A few months ago, I read an account of a group of senior citizens on a bus, headed for Washington, D. C., and the Museum of the Bible, founded the Green Family, also the founders of Hobby Lobby. One woman on the bus, speaking to a reporter, lamented, “Being a Christian just isn’t like it used to be.” I think in the museum, she is looking for a home – a place where her ideas won’t seem strange and out of date, a place where prayers won’t be equated with wishful thinking, and a place where she won’t be scoffed. She may find that place at The Museum of the Bible. I don’t know. I’ve never been there. But my best guess is that when she leaves the museum, nothing will have changed in the outside world.
Contrary to various things I’ve read, Christianity is not dying – because God is not dying. But we Christians have a serious challenge – How to preach the Good News to this generation. I hope to use this blog to convey serious, Biblical options. But first there are two truths we must seriously contend with.
- This blog is called “Letters from Babylon” because American Christians must remember that the nation of Israel (Judah specifically) was sent into exile in Babylon because of Israel’s failures. They were warned repeatedly, but ignored God’s word and God’s prophets. The Judeans were confident in their position as God’s chosen people. Within recent memory, during the reign of King Hezekiah, hadn’t God miraculously turned back the armies of Assyria? Would God ever allow his Holy Temple to fall into foreign hands? Nevertheless, within the century, the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed and the people marched into exile in Babylon.Many of us like to think of the United States as a special nation, a Christian nation. We fear destruction only if we disobey God. But are we looking at scripture to see what obedience means?
- Secondly, as more and more non-christians move into our nation, or leave God from within, many fear what it means to become a less uniformly Christian nation. May I remind you that Christianity has never prospered as it did in the pagan Greco-Roman world? Has something essential been lost from our message that we should now be afraid? Why aren’t we thanking God for a bigger mission field than we ever could have hoped for? And God is bringing it to our door step!
I will try to bring scripture to future blogs to make my points about where we should be headed. As always, scripture is for you to read and digest. Feel free to argue with me, but only in the light of what scripture says. And if you don’t want to think, do not bother to read this blog any further.
