When the Enemy Comes in Like a Flood

Rainbows everywhere, but they sure are not God’s rainbow. The inundation in the West of all things homosexual is shocking to behold. It is a tsunami of evil crashing over everything in its path. And the greatest casualty in all this is the Christian church.

Yet tragically most Christians are utterly clueless as to the deliberate strategy of the homosexual lobby. They would never have read any of their literature, books, or war manuals. Thus they are blissfully ignorant of the fact that the Christian church has long been a target of the homosexual militants, and their aim is to entirely shut down its resistance and opposition to the homosexual agenda.

tsunami 1And sadly they are achieving many of their stated aims and objectives. Thus we need to be very clear here as to what this fight is all about. We must know the battle plans and take steps to counter them. We need to know about the homosexual attack on Christianity in general, and we need to know how to deal with the latest full-frontal attack, the Supreme Court ruling.

There are various ways to respond – some good and some bad. The really bad way is for the church to simply put up the rainbow flag of surrender and jump into bed with the activists. Far too many churches have already capitulated and caved in, and are now simply dupes for the homosexual agenda. Those who have gone for this option are utter apostates and are not real followers of Jesus Christ.

Another bad option is to get all wishy-washy and mealy-mouthed about this. Many churches are sort of resisting but sort of caving in here. They are half-way houses, pretending to still be Christian, but falling for too much of the homosexual ideology.

They end up being apologists for evil, making excuses for sin while putting all the blame on the church. Plenty of articles along these lines have appeared recently. One I just came across. It has a few OK points, but most of it is utter baloney.

It is far too much about capitulation, excuse making, and letting the militants off the hook. I refer to a piece by a Canadian pastor entitled, “Some Advice on Same-Sex Marriage for US Church Leaders From a Canadian”. Sadly much of it is lousy advice which we should avoid like the plague.

He offers five points:
1. The church has always been counter-cultural
2. It’s actually strange to ask non-Christians to hold Christian values
3. You’ve been dealing with sex outside of traditional marriage for a LONG time
4. The early church never looked to the government for guidance
5. Our judgment of LGBT people is destroying any potential relationship

His first one is true enough, properly understood. But that does not mean we have no relationship to the surrounding culture, or that we should not give a rip about how it fares. We have a biblical obligation to be salt and light in the surrounding culture, not just to sit back and say we don’t care about it and how it progresses – or regresses.

His second point is just plain silly. No it is not strange. Are we to really say that it’s fine for non-Christians to run red lights or not pay their taxes or cheat on their spouses because they are non-believers and therefore can’t help it? Baloney! We expect everyone in civil society to follow the law, most of which can be found to have biblical values behind them, such as laws on theft, lying, and so on.

Point three is typical fuzzy thinking. Yes there is plenty of sexual sin out there. Does that mean we stay silent on the homosexual war against faith, family and freedom? We should challenge all sexual sin. But it is foolish in the extreme to pretend that all sins are equal here.

The activist homosexual agenda is in a class of its own, and must be confronted. As Jonathan Parnell writes, “Homosexuality Is Not Like Other Sins”. He says in part:

But as far as I know, none of those sins is applauded so aggressively by whole groups of people who advocate for their normalcy. Sexual immorality is no longer the tip of the spear for the progressive push. Adultery is still frowned upon by many. Accusations of greed will still smear a candidate’s political campaign. Thievery is still not openly embraced, and there are no official initiatives saying it’s okay to go take things that don’t belong to you….
Perhaps excepting fornication, these sins are still seen in a pretty negative light. But not homosexual practice, not by those who are now speaking loudest and holding positions of prominence. According to the emerging consensus, homosexuality is different.

I also speak to how not all sins are the same here: https://billmuehlenberg.com/2010/11/12/are-all-sins-equal-part-one/

And a quote attributed to Luther which is the word of the hour: “If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved, and to be steady on all the battle front besides is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point.”

Point four is a red herring and straw man. Of course the church did not look to the government for guidance, but the church has always had to deal with government. The simple biblical truth is this: God created both institutions: the church and the state. So Christians have an obligation to both. Just pretending we can somehow transcend politics and government is unbiblical and unhelpful.

His last point is woeful, and he has fallen for all the secular humanist nonsense about judging. Telling the truth about homosexuality or anything else is not judging – it is telling the truth, something we are commanded to do. And of course a homosexual or any other sinner will get ticked off when you speak truth to them about their sinful lifestyle and their need to repent. Jesus got people angry all the time as he spoke truth to them.

A better way forward for the Christian church is to know what we are up against and take a stand. Stop making excuses, stop surrendering, and stop compromising. Now is the time for the church to stand strong. David French is absolutely right to declare, “The Church Will Survive Gay Marriage if It Sticks to Its Guns”. He writes:

