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About Jesus Steve Sweetman Our
Reformatted World I
grew up as a child in the 1950's watching such shows as "Father
Knows Best", and "Leave It To Beaver" on a black and
white TV that was more than half the size of our refrigerator.
Those days have long since disappeared into the clouds of
antiquity. As a child I
recall adults talking about George Orwell's book entitled
"1984" as a dreaded future possibility.
The book painted a picture of
"big brother", an oppressive government, that my
parent's generation both feared and detested. I
was recently reminded of Orwell's book while listening to the Hal
Lindsey Report. Orwell wrote
about something he called "newspeak".
"Newspeak" is the process by which words are purposely
redefined in order to steer society into a different direction.
In computer language, it's "reformatting" a
generation's thinking processes so that a new social/political order can
be downloaded into their society. This
"reformatting" of our social conscience is almost complete.
"1984" came a bit late, but despite all the concerns my dad's
generation had, it has arrived. Do
you remember when society defined "gay" as "being
joyful"? Changing the
meaning of this word has helped create a whole new social consciousness.
According to a recent ABC news survey, 52% of Americans are now
in favour of same sex marriages.
The
Christian church isn't much different than the world around us in this
respect. "Faith"
no longer means "trusting Jesus with your life".
It means "the Baptist faith, the Muslim faith, the Jewish
faith …" Many of us
haven't even noticed this word being redefined.
Barak
Obama is said by some to be the first president of the United States
who is a product of the 1960's philosophical ideals.
During the 1960's "newspeak" dramatically accelerated
its pace, changing the way a whole generation thought.
A man heavily influenced by "newspeak" is now in the
White House, redefining a whole nation's reason to exist. Under
his direction, America
is now in the process of legislating "newspeak" and the
philosophical ideals of the 1960's.
The socialism seen in Orwell's book is becoming the law of the
land. How
should Christians respond to these social changes?
The answer centers on the significance of the Bible.
It's the foundation of our belief system.
We must understand Biblical truth sufficiently enough to know
what we believe and why, and then make a public stand for these truths.
Many Christians don't really care about what they believe, so
there is no reason for them to stand up for anything.
The post-modern church has been influenced by
"newspeak", redefining the reason for the Bible and church's
existence. I call this
idolatry. Like We've
allowed the Bible to lose it's place of prominence in both the church
and society. Note the
following verses. They are
disturbing to many, and demonstrate how "archaic" the Bible
has become. "In
the beginning God created the heavens and the earth". - Genesis
1:1 "The
Lord is a warrior… You (God) unleashed your burning anger" -
Exodus 15:3 and 7 "…
God gave them over to shameful lusts … women exchanged natural
relations with unnatural ones … men committed indecent acts with other
men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their
perversion." "I
(Jesus) am the way … No one comes to the Father except through
me." - John 14:6 "I
(God) hate divorce." - Malachi 2:16 "Out
of His (Jesus') mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the
nations … He treads the winepress of the fury of God Almighty."
- Revelation 19:15 "…because
you are lukewarm … I am ready to spit you out of my mouth." -
Revelation 3:16 I'll
stop there. Really, I hardly
knew what verses to choose. The
whole Bible is out of step with our "reformatted world".
Bible believers are dated relics from the past.
We have two choices. We
concede to the prevailing philosophies, or we stand up for Jesus.
Certain
Bible passages are now seen to be hate literature, and if read in
public, constitute a hate crime. Some
day you or I might find ourselves standing in a court of law for
publicly reading certain Bible passages.
Some Christians are in that position right now.
If that is what it means to stand up for Jesus, then so be it.
We will join the ranks of countless other believers throughout
history and the world who have found themselves in the same position. Our
"reformatted world" is in direct opposition to Biblical truth.
Peter warned us about this
when he told us to "rescue ourselves from this present corrupt
age." (Acts 2:40) His
heart felt conviction was to obey God rather than man. (Acts 4:19)
May we have the same conviction.
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