by: Allen Domelle
When the news started coming out regarding the mass shooting in Roseburg, Oregon, many Americans were horrified by the atrocity. According to an interview with a victim’s mother on CNN, the victim said the shooter asked people one-by-one what their religion was. He asked them, “Are you a Christian?” and if you are a Christian then stand up. He would then say, “Good, because you’re a Christian, you are going to see God in just about one-second.” He then shot and killed them. There is no doubt this young man was troubled, but I believe that he is a product of this present-day society.
We wonder how this savagery happened, and I believe part of the blame for this anti-Christian atmosphere and lack of respect for life can be placed on the Obama administration. His administration has created an atmosphere in which the value of life has been minimized, especially the lives of Christians. When Christians are beheaded in the Middle East and our president does nothing to stop these atrocities but is quick to lecture Christians about being more tolerant, it is no wonder that we see this hatred towards Christians. When the President and liberals call the murder of innocent babies in the womb being chopped up like butcher shop meats being simply baby tissue used for studies, it is no wonder that there is no value of life amongst our young people. When the President says that sodomite rights are more important than religious freedom, it is no wonder that people hate Christians. This President has done nothing but create a hateful atmosphere towards Christians by pushing his anti-Christian, pro-Muslim, baby killing agenda.
Yet, though all this has contributed to the present day atmosphere, I don’t believe this is the only reason. What is going on in America is also the result of the apathetic attitude that Christians have had in the past couple decades. When Christians take a back seat while the Word of God is attacked and won’t say anything or take a stand because of their loyalty to an institution or personality, we have no reason to complain about this present-day environment. We are to blame! We are the ones to blame when we allow the doctrines of the faith to be attacked by modern day Balaam’s who focus their attack on those who take a strong stand for truth by calling them hate-mongers and communists. When Christians water down truth, holiness and Christian values so they can justify their worldly lifestyles, it is no wonder that we are not making an impact on the lives of individuals. Why should this world want what a Christian has when we are watering down what the Scriptures clearly teach us to do?
The only hope for changing the anti-Christian atmosphere that we are experiencing today in America is to change the hearts of individuals. You will never change the hearts of individuals with more gun laws. Guns are not the problem; the heart of man is a problem. The only reason that people have more mental issues today than ever before is because we have not changed the hearts of these individuals. You can prescribe more medication to try and fix the problem or even institutionalize troubled people thinking that will fix the problem, but the problem is still the heart of man. The Bible says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9) We will not change this present atmosphere until we change the heart of man, and the only way you can change the heart of man is by introducing people to the only Saviour, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the only One Who can change the heart and give a troubled person a new heart.
I believe there are several things we as Christians can do to help change the current atmosphere in our nation.
1. We must boldly proclaim that we are a Christian.
Paul said in Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” We will never change the present-day atmosphere until we become bold about proclaiming our Christianity to the world. Stop trying to hide and or blend in, but be bold in proclaiming your Christianity. Stop apologizing for scriptural and Christian values; instead, continue to stand without apology boldly showing people from the Scriptures why you believe these truths.
2. We must become more aggressive in our attempts to reach the lost for Jesus Christ.
Our feeble attempts to reach the lost have contributed to the mass amount of people who have been influenced by the anti-Christian propaganda. When a person get saved, it changes who they are. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” Christ is the only answer to changing the heart of man, and they will never be reached until Christians start telling people about a Saviour Who can save them from their sins.
3. Our churches must organize our Sunday schools better so we can teach Christians the truths of God’s Word.
Sadly, our churches have minimized the very part of the church where people are taught Christian doctrine and values. That arm of the church is the Sunday school. The average Sunday school is disorganized and dysfunctional. It is no wonder that young Christians drop out of church. They don’t drop out because of the standards of holiness that certain churches enforce, but they drop out because they are not being taught what the Scriptures teach during the Sunday school hour. Stop apologizing for teaching the Word of God in the Sunday school. I recently saw that a church shortened their Sunday school to a thirty-minute period. Why? If the Word of God has the answers of life then we need to be sure we give time each week to indoctrinate people in the doctrines of the Scriptures. The world certainly gives more than thirty minutes every week to teach their doctrine through television, the public schools and news media. Let’s organize the teaching arm of Sunday school and teach the Scriptures.
4. Christians must pray that God will change the atmosphere of this nation.
James 5:16 says, “…The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” Prayer is the answer to changing the present-day atmosphere. James 4:2 says, “Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.” I ask you, when is the last time you have prayed fervently for your nation? Only God has the power to change what is going on in our nation. 2 Chronicles 7:14 is still true today when it says, “ If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” God has given Christians the recipe to turning a nation around, and He will be more than willing to change our situation if we will turn from our wickedness and pray.
5. We need to admit our iniquity and sins.
I understand that liberal policies have contributed to the present-day situation, but it is our sins that have caused God not to intervene. I am reminded of Ezra and Israel who confessed their sins to God and said, “Since the days of our fathers have we been in a great trespass unto this day; and for our iniquities have we, our kings, and our priests, been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, and to a spoil, and to confusion of face, as it is this day.” (Ezra 9:7) We must stop pointing at others and take responsibility for our own actions. It is our sins as Christians that have brought America to the point where she sits today. It is our sins of compromise and lethargy that have wooed our society into an anti-Christian sentiment. Christians need to stop pointing their fingers at others and look at themselves and see what they need to change.
6. Stop hiding your Christianity and live it.
I’m not against tweeting #IamAChristian, but living it is better than tweeting it. Christianity is not a tweet or a Sunday appointment. It is a life that is supposed to be lived 24/7. We will never change this society until we become 24/7 Christians.