What If

 (The following is an excerpt from the final chapter of my book, The Lost Church)

We live in a country, the USA, where we are still free to meet as a church body and worship God. Some churches meet several times a week and some only one time a week. But there is no limitation as to how and where and how many times we can meet. At the time of this writing, we still have the right to preach and teach God’s word, the Bible. And even though there are those who will say the Bible is hate speech, it has not been outlawed, yet.

There is no limit on how many people are allowed to meet in any one church providing there is enough legal space. There is no law that says a preacher can’t preach certain topics from scripture, yet. Pastors still have the right to refuse to perform same sex marriages. Many churches have this embedded into their bylaws and that is still legal. The right to practice religion is still in the constitution. But what if these rights were to be taken away? What if the church was outlawed and ordered to shut down? What if it was against the law to own a Bible? And what if you were thrown into jail for worshipping God or practicing Christianity?

None of this has happened in this country, yet, but what if it did happen? How would Christians react? Would they just throw in the towel and give up? I think many of them might do that just that. In India, church buildings are burned and pastors killed as well as in other parts of the world where Christianity is hated. People in China are tossed into prison all the time for practicing Christianity. It’s the death penalty in North Korea. And the same if you’re caught with a Bible. The Bible is not allowed in Saudi Arabia and other Muslim countries. Christians die for their faith in Jesus every day around the world. But in this country, Christians take the Bible for granted, if they take it anywhere. It sits on a shelf or in an app on their device and is seldom opened. If it is, it is only on Sunday mornings when they attend church.

In a very subtle way, we are getting closer and closer to all of this possibly becoming a reality. Just think back twenty years. There was really not a lot of noise concerning the transgender population, if there was one. The Gay community was out and speaking their minds but not as loud as it is today. As a disclaimer, not every Gay person is an activist. So, I’m not bashing the Gay community even though I don’t agree with the lifestyle. We were probably in the early stages of the greatest political divide this country has ever experienced. Of course, I’m speaking of the hanging chad election of 2000.

Just that alone has caused more division in this country than any other social agenda. But the realm of politics has drawn in all of those social hot potato topics. Abortion rights, the Gay agenda, transgenderism as well as other social activism which dominates the 24-hour news channels. And, those news channels have chosen sides of the political divide and drive the division even deeper in this country.

So, what does all that have to do with being a threat to Christianity? Most, if not all of those hot potatoes, are opposed to Christianity. The Bible speaks against the Gay lifestyle and abortion so those who support these are naturally opposed to the Christian Church. When Hitler’s Dr. Mengele butchered Jewish children during his demented experiments, the world considered it atrocious. But today, doctors do the same thing to children in transgender surgeries and it’s fine. The trans surgeries are not as cruel as what Mengele was doing but still not right according to God. It is God who creates every life so who are humans to try to change all of that.

But when Christians or the Church opposes this, we are called bigots, homophobes and transphobes as well as other choice names and told we are not living in the 21^st century. The world insists on God adapting to their way of thinking and their “modern day” agenda. The Gay community has not only desecrated the rainbow, but now insists that love means to be all inclusive. I guess it could mean that but that’s not the Greek word used for God’s love in the Bible. But most don’t want to hear that. They will say God is love so why do Christians say He opposes the Gay lifestyle. He is a God of love so He must approve of their lifestyle. The love they refer to is a love which makes them and their partner happy. It’s a fleshly type of love with conditions. God’s love is unconditional. There are no strings attached.

When He forgives us, He will never bring those sins up again. Can you really say you will never again mention something your spouse or partner did wrong to you? If you say you have never done that or never will, I can’t believe it. It’s our sin nature which does that. God has no sin. He is pure. He forgives and never mentions your sin to you again. That’s not the kind of love the world or the Gay agenda speaks of. And when they try to force God into that type of love, they are dead wrong.

So, are we getting close to having Christianity and the Church outlawed? Well, I don’t really know. I do know in this country the Church is still here. But many local churches, small and large, have traveled off of the road which represents Jesus and His gospel. Many have bought into worldly agendas and false doctrinal teachings as well as tools which do nothing to glorify Christ.

When we gather to worship, we should be worshipping God. We should be telling people about the cross and what it represents. When we sing, we should be glorifying Jesus through that music, not act like we are attending a concert. The Church, in the last thirty years has been converted into a type of business using marketing schemes and ploys to entice a nonbeliever into attending. But once the unsaved has been lured in, they might never really hear the hard truth of the gospel.

Local churches have resorted to using worldly type events and practices to draw people in and some never get saved. Oh, but the numbers are up. Vast numbers in attendance don’t save anyone. It’s the gospel message which gets their attention and Jesus who saves. The 21^st century Church has traveled off of the center lane and out into the cornfield. It entertains and keeps people hyped but none of that will save anyone.

But God always has a remnant. Today, these are the local churches that teach the Bible every time the doors are open. The gospel message is heard, the cross is preached and the name of Jesus is glorified. Jesus is glorified. So, are you being entertained or are you hearing the Bible being taught and Jesus glorified?

I don’t know how close we are to His return. I don’t know if the Church and Christianity will ever be outlawed in this country. But I do know this; the Church of Jesus Christ will not be defeated or destroyed. When they burn a church building in India, it doesn’t stop the Church there. They murder pastors and abuse believers but it doesn’t destroy the Church; it makes it stronger. The Church is underground in China. I spoke with a missionary who serves in China. At that time, Christians were going there as teachers of the English language. He told me how they had to constantly move from apartment to apartment because they were on the verge of being discovered. They taught the Bible from their home. The authorities in China throw Christians into prison and some never get out. But the Church doesn’t die or go away. It grows under the persecution.

So, even if a time comes and local churches are forced to close, it will never stop Christianity. Just recently, during the pandemic, we witnessed the closing of churches across this nation. Some refused to close but most were obedient and closed their doors and held services via many online services. I’m not going to go into the politics of all this and whether it was right to close the doors or not. My point is this: The doors on many churches were closed but it did not hinder or stop the Church or Christianity. Yes, many have not gone back to their local church and instead stay home and watch online or they don’t watch or attend at all.

That’s between them and the Lord. But churches are full every Sunday morning. All the powers of hell will never destroy the Church of Jesus Christ. And the Church will never be lost. It will be alive and well until Jesus returns for it.

Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.  MT 16:18

(In this verse, I have to point out that in the context of the passage, Peter is not the Rock which the Church is built on. Earlier in the passage, Peter tells Jesus He is the Messiah. This is the confession which Jesus refers to as the Rock which the Church is built on.)

-Bill Petite