The credibility and effectiveness of the ministry of American Christianity has been severely damaged by the "intrusion of ungodly people" who have slipped in and perverted the grace of Jesus Christ, denying his gospel while introducing a false one of their own. I'm not talking about the kind of "worldliness" that has been the subject of your condemnation and the cause of your own self-victimization. You're not being infilitrated by "godless liberals" who are trying to pervert the gospel of Jesus Christ. You're allowing it to be perverted by a con man, a charlatan, a demagogue, a wolf who doesn't hide his immorality and worldliness in sheep's clothing, but who uses it as his personal identity brand. And you are doing it while exchanging what you believe is the spiritual power of the Holy Spirit of the God in whom you claim to believe for the political power that this con man is selling you in exchange for your votes.
Do you believe the Bible? One of your own Apostles, Jude, warned the church about this kind of infiltration when he wrote his very short, but powerful epistle that is just before the book of Revelation. Jude was writing to the early church, which was also susceptible to ideological perversion from a pagan culture heavily involved in sensuality, or "licentiousness," a more old fashioned term. But the warning in the fourth verse of the book of Jude is still relevant. And it is one that American Christians, particularly those who are now being deceived by a con artist, had better heed now, before they bring catastrophic disaster on themselves and on this country.
Churches are still susceptible to ideological perversion, to being led away from their mission and purpose. One of the main purposes of a church, which is, by the definition of the term in the Bible, a body of "called out" believers in Christ, is to evangelize, or lead people to a conversion experience during which they are restored to God as his children, from their sinful nature. But evangelism is waning, especially among Evangelicals who, ironically, are identified by that term. That's because many churches are now placing a higher value on political influence and power to get things done than they are on prayer and the grace of God.
Jude labels those who were deceiving the early, first century Christians as "irrational animals, blemishes on your love feasts, waterless clouds, autumn trees without fruit, twice dead and uprooted, wild waves of the sea, wandering stars for whom the deepest darkness has been reserved." What an apt description of the far right wing politicians of our time!
Most of you would try to apply the words of this apostle to the "other side," but the progressives, liberals and moderates who defend democracy and bear the name "Democrat" as a result are not infiltrating churches and subverting the Christian gospel. But far right wing MAGA politics are doing both of those things, openly. The contempt and disrespect for Christian values and principles is articulated in every proclamation that comes from the former President and his protoges. There is even a specific organization that they have put together to re-interpret the Christian gospel and its supporting doctrine and theology, aimed at getting churches to submit by changing their beliefs from what the Bible says to what a small group of right wing demagogues say.
They are hijacking your churches by deceiving many of your members into abandoning some of the core teachings and practices of the Christian gospel. "Love your enemies" has been replaced by arguments justifying the physical destruction of anyone who does not share your convictions and values, in many cases, because of your own ineffectiveness in communicating what you believe, and because you show more conviction for political gain and power than for God. At a Turning Point rally in Arizona, Jesus' statement about turning the other cheek was evaluated as ineffective in gaining access to worldly power. Jesus said that it would be, but now you're throwing him under the bus in exchange for the principles of a new savior who proclaims that he is the only one who can solve the world's problems.
That statement should ring alarm bells in the minds and hearts of anyone who claims to be a follower of Jesus Christ. There's a term that the Apostle John uses, just twice, in his shorter epistles to the church, that describes those who would infiltrate and hijack the church by altering its theology and changing its doctrine. He says they are the spirit of "antichrist", a reference found in I John 4:3 and in 2 John 7. This, too, is a warning to Christians about being deceived. According to the scripture, which you revere as authoritative and without error, for anyone to claim they are the only one who can solve the world's problems is blasphemy.
I've often heard Christians attempt to justify their support for choosing leaders in our constitutional democracy whose religious beliefs were incompatible with conservative Christianity, by saying "I'm not voting for a pastor-in-chief, I'm voting for a commander-in-chief," as if that somehow gets them off the hook and justifies doing something that goes against the principles of their Christian faith and contradicts the gospel preached and taught by Jesus and the Apostles in what the church considers to be authoritative scripture.
Two of the church's apostles wrote instructions to churches to respect the authority of the civil government, in a day and age when they had no say in who that was nor any control over its influence over them. So how is it that in a democracy, where such a choice can be made, Christians would choose someone who openly denies any belief in the God revealed in the Bible, and worshipped by Christians, and denies any need for redemption, and makes his immorality and worldliness his personal brand? That tells me that they either don't have a clue about what's in the Bible, or about the practice of their faith, or that they see faith as not being an effective asset for human existence.
Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now my kingdom is not from here. John 18:36, NKJV.
When you talk about "revival in America," what you mean is a revival of your brand of Christianity to come into some kind of dominance and control. That's not the same thing as real Christian revival, which depends on God and can't be worked up by human emotion, reason or intellect. It is certainly not going to come through political leadership that denies the power of God, and claims to be above the restrictions of human law and order. Other than that, if some kind of "Christian nation" is your goal, that's also a perversion and distortion of the Christian gospel.
So, if you are reading this, and you consider yourself a Christian, pay attention to what's going on around you and be one who makes a difference. Christianity is not a political party and churches are not political action committees. Leaders are followed, and you can't follow a leader who is going in the exact opposite direction of the values and principles of your Christian faith.
If you are a Christian, and you believe that American democracy was a gift of God to his church, allowing it to exist and to thrive in an environment of freedom like it had never experienced in its history prior to 1789, then you need to turn away from the anti-democratic, authoritarian, autocratic politics that have taken over control of the Republican Party in America, and cast an effective ballot against a movement that would deprive Americans, including Christians, of their God-given rights and privileges under the constitutional democracy we have. They may make deals with you to get your votes, but in the long run, it is clear that their agenda is different from your agenda, and they will throw you under the bus when it suits their ends, using the power that you traded to them for your freedom.
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