In 1928 a young German theologian – insightful beyond his years – and reflecting upon the German Church, wrote, “We build him a temple, but we live in our own houses.” Sunday morning services had become a place “into which one gladly withdraws for a couple of hours, but only to get back to one’s place of work immediately afterward.”
In his concern that there was far too little serious relationship between professing Christians and the God in Whom they said they believed, he wrote, “…if the word of God once became present only in Christ, then Christ has not only relative but absolute, urgent significance for me.” “The religion of Christ,” he said, “is not a tidbit after one’s bread; on the contrary, it is the bread or it is nothing. People should at least understand and concede this if they call themselves Christian.”
At 22 years of age, Dietrich Bonhoeffer clearly understood that Jesus of Nazareth was Who He claimed to be and that becoming a committed follower of Christ had enormous ramifications for our lives. Recognizing this, he said, “It is now of importance for us to clarify the seriousness of this matter and to extricate Christ from the secularization process in which he has been incorporated since the Enlightenment.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was right then and he is right now. ‘Secularizing’ Christ and Christianity is to allow the world to turn the living God and the words He has spoken into just another man made religion to be ignored or manipulated to serve man’s purposes, not God’s. Christians in Germany, with the exception of those deeply committed to Christ’s rule and reign as LORD over all nations, were unwilling to stand in the face of the impending darkness, prefering the ‘safety’ of doing ‘Der Fuhrer’s bidding rather than face the persecution and suffering that would follow.
Disemboweled of the power of the God they said they served by the littleness of their faith, they became subservient to the state. Capitulating to the fear of man rather than standing in the fear of God, the Church allowed the state to override it’s doctrines, lay heavy regulations on non conforming pastors, and place the Church of the living God under the authority of the most satanically led mad man in modern history.
American Christians are making the same mistake when they vote for godless, and self serving leaders who choose to override the laws of God, supress the voice of God’s people, and overturn our Christian institutions. It will lead most certainly to the demise of the nation.
It need not be so! As the largest voting block in America, Evangelical Christians have the votes to replace darkened minds and hearts with men and women of character and moral conviction. . . if they but would! However, millions refuse to VOTE!
The remaining Primaries and General Election will reveal if America is on the road to recovering it’s better angels, or on the dismal path to serfdom from which we will be chained until Christ returns. The determining factor – for better or for worse – will be we Christians. Will we exercise our commitment to Christ and the teachings of His Word by calling our brethren to their minimal citizenship duty? Will we turn out by the millions instead of thousands in the remaining Primaries to cast our ballots for candidates who have demonstrated their commitmnt to the things that matter to God? Or will we succumb to the misguided secular and non Christian cultic compromising so prevalent in America today?
A historic witness to the demise of a nation
David Crowe
President, Restore America