Platitudes, Proclamations, and Twisted Scripture

July 29, 2014 at 7:44 pm | Posted in Christianity | Leave a comment
Tags: America, Islam, martyr, megachurch, Mosul

When I see people post statuses by famous megachurch pastors talking about how we are conquerers or how we have God’s favor or how we’re blessed beyond measure: I can’t help but wonder:

Are the Christians in Mosul who are being murdered by Muslims solely because they profess Christ actually false believers? Or do they just lack the amount of faith it takes to be conquerers/have God’s favor/be blessed beyond measure. I mean, surely, if they were REAL Christians like the megachurch pastors, they wouldn’t have their houses burned down, they wouldn’t be fleeing the city that 4 generations of their family has lived in, and they wouldn’t be watching their children be slaughtered before their very eyes before being martyred themselves.

Surely the Christians (should I use quotes?) in Mosul are immature in their faith! Surely they need to learn how to better visualize themselves rich (but it’s not just about money) and healthy; commanding their mountains to move and be cast into the sea. Of course, I bet it’s pretty difficult to focus on that when you’re fleeing a burning building or trying to protect your children from evil murderers.

How sad that these men, women, and children have tied God’s hands by their utter lack of faith. If they would only speak into existence their victory and declare themselves the champions that God says they are, the entire situation would reverse itself in a matter of moments! Maybe they just have never heard the American gospel.

Or maybe, they understand that the reality of being a Christian is more than just platitudes, proclamations, or twisted scriptures (see? I can’t be a Baptist…no illiteration…). Maybe they realize that Jesus meant what He said when He told His disciples that they would be hated, persecuted, and even killed for following Him. Maybe they understand that the life lived for Christ (and I don’t mean that in the American sense) is a life of faith in the Son. Maybe they really understand the implications of the cross for themselves and for their Savior and no materialistic, self-centered, shallow representation of the American dream (which also happens to be called the gospel) could ever even come close to the value which is in the blood shed on Calvary.

The more I see what Christians outside the US are going through and the more I hear the “message” of the American church, the more I wonder how much longer before what’s happening in Mosul comes here…and who will still profess the name of Christ when it does…