Why is the U.S. Church Mocked and Rejected?: full transcript and answers

▶ 0:00 And we thank you and appreciate you joining us in further pursuit of clarity on crucial choices. Today we’re going to ask the question: has the United States of America church made the best choices? Or, why is the United States church mocked and rejected today? Now, we know from history there have been four great spiritual awakenings. The first was in 1730, preceding the Revolutionary War and preparing us for it. The second was in 1800 through 1840, where alcohol, tobacco, the abolition of slavery and women’s rights was addressed.

▶ 0:52 The third one was 1850 through the 1900s, and pre- and post-Civil War, and they address the social ills of the drunks, the orphans, the widows and so forth. The fourth was in 1948 through ‘80, where the Holy Spirit was poured out, miracles happened, praise and worship was introduced to the church, unity. And in the, the secular world, In God We Trust was put on our money in 1954, and One Nation Under God was put in our pledge in 1956, and throughout the ‘50s millions of Americans made a decision to serve Jesus Christ. Now, why do we need four awakenings? Well, when you go to sleep, you have to be reawakened, either by yourself naturally or an alarm. In Matthew 13:25 Jesus said, while men slept, his enemies came and sowed tares among the wheat. So the children of the wicked one, the children of Satan, among the wheat, while men slept. And so that’s what happens when the church goes to sleep: we need an awakening. In the ‘60s, Bible, prayer and Jesus was put out of public places and public schools; the sexual revolution and evolution was replacing them.

▶ 2:14 In the ‘70s, abortion, drugs, homosexual agenda and rock and roll was the main focus of America. In the ‘80s, corrupt activist leaders fighting against these evils, and corrupt ministers and priests were exposed; many gave up the fight and left the enemy seeds to grow by themselves. In the ‘90s, psychology, grace and faith, entertainment, seeker-friendly church, intellectual reasoning replaced the Holy Spirit’s power and the power of the Bible. It took between the previous awakenings was 10, 30 and 50 years. There is 30 years between the last awakening and the one we are looking for. Now, what are the reasons for mockery and rejection of Christians? Christians talk like crazy, like they’re crazy. First Corinthians 14:9: unless you utter by the tongue words easy to understand. Verse 23: they will, will they not say that you are out of your mind? You are, you people are nuts.

▶ 3:23 In First Peter 4:14, if you’re insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, and happy are you. But if you’re insulted as an evildoer, you are not blessed. And so our behavior and our speech invite mockery and rejection and insults. Eternal salvation: here’s some, a list of some insane Christian speech. Once saved, always saved from sin, sin’s penalty, that they have wrath, and Satan. That’s like saying the blind man and the leper and all them that got healed from their diseases would never have to be delivered from sickness again, when Jesus said, go and sin no more, lest something worse come upon you. You don’t get something for nothing; you got to back up your salvation with proper behavior.

▶ 4:19 Another one is faith only. All I got to do is believe God, get rich, don’t have to go to college, don’t have to learn a job skill. God, God, faith to get me rich, faith will get me healthy, faith to get me healing, don’t need medicine, I don’t need doctors. Uh, eternal life, faith is all there is, no matter how I live, I, faith is it. Pray only: pray for a job, don’t have to get in a job skill, don’t have to get an education, just pray for a job; pray for healing; pray to pass the college examination or my [unclear] test; just pray; just pray for the wicked to be saved in America, that’s all I got to do. You know, that’s insane talk. Imminent or predicted time of Jesus’ return: for hundreds of years the church world, he’s coming any minute, he’s coming soon, he’s coming in a minute, he’s coming soon, and he hasn’t come any minute and he hasn’t come soon. So we sound like a bunch of idiots.

▶ 5:21 Then we predicted years, from LaHaye to all these other authors predicting the coming of Christ, and they all missed, including, uh, Smith of Calvary Chapel. We claim interpretation of the books in the Bible, of Revelation and Daniel and Ezekiel, when the authors didn’t even know what they meant, but oh, we know what they mean, and we sound crazy. Tongues without interpretation: First Corinthians plainly says people are going to think you’re nuts. False healings: people have been proclaimed to be healed that died. Prophecy that didn’t come to pass. And so yes, when we talk like that, when our doctrines and our speeches like that, the humanists think we are a bunch of nuts. We invite the insults.

