Daily Devotional for Thursday September 6, 2007
The Religious Left
(Matthew 7:21-23)
BY FAR THE BIGGEST PROBLEM IN THE CHURCH TODAY IS NOT THE RISE OF CULTS LIKE MORMONISM, FALSE RELIGIONS LIKE ISLAM, OR ANY OF THE MANY SOCIAL ISSUES WE ARE DEALING WITH. THE BIGGEST AND MOST DANGEROUS PROBLEM IN CHRISTENDOM ARE CHURCHES WHO CLAIM TO BE CHRISTIAN YET OPERATE IN OPEN REBELLION TO THE GOD'S WORD! THE BIBLE IS THE GUIDING LIGHT FOR CHRISTIANS AND CHRISTIAN CHURCHES. HOWEVER, MANY PEOPLE WHO CALL THEMSELVES CHRISTIANS AND MANY CHURCHES WHO IDENTIFY THEMSELVES AS CHRISTIAN CHURCHES, MOCK GOD AS THEY LIVE AND OPERATE IN OPPOSITION TO THE BIBLE!!!
"Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?" Luke 6:46
The "religious left" and the liberal church! In case you have been sleeping, there is a new group of people in our nation who call themselves the "religious left." This is a relatively new term so you may not be familiar with it. That is why I felt it was so critical to take the time today to insure you not only understood what it means, but who actually makes up this new group of people. Forty years ago, this group didn't even exist. They have actually evolved and grown tremendously over the past decade.
The "religious left" is made up of people who identify themselves as Christians and hold strong religious beliefs as well as sharing left-wing ideals. Obviously, this group has risen up in opposition to those who have been tagged the "religious right" or the "Christian right." The "Christian right" is that group of Bible-believing Christians who are politically active and seek to elect to office those candidates who hold to Biblical values on the key spiritual issues of our day that are also political issues.
These would be issues like abortion and life related matters, gay marriage, family issues, the proliferation of the pornography industry, and the drive to remove God from the public square. Those in the "religious left" actually take an anti-Biblical position on these issues and are also heavily involved in the ecumenical movement, environmental issues, opposing war for any reason, world hunger, and social issues like healthcare, welfare, and education.
There is nothing wrong with pursing these noble social issues, Believers should be more involved on those fronts. The problem with this group is their anti-Biblical position on the key spiritual issues of our day and their involvement in these ecumenical movements that require you to set aside the Absolute Truths of the Bible.
I watched with interest last June as CNN carried a special program about faith with the leading Democratic Candidates who are vying for their parties nomination in the 2008 Presidential election. Each one dealt with various faith-related issues in the context of their own personal faith. I watched in amazement as each one talked about how important their faith was to them, how it guided them, how it gave them strength, and went out of their way to position themselves as people of great faith.
Like my dear mother used to tell me, talk is cheap. I refuse to try and judge their heart, that is something only God can and will do. However, I have every right to judge them on their actions in accordance with God's Word. How can you say you are a person of faith, yet vote to support the legalized slaughter of over 4,000 innocent babies every day? How can you say you are a person of faith, yet vote to redefine God's Holy Institution of Marriage? How can you say you are a person of faith, yet support special rights for people who have chosen to engage in perverted sex acts God calls an abomination, including their ability to adopt children into their deviant lifestyle?
I guess the real question becomes, what is their faith really in? It is inconsistent to say you are person of faith yet continually take a stand in complete opposition to God's Word. Jesus said that if you love Me, you will obey Me. That means His Word. Of course, those in the "religious left" has been born out of the liberal "churches" of our day who make a mockery of Christ as they operate in open rebellion to the Truth of the Bible while claiming to be followers of Christ.
They support the legalized slaughter of babies, redefining marriage to include men with men and women with women, perverting the family by brining children into homes with homosexual parents, and embrace ecumenical fellowships with all of the cults and false religions of the world. They deny the inspiration and inerrancy of the Bible, have rejected God's Word for the Absolute Truth it represents, and have bought into the lie of the world that there are "many roads that lead to God." These are the people who make up the "religious left!"
I love you and care about you so much. It is beyond me how a person can consider themselves a Christian, which means they are a follower of Christ and automatically a follower of His Word, yet take a public position in complete opposition to that Word. You better wake up, since this is the largest growing segment of Christendom, this apostate group who calls themselves Christians but go to churches who operate in complete rebellion to Christ and the Bible
This is the group that is Biblically illiterate since they don't even believe the Bible to be true. These are the people who see nothing wrong with electing a member of a satanic cult to the White House because they think a Mormon is a Christian. They are the politically correct crowd who has bought the lie a woman has the right to kill her baby. They are the group who lambastes those who speak out against the sin of homosexuality, calling them names like "intolerant" and "hateful."
The "religious left" is a group who will wield incredible political influence in the upcoming 2008 election. They are mostly made up of people who call themselves Christians, but support the things Christ and the Bible condemn. Pray for these people since you can't call yourself a follower of Christ, yet stand on the opposite side of Christ on so many issues. Truth is not what we want it to be, it is what God says it is. We don't have the luxury of giving our heart and life to Christ and then live any way we want. A true follower of Christ, a true New Testament church, are followers of His Word. Jesus said, "Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?"