The attack on religious liberty in America in the last nine months may be unprecedented, but it is doing much good for the church in America. Every attack seems to have resulted in a greater push for unity in the body of Christ, bringing together parts of the body that have never related to one another before in a significant way. This is definitely a good thing and will bear much fruit. There are also other ways that this assault is strengthening Christians in America, which we should understand.
It does not take supernatural discernment to understand that Christianity in America is a main target at this time, but it is also an attack on all faiths because the attack is on religious freedom. Even so, this will result in a greater advance of Christianity in America and ultimately greater freedom. Even the most blind or sleepy Christians cannot fail to understand that we are under attack and how serious those attacks are. The trumpet call is being heard by more and more as the church is mobilizing.
We are not to be ignorant of the devil’s schemes (see II Corinthians 2:11), and the manner in which the church in America is now coming under attack can be clearly seen. For example, one device that is obviously about to be used against the church is seen in the Obama Administration’s nomination of Chai Feldblum to head the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission). Her statements about religious liberty, or religious discrimination, infringing on other people’s right to be free of religion, as well as her proposals for lifting the freedom of religious institutions such as hospitals and charities to be exempt from having to hire those with lifestyles or beliefs that contradict their religious beliefs, are sure to cause many fundamental issues to come to a head. So what should we do?
Satan’s most powerful weapon is darkness—being hidden. These attacks are becoming so clear that he is obviously being forced out into the light. Subtleness is gone. Now we can see clearly where the enemy is attacking and can easily counter it. However, how do we counter it? Our goal is to turn what is meant for evil into good and to overcome evil with good. To do this, we must keep a right spirit, not becoming subject to fear or hatred, but maintaining the peace of God because we are told in Romans 16:20 that it will be “the God of peace” who will soon crush Satan under our feet.
In America, there may have never been such an attack on our faith that is now driving Christians to establish firmly what they believe. This will not only result in much stronger Christians, but in a much more clear presentation of the gospel in America.
For example, Christians are perceived as being anti-gay people, but I don’t think I know a single Christian who is. What they are against is much of “the gay agenda,” which is very different from being against gay people. The Word of God is clear—the Lord loves all people and desires for them to be saved. With the issues now so out in the open, it is a greater opportunity for the truth to shine and cast out the darkness.
Many of the extreme elements of the gay agenda cross the line to attack those of all faiths and infringe on the basic rights, not only of Christians, but on the moral teachings of many religions, imposing what their basic beliefs, which are considered to be immorality, on them. This is forcing many Christians to better understand biblical morality and why God is against immoral behavior.
Even so, most Christians also do not think it is right to try to impose our own morality on others, but neither should we be subjected to what they consider to be immorality being imposed on them. If we are going to talk about freedom, we must also include the freedom of others to not have our morality imposed on them. How is this going to work? There are clear, biblical answers, and we need to know them so we can walk resolutely in the truth.
It is now pretty clear that the Obama Administration is going to seek to use the government to impose immorality on the church, through the EEOC and other issues such as “the hate crimes bill,” which is another basic attack on religious liberty in America. This conflict is coming to a head. Where do we stand? What do we believe and why? If we fight these things, we want to do so for victory. So what will a true victory look like?
Christian legal organizations are gearing up for a big fight for our basic religious liberties. Some losses in the legal battle, such as hiring policies, will open the door to far worse things being imposed on the church. Just as the Apostle Paul demonstrated in his legal battle with the Jews in Jerusalem, which ultimately led to him appealing to Caesar, we do have to sometimes fight on that front with all the means that we have. This also provides a witness of God in those realms which is necessary for taking spiritual authority. Paul’s witness before Caesar may have seemed like a defeat since it cost him his life, but his resolute faithfulness to the gospel and his martyrdom ultimately opened the spiritual gates for Christianity to subdue the Roman Empire.
Our natural minds often cannot understand the ways of the Spirit, but to really understand the times, we must, which means we must have spiritual discernment. Spiritual discernment is not something that we cannot understand, as some Christians foolishly believe, but we must come up to a much higher perspective in order to understand. However, to understand, we must see from the perspective of a biblical worldview, something studies have revealed that only 3 percent of those who claim to be “born-again Christians” in America actually have. A biblical worldview is seeing the world from the perspective of the Bible, which is the Word of God.
To win this battle, we need to take our stand on the written Word. If Jesus, who is the Word, took His stand on “it is written” when attacked by the devil, how much more do we need to stand on what is written? There is sound, biblical truth that we can stand on in the present assault, which is what we want to stand on with every position we take.
The present assault on the basic pillars of our freedoms will end up being for our good. As stated, the challenge to know what we believe and why, is already strengthening the body of Christ. There are increasing signs that we truly are in the first stages of another Great Awakening. If the church continues to wake up, there is no doubt that truth will prevail and liberty will again be proclaimed throughout the land.
Now let’s ask some basic questions. Why are these freedoms in America so important? Christianity has grown and even prevailed where there has been little or no religious freedom. America is not the New Jerusalem, or the kingdom of God, so why is this battle so important for us to win? In the coming weeks, we will establish this, not just with human reasoning, but by the unshakable Word of God.