▶ 6:25 And so we’re going to look into why Christians are insulted and mocked because of their behavior. Sectarian issues that we divide over that directly hurt no one, like water baptism, tongues, worship, second coming, anointing or holy water, women in the ministry, hair, clothing, jewelry and so forth. They hurt nobody. Why in the world do we fight and argue over things that don’t physically or financially, mentally hurt anybody? And the humanists look at us and go, man, you guys are a bunch of crackpots, all of you are saying the different things. And so they insult us and they mock us, and we invite it in our behavior. We may, we commit crime or sin that humanists commit or don’t commit; as the Bible says, even the pagans don’t do this, he told the Corinthian church. And yet we say we got eternal life and they’re going to the lake of fire, and so the people outside of the church go, that’s insane, that’s nuts, you’re no different than I am.

▶ 7:40 And Galatians 5:20 plainly tells us how Christians are supposed to be behaving: no idolatry, no sorcery, no witchcraft, no hatred, no quarreling and jealousies and outburst of anger, selfish ambition, I gotta have it my way or no way, rebellion, heresies, we invent our own doctrines, envy, murders, drunkenness, unlawful sex, whether it’s homosexuality, adultery, incest or whatever. Plus you got the Ten Commandments: thou shall not murder, steal; you’re supposed to honor your parents; you’re not supposed to be greedy; you’re not supposed to lie. And Christians are supposed to work and provide for their own self, and you put one day aside and you assemble in the church to learn about God and worship him. And so when we violate these things, the humanists, they mock us and they laugh at us, because we invite it by our behavior as well as our speech. In James 4:17:

▶ 8:42 He who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin. Christianity is about doing good. First Peter 3:10: let him refrain his tongue from evil and his tongue from deceit; let him turn from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. We’re supposed to be people that do good, folks. First Peter 2:14: governors are for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. And so we need to be involved in politics and in government, because we need to be promoting good, and that’s what Christianity is, it’s good. Now, how do we prevent insane and insult reactions? Many theological doctrines directly hurt no one.

▶ 9:37 So let’s stop mistreating and shunning those that disagree with our petty little doctrines. We got more important things to work on. The Bible now is summed up in two doctrines. The Bible says on these two doctrines hang all the law and the prophets, the whole book. Another scripture says it is the law and the prophets. And these two doctrines summarize the Bible, and humanists are wrong when they say the Bible is a bunch of lies, because there’s nothing wrong with these two doctrines. First one is to love God, Matthew 22:40. And Romans 13 tells us that love does no harm to his neighbor, therefore love fulfills the law, and everyone has to agree we should not be harming each other, whether you’re a humanist, an atheist or a Christian. That is a good law, and that sums up the Bible. The next one is love your neighbor as yourself, that’s the second one. And to clarify it, he says in Matthew 7:12, treat others as you would have them treat you.

▶ 10:45 You don’t want robbed, don’t rob. You don’t want people talking bad about you, don’t talk about bad about other people, you see. And how can anyone fault that issue? First Corinthians 13 clarifies love: patience; love is kind; it’s not envious; it’s not rude; it’s not proud; it doesn’t brag about itself; doesn’t promote evil; doesn’t think evil; is not eagerly angered, easily angered; and it doesn’t demand its own way. Here it is again, I want my way. And it never quits; love never gives up. So the bottom line is, Bible morality, doing good, is the priority doctrine of the Bible and what the Bible is all about. First Corinthians 5:11 says if there’s a brother who claims to be a Christian and he is sexually immoral, he’s greedy, he’s a, he’s an idolater, a drunkard, an extortioner, don’t keep company with him. You say, there is no theology listed here, just harmful behavior by believers, how we’re supposed to react to believers who are sinning, so that they can correct themselves.

▶ 12:09 No theology at all. Romans 13 again says civil penalty of evildoers: the civil government’s there to penalize evildoers, to punish them for correction, not theology, and they’re there to honor the good. God and spiritual things, God can and will deal with them. And the conclusion is this: we need as Christians to speak and behave in a manner that doesn’t invite these things, and respond with love to love violators. That’s the way of our Creator.