2 Timothy 4:3-4 KJV – “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”
One of the observations I’ve made in recent times is that basic beliefs Christians have held to for 2,000 years (and the Israelites before them for hundreds more years!) are suddenly being portrayed as radical beliefs. At times, it’s as if those discovering that Christians hold to these beliefs are in shock that people could hold to these positions. Why is this happening?
I personally think there are at least five major reasons for this. Of course, I’m sure there are more, but before we look at the five I am proposing, let’s consider some examples.
Christian Organizations Want to Hire . . . Christians?
We have seen secularists respond in shock that Christian organizations would employ only Christians! LGBTQ people have spoken against Christian adoption agencies that only place children in homes that agree with their statement of faith.
In Your Inbox
Government officials can’t believe that Christian schools don’t allow students who are transgender/gay to be part of the student body or that they won’t hire LGBTQ staff members. Christians have been taken to court for not doing things (like making wedding cakes, doing photography, etc., for celebrations of nonbiblical “marriage”) that go totally against their biblical convictions. The list goes on and on.
Aliens—They’re Going to Hell!?
Let me give you a totally different type of example. In 2014, I wrote a blog post on Answers In Genesis about why I don’t believe in aliens. In that blog, I used the same type of arguments that I had used on our website in 2007. In fact, I have been giving these reasons for why I don’t believe in aliens for many years—it’s really nothing new. Not only that, but if you search the internet, you can find articles from other authors using arguments similar to the ones I use.
Now, one of the arguments I used in that 2014 blog was in regard to the gospel. I explained that if there were intelligent beings on other planets, then they would have been affected by the fall of Adam because the whole creation was affected (Romans 8:22). So these beings would have to die because death was the penalty for sin. One day their planet will be destroyed by fire during God’s final judgment, but they cannot have salvation because that blessing is given only to humans. If intelligent beings lived on other planets, they would suffer because of Adam’s sin but have no opportunity to be saved through Christ’s sacrifice.
When Jesus Christ stepped into history, he became the God-man. The Bible calls him “the last Adam” and the “second man” (1 Corinthians 15:45, 47). He became the second perfect man (Adam was perfect before he sinned), and he took the place of the first Adam by dying for the human race. As the first Adam was the representative head of the human race, so Jesus became the new head, the last Adam. So there can be no other Savior, only Christ. Jesus now sits in the heavens, still in human form, on his throne next to the Father. If Jesus stepped out of his human form, we would no longer have a Savior. He remains the God-man forever. But note, Jesus didn’t become a “God-Klingon,” a “God-Vulcan,” or a “God-Cardassian”—he became the God-man.
It wouldn’t make sense theologically for there to be other intelligent, physical beings who suffer because of Adam’s sin but cannot be saved. So my point was that I don’t believe in aliens.
Secularists didn’t respond to my writing on this over the years until 2014 when I used the above argument in my blog. For some reason, that blog captured their attention, and the secular media responded with headlines like these:
- “Creationist Ken Ham Says Aliens Are ‘Going to Hell’ . . .”
- “Creationist Ken Ham Says Aliens Will Go to Hell So Let’s Stop Looking for Them”
- “Creationist Ken Ham: ‘Aliens AREN’T Going to Hell, Because They Don’t Exist, Because the Bible’”
- “Creationist Ken Ham calls to end space program because aliens are going to hell anyway”
Okay, there were many more ridiculous headlines, all because I used an explanation about the gospel as one of the many reasons I give to say I don’t believe in aliens. We are certainly experiencing a time when those who reject Christianity will go out of their way to mock and attack Christians in ways we’ve never seen before in this culture. Why is this happening?
Five Reasons People Are Shocked
Let’s consider my five reasons:
- In the past when the Judeo-Christian ethic permeated the culture, Christians (churches) had a somewhat favored cultural position. So Christians and Christian leaders (pastors, etc.) were highly respected. Even most non-Christians had more of a Christianized worldview. But as the culture has become more secularized and permeated by moral relativism, Christians are often seen to be the enemy and are increasingly attacked.
- Because of intense evolutionary indoctrination in the education systems and the elevating of anything that is called “science” to a position of almost reverence, many now see Christian beliefs as outdated, anti-scientific, mythological, and ignorant.
- As generations have built their thinking on man’s word instead of God’s Word and thus built a very secular worldview permeated with moral relativism, they see those who stand on the absolutes of Christianity as intolerant and hate-filled for not totally accepting their anti-God worldview. Those who don’t want Christian morality want total compliance with and acceptance of their views by everyone.
- We cannot ignore the spiritual aspect that the god of this world, Satan, has blinded people against the truth. And the more people drift from God’s Word, the more the devil will blind them to the truth. Yes, it is a spiritual issue.In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. (2 Corinthians 4:4)And because it’s a spiritual issue, the solution is, always has been, and will continue to be the saving gospel!
- Now I come to the final reason—the one that I believe has been one of the most significant contributions to what is happening. This concerns the state of much of the church. There’s been a catastrophic generational loss from the church as the younger generations have become ardently secular with a worldview permeated by moral relativism. So many church leaders compromised Genesis with evolution and undermined the authority of the Word of God, and that causes doubt that leads to unbelief as seen in the younger generations. Much of the church did not equip generations with apologetics to withstand the attacks on God’s Word, particularly in Genesis.So many church leaders totally endorsed the pagan public education system, telling parents their kids needed to be there to be salt and thus witnesses in that system. But kids can’t be salt till they have it, and if the salt is contaminated, it’s good for nothing. The majority of church kids have not survived this anti-God system. Many church leaders didn’t teach parents how to disciple their children. Many churches watered down the teaching of the Word and moved more toward entertainment (performance) and experiential aspects. Many churches/church leaders (and the number is increasing) have become very soft on moral issues associated with LGBTQ. There are so many other issues associated with the church that have resulted in, by and large, a lukewarm church that has greatly contributed to the increasing secularization of the culture.
Okay—there, I said it. I do believe much of the problem lies with the church. A lot of Christians look at the culture and say, “Look how bad the culture is.”
I think we should be saying, “Look how bad much of the church is,” and then we should commit to praying for the church and challenging her to stand on the authority of God’s Word, from the very first verse, so we can raise up generations who know what they believe, know why they believe what they believe, and will boldly share that with others.
