? It did not happen. Dietrich Bonhoeffer did and he paid with his life. In his book, “The Cost of Discipleship” Bonhoeffer was taking a stand against apathy and withdrawal from the evil totalitarian activities of the German government. Eric Mataxas piggybacks on the same theme and seeks to shake up Christian leadership to consider the moral responsibility to speak out.
America will never repent and come back to God unless it confesses sin and asks for forgiveness from God. The change could come in a dramatic revival but more than likely it will come one person at a time. That ‘s where we come in as Ambassadors for Christ. What can we do?
Share the Gift! Easter is April 9th. Send the Easter video as the Holy Spirit leads you during the next 6 weeks. Finally, consider buying “Letter to the American Church” and giving it to your pastor.
