Given the events of the last
five years or so, born again Christians in Scotland could be forgiven for
feeling that their faith and way of life is under attack. Assailed on all sides
by a variety of aggressive, unholy forces, 21st century Scotland has
become a hostile environment for true believers.
On the one hand there is a
seemingly unstoppable rising tide of humanism, secularism and militant atheism.
These ‘politically savvy’ forces are supported by a mass media with an agenda
that is determined to ridicule, satirise and relegate Bible-believing
Christians to the margins of society.
On the other hand
Christians, particularly evangelicals have done themselves no favours. Decades
of inept, self absorbed leadership simply ignored the far reaching changes
taking place in society. Recent frantic activity by those who have wakened up
to what was happening was ‘too little too late’ to prevent same-sex marriage
becoming enshrined in law. The failure of Christians to prevent this measure
reaching the statute book has simply opened the way to future discrimination
against those who take a stand for Christ in the workplace and in other
settings. Already branded as irrational,
bigoted, practisers of a faith that is out of date and out of step with
contemporary Scotland, mature true believers are now under no illusion of the
magnitude and intensity of the spiritual battle that they are now in.
Tragically many of those who
are part of Scotland’s varied evangelical community have no idea that they are
even in a spiritual battle. Weak and selective Bible teaching designed to
appeal to the ‘felt needs’ of the unbeliever has undermined the authority of
the scriptures. In some of our ‘happy-clappy’ evangelical churches the
realities of sin, confession, repentance and holiness have been consigned to
the back burner. Many Christians rarely read their Bibles, preferring the books
of ‘pseudo-Christian’ psychologists and dream interpreters which on close
examination are ‘more Harry Potter’ than Holy Spirit.
The Apostle Paul knew a
thing or two about standing for Christ in a hostile environment, ultimately
laying down his life. In his letter to the believers in the city of Ephesus he
said: “Therefore put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil
comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done
everything, to stand.”
If the world was perfect, we
wouldn’t need any armour, but Paul wrote about being a Christian in a hostile,
non-Christian world. Like it or not, we can’t live our whole lives surrounded
by Christians.
The next series of posts
will consider in detail how true believers can take practical steps to arm
themselves for the battle. In the meantime we can take heart from the Apostle’s
uplifting and motivating words to these early believers:
“Finally, be strong in the
Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armour of God so that you can
take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against
flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the
powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the
heavenly realms.”
No comments:
Post a Comment