A Disgusting Disgrace

A DISGUSTING DISGRACE

 

Thursday, May 2^nd was deemed the National Day of Prayer. It is a day in which ministers of all faiths are asked to participate. Yes, I said all faiths. All the current presidents pretend to believe in prayer and the entire spectacle is a show and a sham. And certain people are called to give testimonies and others are called to deliver messages. It is a self serving, back slapping demonstration of just how religious Americans are. But I am not sure there could be anything more irreligious and self righteous. Not only did the day after settle back down into the hedonistic norm, but the Day itself caused nary a ripple within a culture where man and his desires are god.

But here is a little news item which I believe is a prime example of how religious Americans can drum up a show of spiritual hubris during an orchestrated “prayer” breakfast which is more breakfast than prayer.

2013 HERE 

Now I do not know this rear admiral and I am sure he is sincere, but I want to point out just how deceived we can be. I will not address the paradox of a military man talking about faith in Christ. But this man was being “honored” because he shared his “faith” which sometimes crossed some legal code line. He clings to his constitutional rights. The chairman for the Day of Prayer, Greg Laurie, was also brought to the public forefront because he said that homosexuality was a sin and he was against same sex marriage. So far Jesus hasn’t even made a cameo. To be clear Jesus is conspicuously back pedaled since Muslims and Hindus and Jews are also asked to pray.

If you read the article the admiral received several standing ovations. Missionaries all over the world risk their lives to share the gospel and yet this man is revered because he "crosses the line" of constitutionality? Things like this serve to deepen the “us vs. them” attitude among believers. We applaud all these noble men and women who resist the laws in order to share their faith. Even if that were some form of authentic persecution we should not be sounding our own horns. Here is another man who was imprisoned because he preached the Lord Jesus and let us do a comparison after you read this.

1672 HERE 

I find it offensive to hold such self serving meetings, especially given that it took place on a blasphemous day dedicated to the celebration of all faiths and religions. That is pure idolatry. And yet this admiral is held in high esteem because he witnessed his faith? Allow me to present the Apostle Paul’s open assessment of Himself.

I Cor.4: ¹³ Being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day.

 

Offscouring? Can you imagine someone introducing Paal? And now our guest speaker named Paul, the offscouring of all things. I am not sure Paul would have been available. He was too busy travelling to bring the gospel across the entire Mediterranean while running for his life. He would have welcomed the buffet though since he was often hungry. What absolute shams we have concocted for our own entertainment.

These kinds of self adulations are in direct violation to the Spirit’s command that we should not think more highly of ourselves than we ought as well as being clothed with humility. And please notice that the admiral referred to the Constitution as securing his right to speak about Jesus to others. First of all any employer has the right to dictate what is permissible in his workplace, but secondly the atmosphere in such a meeting is decidedly self righteous and the applause on some level represents an approval of him exercising his “constitutional rights”. Yes, Christianity and patriotism continue to present a collective rather than two distinct and opposing truths.

But then recall the much different experience of John Bunyan. He had been called by God to preach and so he did…publicly. But he was warned over and over again not to preach unless he was formally licensed by the Church of England. Bunyan refused even under penalty of imprisonment. This man spent many years in prison but never acquiesced to the government. He was very poor and he had no nice navy suits and salary and pension. He was not asked to preach at a well catered banquet astonishingly called a “prayer” meeting. And he was never heard to complain or speak disparagingly about his guards or his plight. And while in prison instead of having people organize for his release, or people supplying him with food and necessities, he instead wrote “The Pilgrim’s Progress” which is the most widely read Christian book other than the Bible.

Once when his little ten year old little girl came to bring him some soup she almost tripped over a stool in the prison hall. The guard exhorted her to be careful but the little girl informed the guard that she was blind and could not see the stool. Go ahead and ingest that fact and compare it with air conditioned halls with fine linen table cloths and fruit cups and wonderful meals.

Interestingly enough Bunyan had served in the military for a few years and parts of his allegories drew from that experience. But instead of reveling in it Bunyan made a case for believers rejecting earthly violence in favor of doing battle in the Spirit for the cause of Christ. It is quite interesting how in this culture certain things are elevated and make a great impression of the masses. Money and power are predominant, but being a high officer in the military is also looked upon with great adoration even among believers. This violent culture appreciates violence when it is in the defense of that same culture. I believe the term is "self serving".

It is almost impossible to draw a complete picture of how incongruous these two narratives are. One is a wonderful party mixing nationalism with some kind of Christianity and everyone gets to go home and continue their lives having enjoyed a night of religious frivolity, while the other man goes to a dungeon and stays there away from his beloved family for years. Quite a contrast wouldn’t you say? To be honest this kind of modern self serving expressions of faith are most disgusting and do not in any way represent Christ.

But since the church has become so blind and deaf it embraces almost anything as long as there is no real sacrifice. And if perchance a believer gets some persecution that is so minor it cannot even be spoken in the same breath as men like Bunyan, well the mixed multitude called the community of faith will rise up and squawk like stuck pigs. Jesus bore the cross but we cannot bear even unkind words. The church in America is blind to a most important and obvious fact. The love of America has been one of the greatest and most clandestine forms of persecution the devil has ever employed.

Sit back and relax until May 1, 2014 when the next Day of Prayer will be held. Be sure and let the organizers know ahead of time whether you want chicken or steak at the banquet. Perhaps next year they will hand out bracelets with Bunyan's name inscribed on it.