How’s That For Discrimination!

The Prime Minister pulled out of an upcoming speaking engagement at the Australian Christian Lobby’s national conference after learning of some comments made by its leader during a debate on same-sex marriage. She said his comments were “offensive” and therefore it would be “inappropriate” for her to attend. The ACL leader says she acted hastily in response to “inaccurate media reporting and misrepresentation by gay activists” predicting many would see her withdrawal from the conference as “the abandonment of the Christian constituency.” Given that she’s an atheist, a humanist and a socialist, I think he’s spot on with that last statement.

I also believe this woman is overjoyed at not having to attend that conference to speak. Have a think about it; Prime Minister or not, how comfortable do you really believe an atheist, humanist, socialist would be in the company of any Holy Spirit-led, Jesus Christ-centered, Bible-based Christians among them … even for five minutes? Such people don’t want to be within a bull’s roar of God’s holy people! To them, we are the aroma of death to death 2 Corinthians 2:16. As someone else has put it, “We are the occasion of deepening their condemnation, and of sinking them lower into ruin.” I know what that feels like; before I turned to the Lord Jesus Christ I would avoid that kind of Christian like the plague!

However, if it’s a politician the ACL still seeks, there are others waiting in the wings to fill the gap. In answer to a question as to whether she would be prepared to speak, a key minister in the Opposition said, “Yes, I would go along and I would speak my mind.” Since this lady has been on the public scene I’ve seen no evidence that she stands for biblical Christendom, so perhaps it would be her mind that she speaks, not God’s mind. I say this because of her reaction to the reported statement of the ACL man, not his actual statement. Another political party leader spoke her mind too, but not God’s; she accused the ACL of homophobia and said, “Christians should be more concerned with poverty than homosexuality.”

It never ceases to amaze me that those in political life who have never given a spot of evidence that they live for Christ and the Bible, can be so swift to tell Christians who do so, what it is we should be doing. How unwise! How arrogant! Speaking of one who (supposedly) waits in the wings to speak is an ex-political leader. He’s apparently written to the ACL offering his services, saying it was important such comments didn’t go unanswered. He’s been reported as saying, “I challenge the Australian Christian Lobby to allow me to speak at their national conference in October to put a more temperate, and I suspect, a more Christian view because nowhere in the Bible do I find the act of discrimination acceptable.”

To my mind, news media reports are about as trustworthy as politicians, ex or otherwise; but suppose this is a true statement from the man. His, “more Christian view” would suggest a more compromising view, given that he wrote in an article on same-sex marriage recently, “I think religion has a very real role in our society, and for the total believers it must be great solace. But many of us want a church that is relevant to today and tomorrow. A church that is compassionate, uplifting, maybe even exciting.” Sounds good … but we don’t get that based on what we want, we get it based on what God wants. What is it that God wants? Humility and repentance before Him and obedience to Him. We bow to God; God does not bow to us.

Getting back to the last bit of his statement, “…….because nowhere in the Bible do I find the act of discrimination acceptable.” It would seem he hasn’t looked too hard. God clearly discriminates between the humble and the proud, the godly and the ungodly, the holy and the unholy. This is the language of religious humanism; it is not the language of God. How come? The language of God is hated; Jesus said as much, And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake Matthew 10:22. How’s that for discrimination! Blessed are you when men hate you…..and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of Man’s sake Luke 6:22. How’s that for discrimination!

Again, …it (the world system) hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil John 7:7. How’s that for discrimination! If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you John 15:18-19. How’s that for discrimination! He who hates Me hates My Father also John 15:23. How’s that for discrimination! They hated Me without a cause John 15:25. How’s that for discrimination! Had the Lord Jesus Christ “put a more temperate, Christian view” on all that He said and did He would never have been crucified!  

Politicians and ex-politicians (is there really such a thing?) and others who don’t demonstrate by their lives that they live for God are not permitted by God to speak for God. Psalm 50:16-17 makes that abundantly clear to all the unwise and arrogant. As practicing Christians, we would be wise to understand that when this crowd usurps the Bible seeking to beat up on us with Scripture, they have gone beyond their boundaries. They don’t speak for God; they speak for Satan … and whether they believe or understand that or not makes no difference. It’s not what they believe, it’s what we believe. That’s why I never allow those who don’t live for God to tell me how I should live for God.

It’s not wise to allow Bible-compromising Christians to tell us how we should live for God either. Twenty-four years ago I sat in a Baptist church listening to a pastor tell us that “in the days ahead” we could expect church pulpits to be more & more occupied by men and women who are products of their theology lecturers, not products of the Holy Spirit of God. How come? Because lecturers and others had infiltrated the Bible Colleges who were not born again, not Spirit baptized, not Christ-centered and not Bible-based … they’re academics and intellectuals. As a result they have a very low view of the Bible, interpreting the word within from a humanist standpoint rather than a revelational standpoint.

The “days ahead” have arrived! Whether an associate minister of the Baptist church is a product of such I have no idea, but in response to the ACL leader’s reported comments, (his) views were out of step with most Australian Christians…….polling showed a majority of Australian Christians were not opposed to same-sex marriage, and the recent census showed 40 per cent of Australians in same-sex relationships identify as Christians.” The question here is, are these people Christians? The Bible tells us who is and who isn’t; it might be the time to check these Scriptures to find out if we are or not: Matthew 10:38-39; Mark 8:34-35; Romans 6:6, 8, 11. It is true that we come to God as we are, but God does not expect us to stay as we are! 

True Christianity is all about deliverance: deliverance from this present evil age Galatians 1:4; deliverance from religious law plus deliverance from self Galatians 2:19-20; deliverance from the flesh Galatians 5:24; and deliverance from the world (system) Galatians 6:14. Spend a few minutes comparing yourself with these and the Scriptures above, then see who’s “out of step” with who. If your Christianity doesn’t line up with this brief study then you’re out of step with God and you’re not a Christian at all, you’re just religious. Humility, repentance and obedience puts you in step, but that’s much harder to do; that’s why religion is far more appealing for most people than true Christianity.

Around the world, true Christianity is being rejected on every front just like the Scriptures tell us it would be in the last days 2Timothy 3:1-5. It’s not just the same-sex marriage crowd and their proponents rejecting it, so are the atheists, humanists, socialists, communists, govermentalists, globalists, internationalists, collectivists, feminists, chauvinists, scientists, evolutionists, relativists, abortionists, environmentalists, deists, religionists, ecumenists, paganists, altruists, antagonists, educationists, egoists, egotists, emotionalists, exclusivists, fascists, fatalists, hedonists, hyperbolists, idealists, ideologists, materialists, individualists, intellectualists, moralists, occultists, pacifists, psychologists, psychiatrists, …. you’ve got the picture! 

Now for some good news. The Bible tells us we don’t fight or wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places Ephesians 6:12. So taking another look at the list above, God is telling us here that behind each group are demonic, anti-Christ evil spiritual beings motivating them; and in many cases possessing them. I say it’s good news for two reasons, one: we don’t have to play them at their own game getting caught up in their arguments, two: every one of those demonic beings is subject to the Lord Jesus Christ, always. That means they are also subject to His true church – a spiritual organism, not a religious organization.

Either individually or corporately, the place to do battle with gay activists and any other ‘ists’ is on our knees – in prayer, engaging in spiritual warfare. In other words we pray (perhaps fast too) against the spirit of homosexuality that seeks to pull us down, not the homosexual him/herself. We deal with the spirit of atheism, not the atheist; the spirit of humanism, not the humanist; the spirit of abortion (infanticide), not the abortionist … and so on. The religious organization commonly spoken of as the church won’t do this; it is spiritually clueless to the demonic realm, its influences and powers. That’s why the demons are walking all over their members successfully converting them into sympathizers!

The ‘ists’ think we are a joke when they hear us talk about prayer because all too often they see no results and mockingly snarl, “Where is this God of yours?” Many Christians see no results for their prayers either and so they give up. Don’t give up; you never know when God may come storming in with an answer. God has shut a few of them down before my very eyes; others He’s removed off the scene at a later date. It happened again recently; I took the issue to Jesus, I cursed the spirit energizing and motivating the man and now eight months later he’s gone. Besides, no prayer to God goes unanswered … especially those where we do battle on our knees. God has stored them all as incense in golden bowls for the day of His wrath Revelation 5:8. 

Think of it; thousands of years of “unanswered” prayers one day finding their fulfillment in the seals, trumpets and bowls judgments to come, as revealed in the Revelation of Jesus Christ. Is there any way an ‘ist’ can avoid this judgment? Most certainly. But there’s only one way and that is turn away from yourself and your ungodly desires & practices and surrender yourself to THE WAY, Jesus Christ the Savior, Redeemer and LORD. Regardless of what society has conditioned you to believe, the gospel message has never changed. Neither has God. For I am the LORD, I do not change Malachi 3:6. I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life John 8:12; Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever Hebrews 13:8.