Australia is at a crossroad
- deciding whether to redefine marriage as being between one man and one
woman or between two people.
The present debate can be
quickly summarised as ;
1 “No” vote - Accepting what God says as final - (see the Bible verse at the end of this
article)
2 “Yes” vote - Denying God exists or has any moral
authority over humanity – (Human
reasoning without God’ moral values)
The future implications of a change are becoming clearer – to
destroy the value and intention of marriage as well as open the door for the
imposing other moral perversions.
....................................................................................................................
But I ask a question, a question I have not heard or read.:
“How did we in Australia get to this low moral point, that the question should ever be asked at all?”
My answer in brief:
The Christians of the last forty years have failed to fulfil
the great commission given by the Lord Jesus Christ – ‘Go into all the world
and preach the Gospel’.
Had this Gospel outreach been the primary focus of believers in
the Lord Jesus, society might have been preserved by the salt of the Gospel and
the light of truth. Society has descended to the policy of “What feels good”
and “what is good for me”. Why ? –
because many Christians have adopted this attitude as well as the common people.
I have observed change over the last sixty years, and the change has been
subtle but real. Instead of a Biblical priority of eternal values, Christians
are busy making this world ‘a better place to live’. This has involved the
priority of education, the idolatry of affluence and the withdrawal of Gospel endeavour into
church buildings. Even there the Gospel is seldom preached. Evangelism, as seen in the book of Acts , is
very rare. The result :- the general populous ignorantly live for the pleasures
of sin as if God does not exist. (eg fornication, adultery, homosexuality,
greed , abuse etc)
So what am I trying to say? The present scramble about ‘marriage
equality’ is the outcome of Christian failure?
In one way Yes. We Christians have become distracted by the cares, riches
and pleasures of this life, and the devil has had free reign.
I suggest the answer to the present problem is a return to the
public declaration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the public square :- a
Gospel that spells out sin as God sees it with the call to repent, and the
wonderful grace of God in Christ to forgive and deliver the lost .
For those who do not like my rebuke I ask:-
What appears in your church newsletter about real evangelism?
When did you last hear a message that focused on people being
lost and needing Christ as a Saviour?
How is it that we have so many mediums of communication, and
yet the liberating Gospel of Jesus Christ is seldom broadcast to the world.?
Why are Christians so afraid to publicly declare allegiance to
His name or stand as witnesses to His word.?
Or shall I make it more personal:
When did you last give an unbeliever a Gospel message by
words, by letter, by leaflet??
When did you last give a Bible
to a lost person?
When did you reach out to a Muslim person with God’s truth?
When did you last seek out a homosexual person, to win them to
Christ?
Well I actually think the problem is deeper than these
questions:- -so few people actually “know the Lord” !
Shallow, half hearted, ritualistic church going has replaced
the Holy Spirit inspired obedience to the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ. Self
centred sermons that pick out the verses to suit the comfort zones of the audience.
Denying God ‘time alone ‘ with Him and His word. Reinventing doctrines from the
perspective of men, instead of the Word of God.
I think you get the point – sure the general populous has
strange moral values,(partly through the promotion on evolution), but who is it
that has failed to be the ambassadors for God in the world .
Hebrews 12.4 is a
strong rebuke: “in your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the
point of shedding your blood”
I finish with the words of the Master to His Father in heaven:
“As you sent Me into the world, I am sending them into the world”
(John 17)
-
And they killed HIM, but His mission, given by God
the Father to seek and to save the lost, was fulfilled and we reap the benefits.
-
Qualifying comments.
1 Corinthians 15
The Gospel – “Christ died for our sins
according to the scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance
with the scriptures.”
The effect – 1 Corinthians 6:9
“the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God. Do not be
deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men
who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom
of God.”
“Some of you were once like that. But you
were cleansed, you were made holy, you were made right with God by calling on
the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by
the Spirit of our God.”
John McKee
PS Are there any
reaching out in the public arena? Yes
I have a friend from who goes to the local market
to give away Bibles. Another operates a Gospel cafe in the CBD. Others go into
the public schools to teach the Bible. Yet another goes out with Gospel tracts.
But after reading Acts 3,4,5,8, how we fail to rise up to the call of the Lord
to be ambassadors for Him.
