In doing some research this morning about what to put here on this blog, I came across a very interesting article on The Christian Post, written by Eryn Sun, titled 'Real' Christian Churches in US Forced to Go Underground Soon?
Naturally, I read the article thinking that it may have a little to do with persecution, and after reading it, I can tell you that it has more to do with, what I would call, political persecution, than the type of persecution we generally address on this blog.
The author discusses a commentary given by a person named Longstreet, who is apparently a conservative commentator. (Sorry, no first name or title is given throughout the whole article). Longstreet believes that only 'real' Christian churches will have to worry about going underground, while more liberal churches won't.
“In the past three decades, or so, many of the mainline Christian churches have slipped away from their foundation on the Holy Scriptures and adopted more and more secular tenets and leftist, politically correct, philosophy until they have become only a shadow of the true followers of Christ,” he penned on Tuesday.
“In my opinion, those denominations can no longer claim to be ‘Christian’ churches simply because – they are not.”
The article goes on to say...
“Their pastors ‘preach’ feel good ‘sermonettes’ about the environment and things like ‘social justice.’ In my opinion, that is not the mission of a church that purports to follow Christ. In fact, Christ, Himself, spelled out the mission of the church in what we refer to as The Great Commission.”
...
“To fulfill that mission the church must stand firmly upon the foundation of the Holy Scripture and the teachings of the Christ. That means insisting that the standard(s) set by Christ are, and remain, the guiding force behind everything the church does ... that means pastors are compelled to preach that those things the Scripture marks as sin are duly, and publicly, noted from their pulpits as SIN. If a church is reluctant to do this, or refuses to do this, then, in my opinion, that church is not a Christian church.”
The conservative commentator lamented that in America, pastors were afraid of preaching from the Scriptures, worried about the consequences – lawsuits, slander, or even embarrassment.
“It is a very real threat, especially to the evangelical church in America,” he added. “As a result, those churches which hold true to the Gospel, now feel that they must consider meeting in secret for Bible classes, for worship services, or other Bible centric gatherings.”
Even the government in America has criminalized biblical preaching and prevented thousands of churches and clergymen from practicing their faith without threat of penalty from the authorities, he charged.
“The Christian Church, I believe will be driven underground in America, as it has been in other nations around the globe. Otherwise, it will cease to exist in this land many firmly believe was founded by Christians,” Longstreet concluded.
The author of the article continues by citing Kevin Lewis who is an associate professor of Theology and Law at Biola University, who also shares some of Longstreet's concerns.
What do you think, will 'real' churches in America be forced to go underground? How long do you think it will take? Agree or disagree? Leave a comment.