The LGBTQ Movement and Christianity (Its Threat and Our Response): Part 2

Over the last 10+ years Satan has launched what is the equivalent of a cultural “shock and awe” campaign that has decimated the Church's influence upon the culture. The rate of change and de-evolution of our culture, what is celebrated as excellent, has left many Christians in a state of shock. Many Christians are dazed and confused as a result of witnessing the swift and total destruction of clear, acceptable standards.

To be sure, this attack is but a phase in a battle that started with the secularization of rational thought and has continued with through the Sexual Devolution (some refer to a Sexual Revolution, but let’s call it what it is…a devolution of the moral standard). The enemy's battle plan of relentlessly 1) destroying rational thought through humanism and secular reasoning and education (Romans 1: 21-22) and 2) devolving sexual standards in nearly every possible way (Roman 1:24) has proven extremely successful.

This has left the Church in a state of shock and awe regarding many issues, including its response to the LGBTQ lifestyle. Across ALL denominations self-professed Christians are turning away from clear Biblical standards and openly welcoming the LGBTQ lifestyle. In short, the Church is losing its way and is losing its influence on America’ culture.

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Polls attest to the success Satan has celebrated. Support for gay marriage IN THE CHURCH has tragically and shockingly increased in the span of only sixteen years.

% of U.S. adults who favor same-sex marriage, by religion (2001-2017) [1]

A question must be asked: Has God changed, has the Bible changed, or has the Church changed in relation to sinful lifestyles? God does not change and the Bible is God's inspired Word, so it to cannot change. That leaves one thing that has changed…Christians and the Church they compose.

Many self-proclaimed Christians are actively aligned and supportive of Satan in this battle. They choose to condone, if not celebrate, the sinful LGBTQ lifestyle out of a misguided understanding of what it means to love someone. Through their actions (or silence) they directly aid the enemy of God.

Sadly, entire denominations have corrupted God’s Word and have aligned themselves with the enemy, by placing LGBTQ-activists into positions of trust within their churches as teachers, deacons, pastors, and bishops, etc. The list of denominations continues to grow. Review your denomination’s statements of faith to see where it stands. Make time to talk to your Pastor so 1) you can know where they stand, 2) they can know where you stand, and 3) they know you expect the church to stand with God while seeking to save the lost.

The Church, the world's collected Christian force, is starting to fail to stand with God in its mission. The Church has failed to stand against the enemy while desperately trying to remain relevant. There are many reasons for the Church’s ineffectiveness but we will focus on two reasons: 1) the infiltration of heretical “Nicolaitan” theology and 2) the number of Christians who suffer from Spiritual Bipolar Disorder.

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Many Christians abuse God’s grace to justify sinful lifestyles. This is shown though a large presence of modern day Nicolaitans in the church. The Nicolaitans were an early activist group directly mentioned and condemned by Jesus Christ in Revelation Chapter 2.

In Revelation 2:6 Jesus says, “But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.” In Revelation 2:15-16 he states, “Likewise you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.”

The Nicolaitans were a group of people who “had given in to compromise with the pagan society around them. They taught that spiritual freedom and liberty allowed people to engage in immoral behavior without fear of punishment. They felt that because of God’s grace, these behaviors did not affect one’s spiritual salvation or relationships with Christ.”[2] The Nicolaitans taught you could do whatever you wanted without fear of God so long as you trusted in Gods grace. This is often heard today in Christian circles.

Jesus’ evaluation of this group probably shocks many Christians—he declares His hate for their practices.

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Jesus didn’t pull any punches in his criticism of the Nicolaitans.  Indeed, He both expressed and praised an attitude of “hate” towards the practices of the Nicolaitans because they justified sin and abused grace. He DID NOT hate people or individual persons; that is not in the character of God. Jesus DID express hate towards sin and its corrupting influence. In this context this includes condemning a specific group of people who were encouraging sinful living.

There are many who try to use Jesus as a cover for a sinful lifestyle and try to hide under the cover of a merciful God. They want grace without repentance; they like the idea of Jesus as Savior but have no interest in Him as Lord. While grasping for the love of Jesus they ignore His calls to holy living. Jesus rejects those people and praises the church of Ephesus who also rejected and resisted this pollution of the church. We too must have the same attitude, rejecting calls of accepting and condoning sinful behavior…of ALL sorts.

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I would wager many Christians are not aware of these words of Jesus and his hate of this damaging mindset. If they did acknowledge the words they would quickly rationalize them away or dismiss them. The idea that Jesus could hate anything does not fit into the mantra of love and tolerance so prevalent today. The concept that Jesus could hate something is unfathomable.

It is true that Jesus is the ultimate demonstration of love in action. It is also true that Jesus will not tolerate and expressed feelings of ultimate disdain towards behaviors and actions that reject, pollute, or are incompatible with His holiness.

To deny the full nature of Jesus Christ is to weaken Him and is to subvert His very nature. To focus solely on one aspect of Jesus–His love–ignores the other aspect of Jesus, His Holiness. This is the equivalent of looking at the person of Jesus Christ in the Godhead and then ignoring the persons of the Father and Holy Spirit. It is impossible to know a person when you don’t accept who they are in total.

The LGBTQ movement within the church is a modern day from of Nicolaitans occupying the Church–and they are growing in influence. They seek the ability to live immoral lifestyles, directly and clearly addressed in God’s Word,  while abusing the cover of God’s grace to do so. To those who are advocating and justifying this abuse of grace—Jesus is not pleased.

The corrupting Nicolaitan influence stems from a desire to live between two mindsets that leads to the second reason the Church has largely lost its influence upon culture.

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Many Christians suffer from Spiritual Bipolar Disorder, living with different, competing mindsets. One mindset exists in Church, the other mindset outside of the Church. Few Christians apply what they profess to believe on Sunday morning to the rest of their lives the moment they step outside the church walls. This is Spiritual Bipolar Disorder.

The Christian mindset teaches God created the heavens and the earth; the outside-the-church mindset says we are a random chance through evolution.

The Christian mindset knows sex is reserved for a relationship between one man and one woman in marriage; the outside the church mindset says sex is whatever anybody wants, whenever they want it, with whomever they want it.

The Christian mindset knows life has value from conception; the outside the church mindset says a woman can choose to end a life in her womb.

The Christian mindset knows we are responsible for providing for our family; the outside the church mindset encourages us to take from others, abuse systems, and do whatever it takes to get what we think we deserve.

The bipolar list of competing mindsets goes on and on in terms of finance, science, education, entertainment, politics, business practices, church practices, etc.

Christian Overman, of Worldview Matters, calls this condition the “Secular-Sacred Divide” and states “dualism constricts the Light of Scripture to Sunday morning sermons, and does not apply it to business, law, medicine, art, civil governance or anything else outside the four walls of a church.”[3]

Author Matt Walsh, who frequently takes on cultural issues from a Biblical worldview, recently addressed his encounters with those who suffer from Spiritual Bipolar Disorder. In an article he notes that, “I have even noticed, unsurprisingly, that many of the people who lodge these complaints (to tone down the Jesus stuff) often declare themselves to be Christian.” He then goes on to capture the heart of the disorder, “In America today, nobody hates hearing about Christianity more than a Christian.”[4]

Christianity has weakened itself because few let God be the God of every area of their life every day of their life.

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The effect of Spiritual Bipolar Disorder is wide ranging but, as it relates to LGBTQ activism, it is most clearly seen when God’s design of gender, marriage, family, and sex are not considered in policy and legislative discussions. I have witnessed professed Christians discouraging others from referencing Biblical standards during testimony before legislative bodies because of fear of what it may look or sound like before a hostile audience. They refuse to allow God’s Word, which is sharper than a two-edged sword, from being brought into a conversation. They do not let God be God over everything.

Because God is left out we see policy and legislation encouraging, giving special protection to, and rewarding ungodly LGBTQ behavior. Civil government–replacing God–now decides what constitutes a marriage and what components can make a family. Legislation declares gender can be fluid and then forces people to lie by requiring language to affirm what our eyes know is not true.

Marriage, family, gender, and sex are NOT areas under civil government authority; these are all topics that are squarely within God’s authority. Spiritual Bipolar Disorder causes Christians to lose sight of God sovereignty over these issues.

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A true and lasting relationship with Jesus Christ as Lord demands a 100% commitment that allows Christ to be Lord of every area of our lives. No longer can we live fragmented, half committed lives. Jesus demands (and more than deserves) our full commitment to Him. He declared, “If you want to be my disciple, you must, by comparison, hate everyone else—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26, NLT). This was not hyperbole. Jesus did not speak these words for shock value. He stated a truth that few accept—Jesus must be the Lord of all your life everyday over everything.

Spiritual Bipolar Disorder is a serious spiritual condition that hinders and hurts our daily effectiveness. If Christians wish to be the force God has designed us to be we must confront this disorder first in our own lives and then within the Church.

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Can the Church recover its influence it once had in America? That depends. The lesson and parallel from Revelation 2 continues here.  The Nicolaitans were resisted by one church (Ephesus) but were able to corrupt another (Pergamum). To Ephesus (the church that resisted) Jesus gives praise. To Pergamum (the corrupted church) Jesus issues a strong call to repent and change. Are there more Ephesus-type churches who withstood false teachings or are there more Pergamum-type teachings who embraced bad doctrine?

Will Christians fully yield to Jesus Christ and Lord and Savior or will commitment remain partial and split? Will we fully repent and change our direction or will we continue to live Spiritually Bipolar lives?

The Good News is (warning spoiler alert here) Jesus wins! Ultimately, God will have his way. But how many will be left outside looking in?

[1] http://www.pewforum.org/fact-sheet/changing-attitudes-on-gay-marriage/

[2] Fire Bible: Global Study Edition. Note to Rev 2:6. Pg. 2518.

[3] http://biblicalworldviewmatters.blogspot.com/2018/02/when-dualism-reigns.html

[4] https://www.dailywire.com/news/27897/walsh-many-people-have-asked-me-tone-down-jesus-matt-walsh?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_content=062316-podcast&utm_campaign=mattwalsh

About Pastor Ric