As I sat in the Easter service at church this morning, the pastor gave us a wonderful reflection on the beauty of Christ's resurrection and how completely vital it is to our salvation. It was a great thing to hear, but it got me to thinking about the state of Christianity in general. In a day where a recent BBC survey found here of British Christians found that 25%, yes ONE QUARTER, do not believe in the resurrection of Christ I have to wonder how much water the celebration of Easter Sunday holds with so-called "Christians" now-a-days.
One might say that the resurrection of Jesus it fundamental to the Christian faith and no one would think you were silly for believing that. But according to one quarter of British Christians you would be wrong. One can probably rather safely assume similar numbers in the rest of western Europe, and while the numbers in the U.S. may not be that bad yet you can rest assured they are bad and on the rise. After all, we now live in a world where witchcraft and Satanism are both proudly and brazenly espoused in the streets and in the media. In my home state of Iowa just this last week an atheist was allowed to give an "invocation" at the opening of the state house where the bible and the Holy Trinity were openly mocked. One can imagine what the media reaction would have been in Mohammad, Buddha, or Shiva were the ones being mocked; we all know there would be a national uproar right now.
With all that said, this blog isn't about the sham of political correctness, or who can and who cannot be publicly mocked or insulted in the current environment. It is about CHRISTIANS and their willingness to stand by and let it happen. Unfortunately, many Christians seem to find beauty in Sodom and Gomorrah. Christian churches are accepting homosexual men and lesbian women into their clergy in droves, it's become the "hip" amd respectable thing to do. Nevermind the fact that the bible very explicitly prohibits the practice of homosexuality and female clergy in general, now they've decided to rub salt into the wound and allow practicing lesbian women in on the act as well. But it still gets worse, Anglican churches which were once a respectable answer to the Roman Papacy are now allowing Islamic prayers and Qur'an readings as well as Pagan invocations into their churches under the guise of "love and acceptance" for all people as if this is what Christ had in mind when he said "love thy neighbor".
Contrary to popular belief and distortion Jesus Christ did not love everything and everyone just as they where. Mary Magdelene was a prostitute when Christ saved her from execution for committing adultery. But Mary Magdelene didn't continue life as a prostitute after this event, she accepted the Lord as her savior and reformed her ways according to His teachings. Jesus also had harsh words for most other people of the day. He was not sentenced to death because he loved everyone and everything, but rather the contrary! He was sentenced to death because he ticked off most of the people in his day, and we are seeing a continuation of this today. The "beauty" that modernism sees in Sodom and Gomorrah, atheism, paganism, idolatry, adultery, lust, homosexuality, witchcraft, etc. are the very things that caused it to fall in the first place, yet many Christians today insist that Christ, their risen savior (whom they may or may not believe in) loves all of these things.
In conclusion I'll just say this, today Easter Sunday, while it is a joyous occasion was a bit sad for me. When I was a kid I remember no matter how big or small the congregation was throughout the rest of the year even my grandpa's small little country church was jam packed on Christmas and Easter Sunday. Today, even though my grandpa has long since passed away, and that small little country church is just a memory of my childhood, the much larger church I attended services in today almost seemed empty by comparison and I know many others are as well. I think that says something about the state of the Christian Church today on this Easter Sunday. The silver lining in all of this is that we know the light of Christ will never die and it is as real and as true today as it was on that Sunday morning over 2000 years ago and so it shall remain until the end of time. A Happy and Blessed Easter to you.
In Christ,
Matthew