At the end of the day, a church that conforms to the world is no church at all. It’s a social club that asks for money. The church can and will survive persecution. It will not survive faithlessness. This is both a theological and historical truth.
Defiance, however, means more than merely ensuring that your church or your Christian school doesn’t change its policies. It means more than still donating to your church even if the day comes when you can’t deduct the contribution. It means a willingness to lose your job, your prosperity, and the respect of your peers. It means saying no every time you are compelled to applaud or participate in the sexual revolution. It means standing beside fellow Christians who face persecution or job loss — not just shaking your head and thinking, “There, but for the grace of God . . . ” It means having the courage to proclaim an opposing message — even during mandatory diversity training, even when you fear you might lose your job, and even when you’re terrified about making your mortgage payment. And through it all, it means being kind to your enemies — blessing those who persecute you.
But being kind to one’s enemies does not mean surrendering to them. I’ll never forget the first time I feared for my job because of my faith. In the midst of my first major religious liberty case — defending a small, rural church against a plainly unconstitutional government action — a senior partner at my firm called and demanded that I drop the lawsuit. He believed the firm’s reputation would suffer for representing an Evangelical church. As a second-year associate, I had no power or standing to defy his order, so — after discussing it with my wife and pondering my own mortgage payment — I summoned up my courage, walked into the managing partner’s office, and simply and respectfully said, “I’m not withdrawing from the case. I understand if you feel like you have to fire me, but I can’t abandon the church.” To my immense relief, I kept my job — and the case, which ended up launching my constitutional career.
I tell that story not to proclaim myself as a model for others — I have more than my share of failings, and that small act of defiance hardly merits mention — but simply to say that this is an old problem. Even in the U.S., Christians who’ve not yet faced these tests likely will, and soon. When they do, it is the church’s responsibility to ensure that they not do so alone. As the church stands, it must remember that our present troubles are meaningless compared to the deadly challenges facing the church in the Middle East. And, always, we must remember who controls our destiny.
In the book of First Kings, Elijah faced a wave of persecution and mortal danger beyond anything any American has faced on American soil. He felt alone — terrified that all was coming to an end. He declared to God, “I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” God’s response echoes through the ages: No, Elijah was not alone. He had reserved 7,000 in Israel who’d never bowed to Baal. God will always preserve his people. All we have to fear are our own buckling knees.

Right now the homosexual avalanche is reaching epidemic proportions. Now is not the time for cowardice or flight or compromise or worldliness. Now is the time to stand strong and do valiantly in the Lord’s might. As we are reminded in Isaiah 59:19, “When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.”

http://careynieuwhof.com/2015/06/some-advice-on-same-sex-marriage-for-us-church-leaders-from-a-canadian/
http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/why-homosexuality-is-not-like-other-sins http://www.nationalreview.com/article/420489/same-sex-marriage-decision-church-must-keep-faith-religious-freedom?C8cXEdKzvlFibCUC.01

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9 Replies to “When the Enemy Comes in Like a Flood”

  1. If this does not shake supposed Christians out of their complacency what will? Now is the time to boldly declare what we stand for, not to run and hide.

    Thanks Bill for doing your best to keep the rest of us well informed about what is going on in this area.

  2. Thanks, Bill! Timely article. I once thought naively that, hey, I was very fortunate that I lived in Australia and never had to face a war on our shores. But then I realised, I was wrong. There was indeed a war going on. A continual battle in fact. Satan and his minions were fighting for the minds and souls of every individual here. And this was being played out with a war on unborn babies, on marriage, on sexuality, on personhood, and so forth. Moreover, it was all really a war against God. Sadly men and women have intentionally and unintentionally bought into the big lie, and are rebelling against their Creator.

  3. Hi Bill, thanks for this post. It certainly addresses the questions I had about the article I referenced in your other post. If anyone is for clarity on the proper Christian positions in this world, this is definitely the place to come.

  4. Hi Damien, I agree that’s a great article by Feser. I read it earlier today, and while it can get bogged down in philosophical rhetoric, the real punch is in the last couple of paragraphs.

    I second Damien’s sentiment, go read it, it’s a great article.

  5. I was almost going to mention these “excuses types” in an earlier post after I saw a similar article but it seems their foolish ideas are spreading far and wide. Even though these Christians claim to agree with us, some are almost celebrating the SCOTUS farce as though it’s somehow an indictment against those of us who have been fighting the culture war because, as always, we just aren’t “loving” enough or because “Christianity and politics don’t mix.”

    They claim the SCOTUS decision is actually okay but when you break down their faulty logic, they are actually claiming that the fall of the Christian West is a good thing. History tells us that the alternatives don’t work out so well. Even now, there’s a place on earth that is in many ways an inversion of the West – perhaps they would enjoy living under the extremely non-Christian values of the Islamic World or, better yet, the Islamic State?! They would sure stand out there as many of our brave bothers and sisters, who are laying down their lives, are finding out.

    They would seemingly prefer a society where children are taught the gospel under penalty of being removed from their parents if caught than the society built upon the Christian values of freedom to proclaim the testimony of Jesus far and wide. Do they ever wonder though at the reality that tens of millions of refugees flee most places in the world to find safety in the West? Imagine if there never was a Christian West!

    These – I think “postmodern Christians” is an accurate term – seem so apologetic that Christianity has shaped our culture but a quick glance at history suggests they clearly haven’t thought about the alternatives. Perhaps they would rather the West be shaped by the caste system under Hinduism with all its dump site children? Or sharia under Islam with all its relegation of women and children to property status? Comparatively, humanism is still young but we’ve already seen what society is shaped into under the Nazis and the various Communist regimes.

  6. For governments to say that to operate a business I have to promote homosexuality is to me like saying if you want to set up a business you have to attach a brothel. I will always do my best to treat people honestly and with respect, as the scriptures require but I will be also doing my best to not submit to the promotion of corruption, sin, debauchery and unhealthy behavior. These people have no right to say their immorality is superior to my morality and I have the evidence on my side and they certainly have no right to force me by law to promote their immorality, especially on the ridiculously flimsy justification they make. If they want to come down heavy as the Labor party proposes, they should have proof that homosexuality is not simply a sinful behavior and they have nothing of the sort.

  7. After several days I’m still processing the implications of the SCOTUS decision. Some Christians I know seem to think that there will be no adverse affects for any individual Christian, minister, congregation, denomination, or faith based organization. Needless to say, I don’t share their optimism. I’m actually very concerned.

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