Roughly ten years ago, a movement began in our nation; a grassroots movement that did not rally behind any political party, but behind Constitutional principles. A movement that dared to challenge the political status quo and to bring to the attention of the public the attacks upon our God-given liberties, to expose the violation of Constitutional law by the President, legislative bodies, and judicial branches, to inform and educate the Constitutionally and historically illiterate public, to hold accountable in both major parties those politicians who failed to uphold their oath of office, and to support those candidates determined to remain faithful to the Constitution that has upheld our nation and protected our precious freedoms for over 200 years. The goals of this movement could be summed up as follows:
1. Drastically reducing the tax burden on job providers and reducing excessive and unnecessary regulations that have hindered both economic and job growth.
2. Strengthening the private sector.
3. Enabling energy independence.
4. Balancing the budget, eliminating the wasteful spending of our tax dollars, and reversing our rising debt.
5. Strengthening national security.
6. Reducing the size of government and eventually bring it back to the form intended by our founders, including a restoration of checks and balances.
7. Protecting the liberties of all people (including both first and second amendment rights).
Why, because they were angry at intrusive government, the excessive taxation and overregulating, politicians who have cared more about their own personal interests than that of the nation and the people, government corruption, officials who have had no respect for Constitutional authority, and the attacks upon personal liberties. They had had enough and so, they decided to do something about it. That movement was the Tea Party Movement and though started out small, grew into a strong nationwide grassroots movement consisting of several different groups and chapters throughout the nation.
Their efforts, along with several other like-minded organizations, have helped to either delay or prevent harmful legislation, pass good and beneficial laws, hold politicians accountable, elect to office those men and women in every level of government determined to bring the nation back to its founding principles, and to even begin the slow and difficult process of repealing laws and regulations that have weakened our private sector.
The Tea Party movement has been vilified by the mainstream media who has spread lies and misconceptions about what the movement is really about, dismissed and denigrated by the Washington establishment in both parties, and government agencies like the IRS have even attempted to intimidate them into silence, and they have not always been a very popular movement with the general public, but in spite of that, they have been able to make a difference for the better.
Just as the nation was in need of a strong political, principled, and Constitutionally minded activist grassroots movement to move America back to its founding principles that have sustained this nation, so the Church today is also in dire need of the equivalent of such a movement within its ranks.
The Church in a general sense has:
1. Become biblically illiterate and even ignorant of the kind of God that we profess to believe in and serve and of the standards that He has established and of what our duties as Christians are. We have forgotten as to what makes us Christians and why we are Christians.
2. Tolerated and even embraced and celebrated those things which God has called sinful rather than holding its members and leaders accountable for their conduct and actions, and in some cases, when we have shown anger and hatred towards sin, we have done so in a manner that has been hateful and destructive, rather than in a loving and constructive way, when we need to remember to hate the sin and love the sinner.
3. Has taken apologetics (the art of defending the faith and scripture) too lightly and therefore has failed to be able to give and adequate defense against those arguments challenging the teaching of scripture and satisfying answers to those questions asked concerning the faith and scripture.
4. Members have relied too heavily on Pastors, teachers, and seminarians to spoon feed them the scriptures rather than taking the time to read the scriptures for themselves and have blindly trusted the leadership to make sense of the scriptures for them rather than actively studying the scriptures for themselves and comparing the text of the scriptures to what they are being taught and therefore have allowed themselves to be deceived by teachings, doctrines, and traditions contrary to the teaching of scripture.
5. They have fallen into the trap of looking to their leadership as being the epitome of faith and godliness rather than looking to the perfect example of Jesus Christ who is without sin and because of this, when their leaders fail to live up to the morals and teachings they have championed and defended, they who had looked up to them become demoralized.
6. Just as a people make the mistake of rallying behind a political party or movement instead of principles, so we as Christians have also made the mistake of rallying behind denominations, church traditions and teachings, and religious figures and organizations, which are subject to error and going astray themselves regardless of how sound of doctrine upon which they were established, instead of rallying behind the infallible unfailing Word of God and the incorruptible Christ.
7. We have been what the scriptures call being "tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine" (Eph. 4:14) because we have failed to be on the look out for false doctrine and safeguard the truth and sufficiency of scripture within our hearts and minds because we have not taken time to know the scriptures and have failed to hold accountable those who have crept into our midst and have twisted and perverted the scriptures to their own ends, and who have either added to or detracted from the teachings of scripture, have taught things contrary to the scriptures, and have imposed their own ideas upon the scriptures rather than letting the scriptures speak for themselves and not only are they guilty, but we who have been deceived by their teachings as well.
8. We have failed to make our relationship with Christ our own and instead have built our faith upon the faith and teachings of others be they political or cultural figures, Pastors, teachers, seminarians, or even our parents and other immediate family members.
9. We have failed to test those teachings, doctrines, trends, and ideas (both within and outside the church) against the authority of the scriptures (Acts 17:11, 1 Thess. 5:21) and instead have attempted to render and reconcile the scriptures with that which runs contrary to; a failing shared many professing followers of Christ, both congregant and leader alike.
10. We have failed to honor God in every aspect of our lives including our relationships, job and career choices, what we do for entertainment, and in the people we choose as leaders within the church and civil government.
11. We have chosen Pastors and teachers who, instead of committing themselves to the teaching of sound doctrine and the teaching of the scripture in its entirety we have instead chosen those who preach only what we want to hear rather than what we need to hear. We have chosen to adhere to lies rather than truth because we have despised the truth in our hearts. We have chosen to adhere to only that which we desire and have disregarded that which we need to abide in.
12. We have been cowardly and apathetic when either persecuted or threatened therewith and when the odds are against us when we have been called to stand firm and serve our Lord faithfully regardless of the odds. We have valued temporary earthly rewards over eternal rewards and our leaders likewise have sold themselves to appeasing the masses and letting them be comfortable in their sin and adherence to falsehood rather than calling them away from their sin and teaching them to live godly lives and leading them into abiding in the truth of God and away from the lies of the dark powers of this present world.
13. We have loved this present world more than the world to come.
14. Even when the scriptures are taught, we have failed to teach them in such a way that demonstrates that the teachings thereof are just as relevant for today as they were when they were first written and have failed to demonstrate their authority and trustworthiness on every subject addressed. We have been wrongly led to view the scriptures as authoritative in some aspects of life and not every matter addressed. Furthermore, our Pastors and leaders have spent more time entertaining the goats while the sheep starve for lack of nourishment.
15. We have allowed ourselves to be divided over matters inconsequential (music genre and kinds of music used in worship services, food preferences, what day of the week a Sabbath is observed, types of entertainment, or whether women should wear jeans or dresses) when we should be united in doctrinal and moral matters that have great consequence.
16. We have made ungodly alliances with those who, even if they do profess to adhere to our faith, do not adhere to the teachings of our faith or embrace it in the name of uniting under a common cause when such people we have united with ought to be the targets of evangelism.
17. We have been led to treat only the symptoms of a problem rather than the problem itself.
18. We have become more and more like the world rather than keeping ourselves set apart from the world and instead of living out what we profess to believe, have instead gone contrary. The faith we profess has been confined to the four walls of a church and one day out of the week or worse, only certain days of the year when authentic faith is supposed to guide and govern every aspect of our lives, every day of our lives, and wherever we go; not just when it is convenient, but even when it is not so convenient.
19. We have failed to serve as the moral and spiritual conscience in the places in which we have been established and have forgotten that the course of a society and civilization is determined by the spiritual and moral foundation upon which it rests.
20. We pray and call out for revival, but we do not know what one is or how one can be maintained.
22. We desire to make the world a better place but have neglected to set our own house in order forgetting that judgment begins in the house of the Lord. (1 Pet. 4:17)
23. The power, resources, abilities, and relentless of Lucifer, our spiritual adversary who has long been at war with God has been severely underestimated and in some cases, the existence thereof has even been denied and discussion about our spiritual enemies hardly every takes place. Few today truly understand the nature of evil, even within the body of Christ.
The much needed correction to these failings and the addressing of the problems plaguing the ranks within the body of Christ does not begin with the Pastor, or with a religious organization, or a renown religious figure, nor is the solution found in any particular formula, but it begins within each and everyone of us individually and the solution is found in the very same authority upon which the church and faith were founded but we have failed to give it the credit that it deserves because we have bought into the lie that it is insufficient to address every issue of life.
True revival is not in the form of week long tent meetings nor is it confined to the four walls of a church building, nor does it begin with a Christian concert, a faith-based film, or Billy Graham crusade, but true revival begins within each follower of Christ both individually and collectively, but before it becomes collective, it must begin in individuals because the collective body of Christ is made up of individuals and it is up to individuals to maintain that revival. The kind of revival that we need is what is described as a "Spiritual Awakening" which does not last for just one day or a week but has been known to carry on for at least two generations.
The kind of revival that is needed is one that:
1. Inspires professing followers of Christ to draw near to God and an unrelenting desire to maintain close fellowship with Him and to acquire a faith that makes their relationship with Christ not one that is built upon the faith and teachings of men but a faith founded upon what God has revealed to them in His Word and one in which their relationship with God is authentic and their own; a faith and commitment to Christ established not on their own terms and preferences, but in submission to His authority in every area of their lives.
2. To commit themselves to a reading and studying of the scriptures that they might learn exactly what kind of a God it is they profess to follow, what His standards are, what is expected of them as Christians, and what they can expect from devoting themselves to following His Will for their lives, and what they can expect to face on account of their commitment to Him. (2 Tim. 3:16)
3. Not only causes them to read, hear, know, and understand the Word of God but dedicate themselves to applying the teachings of scripture to every aspect of their lives (Jas. 1:23) and to go out and share their faith with others, and to teach them the scriptures that they have learned.
4. That leads them to rely upon the sufficiency of the scriptures in every matter they address and test all teachings they hear and every trend against the text of the scriptures that they may not be deceived by a false doctrine but that they may continue to abide in the truth and authority of the scriptures.
5. In which Pastors, teachers, evangelists, and other influential figures are seen not as epitomes of truth, faith, and godliness, but as mere instruments of God and fellow servants of Christ raised up for the purpose of the edification, encouragement, inspiration, and instruction of the saints in the teachings of the Word of God, yet who are also subject to error in conduct, can go astray themselves, and must also be held accountable for when they do err in matters of doctrine or conduct.
6. In which Pastors, teachers, evangelists, and other figures are raised up to teach and preach the full counsel of the scriptures without compromise and expound upon them within the limits of the given text without attempting to reconcile the presentation of the text with ideas contrary to, who will be courageous in standing firm in the faith being concerned only with preaching the Gospel in its purity and teaching scripture in its entirety according to its given text, and who will not bow down to appeasing the masses under any circumstances, but instead be content with preaching the Word to just a handful of people sincerely seeking out God telling what is needed to be heard rather than attempting to gain the favor of the masses with a compromised teaching.
7. That causes sin and its consequences to be taken seriously and both members and leaders, instilling them a determination to not allow it any provision amongst their ranks or personal lives (Rom. 13:14) and who, instead of embracing and celebrating it, expose and condemn sin while at the same time loving the sinner, taking the proper measures as outlined in scripture to make sure that sin is not harbored within their congregations (Mt. 18:15-17, 1 Cor. 5:11, 1 Tim. 5:20, Titus 3:10, 11) and in which Christians dedicate themselves to live their lives according to the faith and doctrine they profess to hold to.
8. In which Christians learn what it is to test every doctrine, idea, trend, and movement against the authority of the scriptures as the Bereans did when the Apostle Paul preached to them the Gospel (Acts 17:11) rather than attempting to reconcile the scriptures with ideas and teachings that are contrary to and, rather than blindly buying into everything they read and here, test the credibility of those things as admonished to us in the scriptures. (1 Thess. 5:21)
9. In which apologetics are taken very seriously (Jude 3) and Christians do not fear inquiry or arguments challenging the truth of the Gospel or the authority of the scriptures, but instead are ready and able to give an answer and defense for the faith and hope that lies within them (1 Pet. 3:15) so as to break down all barriers that may be a hindrance to the ability and willingness of the lost to accept the Gospel. (2 Cor. 10:4-5)
10. That gives professing Christians a love for the world to come more than this present and to value their everlasting rewards more than temporal glories, (Mt. 6:19-20) to desire the favor of God above man and to fear God more than man even in the midst of suffering man's wrath on account of their faith. (Mt. 10:28)
11. In which the saints are well aware that there is a powerful adversary called Satan who is constantly at war with us because he is at war with God and is determined to lead as many souls as he can to destruction and because of this, he is relentlessly attempting to render the saints useless for the kingdom of God by various means using various resources to lead them into sin in order to destroy their credibility, through persecution by either government authorities and if not by government authorities, their fellow man in general, causing needless division within the ranks of the Church, causing them to fear men more than God, distracting them with the cares of this world, lulling them into complacency, discouraging them into apathy, luring them into alliances and relationships that require them to compromise their faith, and deceiving them with false doctrines by either the perverting of the scriptures or attempting to shake the trust the saints have in the sufficiency of the scriptures that he might attempt to use them as instruments of spreading his lies and deceit throughout the body of Christ and the world, attacking the Church from both without and within, overtly, and with subtlty according to whichever he feels will suit his ends.
12. In which the saints are not at all surprised or dismayed when they encounter hardship; fully understanding that God never promised us exemption from hard times but that He would help us through those difficult times.
13. That moves Christians to faithfully obey the calling that God has placed upon each and every one of their lives and to fulfill the commission that He has given to all of us and to stand for that which is right in his sight no whether the odds be in our favor or not and to act as the moral and spiritual conscience of our nation and the world knowing that the problems faced in this world are founded not in the manifested symptoms, but is instead a spiritual one.
14. In which Christians do not rally behind a denomination, person, a set of traditions and rituals, or an organization that is subject to error and fallibility but around the infallible Word of God and the sinless Christ. (Heb. 4:15) After all, God did not call us to be Catholics, Protestants, Orthodox, Coptics, or to be any denomination we have attached ourselves to. He called us to be Christians. He did not call us to follow a set of Church doctrines or traditions, but abide in the authority of the scriptures alone. Nor are we called to follow a Pastor, Bishop, Priest, or Pope, or a renown political or religious figure. We were called to follow Christ and Him only.
15. That unites the body of Christ around the essential doctrines of scripture and ceases all division and debate over those things that bear no consequence, but we first have to recognize that which is essential and that which is not. That is only possible if we all learn to read and study the scriptures and let them be their own interpreter.
16. In which Christians know what it is to be set apart from the world and what it means to not be of the world even though we may be in the world. (Jn. 17:16, Rom. 12:2, 1 Pet. 2:5, 9)
That is what Christians need to do to make themselves effective vessels for the Kingdom of God and to be the light of the world that Christ called us to be; (Mt. 5:14) a light that exposes the lies of darkness and opens eyes to the light of God's truth, and which does not enable sin but calls men away from sin to a life of holiness in Christ Jesus. Real change does not begin from the inside out. And if you are waiting for an outward change for the better, it is not going to happen that way. Real change for the better has to begin within and that begins within each and every one of us. Later, as that change from within is applied to our lives and spread to others, we may then see those changes we have longed and prayed for to manifest themselves in society. And it is within each and everyone of us that the real work of God begins. And when we first surrender ourselves to the authority of our Maker and commit ourselves to abiding in His truth and His ways and then attempt to persuade others to do the same, eventually we will see the change and work that God started within us to be manifested outwardly.
Scripture references:
1. Acts 17:11
2. 1 Thessalonians 5:21
3. 1 Peter 4:17
4. 2 Timothy 3:16
5. James 1:23
6. Romans 13:14
7. Matthew 18:15-17
8. 1 Corinthians 5:11
9. 1 Timothy 5:20
10. Titus 3:10, 11
11. Jude 3
12. 1 Peter 3:15
13. 2 Corinthians 10:4-5
14. Matthew 6:19-20
15. Matthew 10:28
16. Hebrews 4:15
17. John 17:6
18. Romans 12:2
19. 1 Peter
2:5, 9
20. Matthew
5:14
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