We may not burn heretics at the stake any more, but a hard look at what Christians in America believe, and where they stand politically, is shocking. As we approach the mid-term elections, here are some facts about evangelical, born-again voters. First, it was widely reported that in the 2016 election 81% of evangelicals voted for Trump. The Billy Graham Center Institute and LifeWay Research organization looked more closely at that number and discovered:
- That vote wasn’t pro-Trump; it was anti-Hillary.
- 20% of evangelicals didn’t even bother to vote.
- Religious liberty only ranked 5th on a list of important issues; abortion was #9.
In a separate study by Ligonier Ministries and LifeWay Research, here are the findings regarding American attitudes toward religion: 69% said small sins shouldn’t merit eternal damnation, 58% said there’s no need to go to church, and 59% said the Holy Spirit isn’t a personal being! Furthermore, 60% of all Americans, and 32% of evangelicals said that religious belief is a “matter of personal opinion and not about objective truth.”
And it gets worse. When evangelical Americans were asked about core beliefs of Christianity here were the results:
- 52% said most people are basically good. (NO! READ JEREMIAH 17:9 AGAIN! THE HEART IS DECEITFUL AND DESPERATELY WICKED!)
- 51% said God accepts the worship of all religions. (WORSHIPING SHIVA OR BUDDHA ISN’T THE SAME AS WORSHIPING JESUS!)
- 78% said Jesus was created by God the Father. (NO! READ COLOSSIANS 1:16. ALL THINGS WERE CREATED BY HIM; HE IS GOD ETERNAL!)
What will change this appalling situation of an impending American, evangelical moral and theological apocalypse? More preaching, more religious conferences, more Christian radio and TV, more evangelical books won’t do it. No culture in history has been more saturated with views about God and the Bible, especially from a conservative perspective. What’s needed is the demonstration of God’s power over Satan! Among the many important facts pointed out in our International School of Exorcism is this: In his book Christianizing the Roman Empire, Ramsey MacMullen, Professor Emeritus of History and Classics at Yale university, observes on page 112 that, “Emphasis on miraculous demonstration, head-on challenge of non-Christians to a test of power, head-on confrontation with supernatural beings inferior to God was characteristic of the church in infancy.”
This is the answer to the spiritual doldrums of our age. Boldly confront evil, make no compromise with Scripture, and cast out demons in the name of Jesus to show a watching world that Christ is all-powerful in these times of spiritual timidity and impending theological apocalypse!
An encouraging word: HATE THE SIN?
“Love the sinner and hate the sin.” A lot of people quote that as if it’s a Bible verse. It’s not. The sentiment seems to make sense until you dig deeper. “Love the sinner.” That works, and it’s biblical. After all, Luke 6:27 tells us to love our enemies. I’m not suggesting that we “like” sin, but by declaring to “hate” it, we run the risk of doing what we shouldn’t–hating the sinner by default. How about, looking inward at ourselves and dealing with the shortcomings in our own lives instead of hating what others do. It avoids the risk of hating them too.
