Please disable your Ad Blocker to better interact with this website.

Opinion

ELECTION 2016: Referendum on American Christianity

There’s been a veritable warehouse full of ink used in writing about all the Clinton corruption…and that’s just during this election cycle. There’s no need at this stage of the game to increase that amount. I would hazard a guess that close to 95%+ of eligible voters have already decided who they’re supporting.
No, I suppose another article on an Internet web site won’t make much of a difference. However, I do want to put this out there. This is a different take on what this election fundamentally means to many of us: this election is a referendum on Christianity as we know it in the United States of America in the year 2016.

Okay, so you’re saying to yourself, “Geez, DeGroff has finally lost it.” No, not yet. I’ve occasionally felt like the proverbial party was over several times, but I’m not there yet. We’ve all heard that we’re “living in the last days” for years. I became a Christian in 1971 and almost immediately I started hearing “last days” theology. Sometimes it got to the point where it was just a bit much and I ignored it. While it’s Biblically sound that no one except God Himself knows when the last days of earth will be, I have been feeling that we’re actually now seeing the last days of the United States. And with the weakened state that the church in America is right now, a Hillary Clinton presidency will all but assure the continued harassment of Christianity, and perhaps even the outlawing of our faith altogether.

What’s really happening now is that the church for the most part is not preaching against the political evil that’s been a mainstay of the Obama administration, which will be perpetuated by a Clinton presidency.
Much has been written about the forcing of The Little Sisters of the Poor to provide abortion inducing drugs to their employees under Obamacare; Christian businesses being forced to provide services in situations counter to their beliefs; public prayer during school sporting events being prohibited, etc., etc. Remember also that Obama has gone out of his way to praise Islam every chance he gets. When it comes to Christianity, he either uses the Crusades as an example of the faith, or he’s telling us we’re on our high horse with our attitudes. Remember…Clinton will only double down on Obama’s policies.

In truth, we’ve brought a lot of this on ourselves. In Rev. 2:18-29, John discusses the church in Thyatira. Known as an example of the church in a state of total idolatry, there are some parallels to the modern church. Often, we’re more concerned about the latest Christian “fad”, be it in worship music (or Christian music in general), or the latest book, or latest seminar and/or retreat, the latest well known preacher with a mega church, etc., etc. Christians have turned the “form of religion” into idols.

In Rev. 3:14-19, the church in Laodicea is mentioned. This is known as the church in a state of apostasy. (Apostasy is a renunciation of religious faith; abandonment of previous loyalty; defection). The key verses for this section of scripture are:

v.15: “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other!”
v.16: “So, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I am about to spit you out of your mouth.”

Pretty clear, isn’t it? God isn’t too happy with inaction.

This is what I really want to say. There is a remnant of us who will not be door mats. If Clinton wins, there will be problems for the church. While it won’t happen automatically overnight, you can just bet she’s waiting for the first chance to go after anyone who stands against her.

In last week’s article for ClashDaily, I quoted part of Clinton’s speech at the Women in The World Summit held on April 23rd of this year. In part, she said: “Rights have to exist in practice, not just on paper. Laws have to be backed up with resources and POLITICAL WILL. And deep seated cultural codes, RELIGIOUS BELIEFS and structural biases have to be changed.”

While the context of the speech was on “women’s reproductive health” (i.e. abortion), she definitely brought home the point that religious teachings against abortion were only the tip of the iceberg of her ire. She went to say that changing Christian beliefs is the “…unfinished business of the 21st century.” Notice, not a word about Islam. This was all aimed at Christianity.
Another point this speech brings up is this. Have you ever heard an American politician use phrases such as “political will”? That’s straight out Hitler’s Mein Kampf.

Listen, it may be too late to have much of this register with Christians out there who won’t vote for Trump because he “treats women badly, has said gross things, is horribly carnal…”. But consider this: God can use carnal. He used Moses, who committed murder. He used David, who had Uriah murdered simply because he wanted the man’s wife. God used Paul who condoned and even organized the stoning of early Christians for going against Jewish authorities. Every patriarch of both the Old and New Testaments were carnal men who made themselves available when God needed them. Even the ones closest to Christ Himself, the apostles, and Peter in particular, turned from Him in The Garden. Yet, look who God used to build the church?

God can always use a carnal, imperfect, vessel that’s willing to be used. We are being presented with such a vessel. And right now, our choice comes down too carnal that’s willing to be used, or demonic that seeks to destroy. Make no mistake…this election is THE referendum of our country’s…and our Christian faith’s…existence as we have known it.

Image: By Wilfredo R Rodriguez H – Own work, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1723366

Share if you agree it is important that Christians keep in mind the issue of religious liberty this election.

John DeGroff

John DeGroff is the original bass player for the Christian rock band Petra. He currently plays for the band GHF which is comprised of other original members from Petra. DeGroff has extensive experience as a freelance music journalist and newspaper reporter as well as an on-line music reviewer. He is a member of the Gospel Music Hall of Fame and lives in Warsaw, Indiana where he is employed as a care giver for mentally challenged adults.

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *