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God is not…PC3 |
Dear Brethren,
Our nation was
founded on the principles and laws of God. Recognizing Divine
Providence, we were once one nation under God, and truly a
God-fearing country. The basis of our Constitution was
Judaeo-Christian values and principles. But today, political
correctness has come to mean being anti-God, anti-traditional family
values, pro-abortion, anti-prayer, and anti-Ten Commandments. Those
people, who voice their strong opposition against the Supreme Being
and all that He stands for, are deemed to be politically correct.
It seems that there
is one standard that politicians, military men, giants in industry,
and even religious leaders do not wish to infringe upon – and that
is, the benchmark of being PC – politically correct. We have come
to the point where the majority of our high officials do not mind
openly and flagrantly violating God’s Commandments – but they will
not speak or do anything that is not politically correct. To
be politically correct today, one needs to yield his sense of moral
judgment, principled ethics, and decent integrity to the ever
increasingly politically corrupt status quo system.
First meaning: God is not... PC1: God is not going to change His perfect way
of righteousness to become politically correct. He is not going to change His stance against
the killing of unborn babies to be in compliance with Roe vs. Wade.
In fact, the despicable mutilation of a life that the judges and
courts of America hold as politically correct, God said, "it
never entered His mind" (Jeremiah 19:5). God, who knows all
things, could not imagine that man would stoop so low.
Not only is God not pro-abortion, He is not for euthanasia, homosexuality, nor any act
that debases the human spirit. Those and other violations of God’s
morality are done in the name of sensitivity, compassion,
understanding, or fairness, as though God was cold-hearted, and
mankind shows more sympathy and kindness than the all-loving Deity.
God does not accept nor approve of the ever-worsening political
correctness engulfing society today. God says: “I am the
Eternal Lord, I change not.” (Malachi 3:6)
Second meaning: God is not... PC2: The
mention of God’s name and anything remotely religious has become taboo in
government, the courts, and education. Anything remotely religious in
nature is subject to being removed from public property – anything remotely
Christian, that is. The exceptions to this rule are Islamic, far
Eastern, Native, and Pagan representations.
Not only can God not be credited with creation or intervention in the affairs of man
– the very mention of the existence of God is prohibited.
The only remaining allusion to God that is politically correct is
the reference to acts of God such as earthquakes, hurricanes
and tsunamis. Even “a moment of silence” is being forbidden in the
fear that someone will utter a silent prayer to God.
Third meaning:
God is not... PC3: Sadly in the Churches of God
today, there is a caution not to cross politically correct lines.
The Church is supposed to: "Cry aloud and spare not in
condemning sins" (Isaiah 58:1), but instead, the Church is
careful to tiptoe all around "the traditions of men, the
rudiments of the world," (Colossians 2:8) in order to appear
respectable in today's society. Where is the Church that will
boldly proclaim to God’s people – "their transgression, and the
house of Jacob their sins" (Isaiah 58:1)?
In the 1960’s and 1970’s – when our children were growing up – we had a standard in
our home. No “R” rated movies for our family. If a movie was rated
“R” for any reason at all – language – violence, etc., it was
off-limits. Later in 1986–1987 when I was working in Pasadena, Joe
Tkach Sr. brought his son into headquarters to groom him for other
things. Every two weeks we had a local ministerial meeting, where
the ministers within driving distance would come to headquarters for
a general meeting – where Joe Tkach Jr. would preside. The idea
was to stay in touch and keep a finger on the pulse of the Work.
At one of those ministerial meetings, the Church Youth magazine was discussed. The
staff of the magazine had surveyed the youth to find out which movie
was their favorite that year. The Church youth had chosen as their
current favorite, a rather objectionable R- Rated movie, and the
result of the survey had been published in a full page advertisement
in the Church Youth magazine – complete with the Hollywood
advertisement that promos their movies.
Joe Tkach Jr. not only approved, but defended the endorsement of the R-Rated movie
that opposed Godly values. As soon as he got to Pasadena, he
had begun redefining the direction of our Church’s youth into the
world – and doing many similar things to make the word of God of no
effect (Mark 7:13). In that meeting, I made the point that by
publishing the results of the survey the way it was presented – the
Church was, in fact, promoting the movie. I protested that at least
we could have printed a disclaimer on the same page as the Hollywood
promo – saying that Church parents needed to scrutinize more closely
the movies their children were seeing. Joe Tkach Jr. remained
steadfast, and would not admit that there was anything wrong with
the Youth Magazine policy of sponsoring such things.
Joe Jr.'s licentiousness was appalling, but it revealed an even deeper failing
in the Pastors that were present. Church members from all over the
world looked to Pasadena headquarters for spiritual leadership. The
Youth Magazine incident only exposed the miserable spiritual
condition of the ministry in 1988: None of the ministers at that
meeting had the courage or wisdom to disagree with Joe Tkach Jr.
openly, because he was the up and coming political power at
Pasadena. In fact, they thought it was "smart" not to disagree with
him.
All
the headquarters ministers chose to be “Politically Correct,” rather
than practice Godliness. I kept trying to make my point that the
Church had to set the high standard – that we had the obligation and
responsibility to set the tone…and finally, one other man – out
of fifteen area Pastors, said, “I can see Warren’s point." All the
other ministers bowed to their master; they kissed the calves
(Hosea, 13:2, 1Kings 19:18). They all wanted to be
politically correct, by staying on Joe Jr.'s good side.
Some of those very same men are in big church groups today. God was
not PC then – He is not PC now.
Jesus warns the Church to be the beacon of Truth when He says, “Whosoever shall
be ashamed of Me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man
be ashamed, when He shall come in His own glory, and in His
Father's, and of the holy angels.” (Luke 9:26) It seems that
the Church, rather than hurt somebody's feelings, would rather
offend God.
In our generation,
everything that once made our nation strong, vibrant, and worthy of
the blessings of God, have been turned upside down. What better
definition of today’s political correctness can we find than in
Isaiah? “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that
put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for
sweet, and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20)
The Gospel message cannot be watered down to be politically correct
– and still remain the True Gospel Jesus proclaimed.
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Sermon: |
"God is not…PC3"
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