Submitted by Gary Cox, Pastor of Grace Presbyterian
Believe it or not, if you affirm that the Bible is God’s truth without error, and that Jesus is the only way to salvation and thus to God then you are very much a minority in the USA today. Some erroneously believe that people who espouse the above represent about 40 percent of our nation. But such is not even close to reality. Would it surprise you to know that multiple studies actually place the number of people in the nation who affirm those two statements to be in the range of seven to nine percent? If the current trends continue, the number will drop to four percent within the next three decades. That will reduce the true evangelical population to one out of every 25 Americans. Regardless of the number of church buildings you may see, the church is not “growing” when three-fourths of current church growth is from other churches rather than new people coming to faith in Christ, as was the case in the early years of Christianity. Of course, back then, the Christians had to plant new churches to survive and plant they did and we are the beneficiaries of their evangelistic efforts. Conversely, today the total attendance at all evangelical churches is declining in nearly every state. From a Christian perspective, the devolution of our culture is obvious and the statistics are frightening. The U.S. now produces 89 percent of all pornographic web pages; the City of Philadelphia has lowered the age of condom distribution to 11 years old, or fifth grade and sex slavery is close to epidemic levels if it has not already crossed the threshold. In my devotional reading today, I just happened to be at Leviticus 18. God’s thoughts regarding sexual perversion, both heterosexual and homosexual, is clear as crystal but, the professing church has done with this issue what it did and continues to do with the horrific sin of abortion – waffled and then caved under the rubric of love and tolerance. However, God’s truth has not changed because our God does not change (and neither does His Word) regardless of the opinion polls of an ever vacillating society. So, what’s to be done? Well, the earliest believers were told to wait and pray until power from on high came upon them. That power comes only from the Holy Spirit. We, the church, need to repent of our powerlessness until He gives us the love and boldness to proclaim God’s truth regardless of how offensive it may be (see what occurred in Acts 1-5, 7) to those who have no eyes to see. These Christians were willing to suffer for the name of Jesus, and they did. We must set aside secondary doctrinal distinctives and come together to battle together as God’s people. Of course, the primary doctrines we must never compromise are those that impinge on the gospel such as the inspiration of Scripture, the virgin birth, the deity of Christ, the blood atonement and the resurrection and such-like truths. But the eschatological scheme of the Lord’s Second Coming, or how you baptize or how often you offer the Lord’s Supper must never divide us. We can agree to disagree on tertiary doctrines that do not impact the core of gospel truth. The church in America needs renewal and revival and the need cuts across racial and denominational lines. We need one another. We need to stand together for Christ and the Kingdom he came to establish and that work is not yet finished. There are millions to share the good news with. There are countless believers who need to be discipled. There is much to be done and we must lock arms and pursue the work of our God together as the body of Christ. Let it begin in Madison! Let it begin now! Let it begin with us for God’s glory! We have no time to lose! Can I get an Amen?