Our Worst Enemy is from Within

Our Worst Enemy is from Within

Immorality in the Church

Khen Lim

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If ever we talk about immorality in church, most people will point to fornication, adultery, effeminism, sexual deviances, carnality and lewdness. For these are the common perceptions of how the church has degraded over the many decades of neglect, complacency and steady departure from the Word. Predictably then, these are what we are called to eradicate from the church.

Of course the Bible has plenty to say about premarital and extra-marital sex (Heb 13:4). Both are deadly and deceitful sins and both are tools of Satan to undermine humanity and ensure our path away from the Kingdom of God. Social activists will want us to believe that our bodies are ours to determine what we do and how we seek pleasure from but read 1 Corinthians 6:13-20 for the correct view and when you realise right from wrong, ask God to forgive you and in your genuine repentance, turn away and be contrite (Acts 13:38-39).

The progressive liberals laugh and mock at our biblical sense of morality. They say the Bible is irrelevant and we are archaic and old-fashioned. They belittle our distorted views and then challenge our views of morality. The problem is if one does not believe in God, then there is no moral authority to count on. Liberals believe that in place of morality – and God – we are intelligent and knowledgeable enough to count on ourselves to have a sense of what is right and wrong. 

That sense is what they call ‘gut feeling.’ You sense what is right in what you feel and you don’t need anyone to tell you that. You are your own boss. You decide how you feel because you respect who you are. To the liberals, that’s the epitome of morality and self-esteem rolled into one.

But sexual deviances aren’t the only problems our church faces. In fact all they do is mask the even more serious issues that are attacking us from within. Corruption is one of them and we’ve seen a gutful of many prominent cases in recent years. Those who need a refresher course in seeing how this played out to our embarrassment need not go further than to do a Google search. Try going to these links: here, here and here and for a useful chronological historical list, try this one.

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Aside from sexual deviances and financial corruption, the most dangerous undercurrent to threaten Christian integrity has now made its way into churches that want to prove they are more tolerant than many of us conservatives. In October 2013, ‘Christianity Today’ published an article entitled, ‘Should Christians Read the Qur’an?’ featuring the views of three people. Only one was against it was and he was from the Ravi Zacharias International Ministries. The other two were respective directors of a Muslim ministry program at – wait for it – Wheaton College best known for their seminary studies and the Christian Institute of Islamic Studies at Baptist University of the Americas.

It is appalling that a major Christian media website can be supportive of something that is a complete anathema to the Christian faith but try telling that to Pope Francis, supposed leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Roman Catholics who has been seen kissing the Qur’an. Here is a pope who has gone on record to defend homosexuality and proselytism and has actually encouraged the use of contraceptives. He has this to say about reconciling the Muslim faith to Christianity:

“Jesus Christ, Jehovah, Allah. These are all names employed to describe an entity that is distinctly the same across the world. For centuries, blood has been needlessly shed because of the desire to segregate our faiths. This, however, should be the very concept which unites us as people, as nations, and as a world bound by faith. 

“Together, we can bring about an unprecedented age of peace, all we need to achieve such a state is respect each other’s beliefs for we are all children of God regardless of the Name we choose to address Him by. We can accomplish miraculous things in the world by merging our faiths, and the time for such a movement is now. No longer shall we slaughter our neighbours over differences in reference to their God.”

Meanwhile the above two writers who, in the article, defended the reading of the Qur’an is telling Christians that there are benefits to such an experience, saying that it is important for us to better understand their worldview. We are to learn that in their reinterpretation of the Bible, the Qur’an tells us that Abraham, Adam and Jesus including His disciples are all Muslims and that Christian sleepers have been in slumber for three centuries. We are also told that Solomon has a gift of talking to animals. Maybe his other name was Doctor Doolittle.

One of the writers asked us to revere the Qur’an as ‘the mother book’ and ‘the revelation.’ He said, “The Qur’an is held in such high esteem that a rumour of desecrating the Qur’an has brought the full rancour of angry crowds. It is protected through blasphemy laws in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Somalia.” Of course what he didn’t say is that these laws will kill those who dare question Islam or the Qur’an. He doesn’t touch on the fact that these angry crowds will behead ‘infidels’ (that’s you and I) and will send terrorists around the world to blow themselves up and kill innocent lives.

“Christians can miss great opportunities to witness by not knowing what the Qur’an actually says. If we are to be salt and light, reading the Qur’an for ourselves can help us be better witnesses for Jesus. Ultimately, that’s the higher purpose,” he continued. If you believe him, let me take you back to mid-2006 when the movie ‘The Da Vinci Code,’ was released to cinemas worldwide. 

After grossing US758.2 million and together with the book, many Christians were torn apart by what they ‘learned’ from the movie. Many felt deceived, believing more in what they read from the book or understood from the movie than anything that their churches had taught them. The effect was tumultuous and for many of these basic (nominal) Christians, a simple movie proved so destructive. What more if churches let the Qur’an be read with facts that are an abomination to the truth we know?

If you really need to read the Christianity Today article, go here.

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In the reading of the Qur’an throughout fifty other churches in twenty-six states across the United States in 2011, liberal social activists orchestrated a seemingly harmless strategy through a program called ‘Faith Shared,’ which was part of the ‘Interfaith Alliance’ and ‘Human Rights First’ organisations, which talks about tolerance and respect of Islam in order to counter opposition and resistance to the Muslim faith. To do this, they have worked closely with liberal Christians with the aim of undermining the tenets of our faith. The president of ‘Interfaith Alliance,’ Rev Dr C Welton Gaddy, who received his theological education from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. Here’s what he has to say:

“The anti-Muslim rhetoric that has pervaded our national conversation recently has shocked and saddened me. Appreciation for pluralism and respect for religious freedom and other human rights are at the core of our democracy. We believe that demonstrating our commitment to those core American values will help counteract the intensified level of negative stereotypes and anti-Muslim bigotry in our recent public discourse.”

As for Gaddy’s reputation, you can start by reading this.

But here’s the thing about all these. It’s happening big time. And it’s going to sweep us away with a brand of immorality we didn’t see coming because we were too blind, too trusting, too complacent and too permissive. 

The tolerance that the liberal movement has been brandishing says we are haters because we defend our Christian faith and that we show no tolerance for ‘other religions’ (which basically means Islam) but it does not talk about the harsh reality of a faith that in itself, has zero tolerance as we can see in countries like Saudi Arabia, Syria, Libya, Iran, Egypt, Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan. 

The carriage of the Muslim faith in these countries and many others demonstrate intolerance against Christians and in fact, they preach eradication and also the annihilation of Israel. All these countries have persecutory measures against the religious practices of other religions.

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On the other hand, much of what Jesus says is never vocalised or put into the right perspective. Though Christ did not ask us to be tolerant of idolatrous faiths, He did not condone the use of violence as an option against idol worshippers. Rather, He encouraged us to go spread the Good News to show them the way, the truth and the life and tell them that no one comes to the Father except through Him (Jn 4:16). He asked us to pray for them instead of killing them.

And for those who welcome any Muslim elements permeating the sanctity of our churches, tell them to read a few verses in the Bible.

Let’s start with 2 Corinthians 6:14-18 (NLT):

“¹⁴ Don’t team up with those who are unbelievers. How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness? ¹⁵ What harmony can there be between Christ and the devil? How can a believer be a partner with an unbeliever? ¹⁶ And what union can there be between God’s temple and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God said, “I will live in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they will be My people. ¹⁷ Therefore come out from among unbelievers and separate yourselves from them, says the Lord. Don’t touch their filthy things and I will welcome you. ¹⁸ And I will be your Father, and you will be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”

Follow that up with Matthew 7:15-16 (NLT) in which Jesus says:

“¹⁵ Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves. ¹⁶ You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?”

In other words, we should be able to recognise false prophets by their conduct and what they intend to do. If you don’t, the April 2015 Fact Sheet on the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) prepared by The Clarion Project, a Washington DC-based non-profit organisation shows how interfaith works when the Muslims are involved. According to the report, a Muslim Brotherhood document seized by the FBI in 2004 laid out a five-stage plan with the vision to overcome the West. 

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The strategies would involve working in interfaith alliances with CAIR and ISNA (Islamic Society of America) in striking relationships with “a long list of churches, synagogues, other faith groups and the Obama Administration.” The ultimate aim was (and still is) to “institute the Islamic Revolution in the United States” but for the time being, to “come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves” (Mt 7:15) to “peacefully get inside the United States government and also American universities.” 

For now, CAIR is busy working with churches to counter “one of the greatest social ills facing America…Islamophobia, and anti-Muslim bigotry,” which they alleged the main advocates are “pro-Israeli occupation organisations and activists.”

If you must know, that has to be the most serious immorality the church faces.