In Matthew 16:18, Jesus proclaimed, “I will build my Church and the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against it”. Since that declaration, Satan and his minions have tried to destroy the church and its influence on people and nations. All have failed. Frontal attacks on Jesus’ followers have not done the job of prevailing over the church.
But now we are at the Gates of Hell, and the Church now needs to take an uncompromising stand against evil and the devil. Using sledgehammer tactics has not worked down through the ages, as seen in the times the Church has come under attack by the forces of Satan. Just a few of these will show that Jesus’ proclamation is true. The Roman Empire tried to exterminate Christianity and failed. Islam did the same and Crusades were fought to keep the Holy Land free. At places like Tours in 732 and Vienna in the 17th century, Christian forces kept Islam from dominating Europe. Even today, Islam is part of the lower Balkans, and do rule in European Turkey.
In more modern times, the attempt to marginalize Christianity and the Church has happened in the Soviet Union, where Christianity was outlawed until the USSR fell apart in the early 1990s. Communist China still discourages and limits the Church in their nation, and most Muslim nations allow little or no religious freedom, which usually means the Church as Jesus established it is not permitted. Under Hitler’s Nazis, the usual morality was not to be followed if it interfered with the operations of the state. Under Nazi rule, Jews, gypsies, the infirm and other undesirables were slated for death.
But not so in the United States, for our Bill of Rights guarantees the freedom of religion, to believe what we wish and to exercise that in our lives. So how does the “gates of Hell” attempt to prevail over our religious landscape today? Not by having jackbooted stormtroopers close the houses of worship for that would not be tolerated by the vast majority of Americans.
Satan’s followers have begun and accelerated the process of making the Church much less influential in the lives of ordinary citizens. This is done by watering down or simply ignoring the basic tenets of Christianity. Following are several examples of Church people doing the work of the devil.
Our Bible teaches the sanctity of life, all life. Yet three adherents of a Church that opposes abortion are the leaders of a political party that supports abortion on demand. Joe Biden is the “president-elect”, Nancy Pelosi is the Speaker of the House and Chuck Schumer is the minority leader of the Senate. All these “good Catholics” are pro abortion, and this attitude seeps down into the pew where ordinary churchgoers become more accepting of the killing of the unborn.
God created man and woman, and also formed the first union of Adam and Eve. Yet many in churches in our land accept and even applaud gay marriage. This is in spite of Paul’s strident denunciation of homosexuality in Romans. To even dispute the morality of this becomes a cause to attack those who adhere to Biblical principle.
Another idea that has infiltrated Churches today is the transgender trend. God’s creation now becomes just another choice to make and many religious people accept this distortion of what should be.
Scratch a Christian who goes to Church and you may find someone who believes that there is little that is absolutely right or wrong. Situational morality has become the norm in many “Christian” homes today. Divorce is looked on as just another option in the relationship game, though there are Biblical reasons for divorce. (Full disclosure; I was divorced 45 years ago, not by my choice. Now I have been very happily married for 35 years to the same woman.)
Too many Christians today look on their faith as a buffet “dinner”. They pick and choose which parts to obey and which to ignore. Verses which make a person uncomfortable are simply left on the table, sort of like Thomas Jefferson’s “Bible” of only the verses he felt were actually words that Jesus spoke. By doing this egregious violations of Scripture are allowed to occur without a peep from “good’ Christians today.
More evidence about the antipathy toward the Church and making Christianity less relevant to our nation was the response of state Governors and city Mayors to the COVID-19 crisis. When the “lockdown” began in March, businesses were separated into essential and non- essential entities. And Churches were discriminated against in such designations.
Examples abound. Churches were closed, while marijuana stores were allowed to stay open. Abortion clinics remained active. Mobs were allowed to protest in the streets, but churches were strictly limited as to the number of worshippers who could gather. Grocery stores were open, churches were closed. Pharmacies were open, churches were closed. Even when restrictions were eased, churches were mandated to have fewer gatherers than bars, restaurants, gyms and beauty salons. Even now you can protest with a hundred others in public, but churches are limited to just 50 in our state.
Up until the Supreme Court intervened, California shuttered in house worship while food packaging, liquor stores, laundromats and shopping malls were to 25% capacity and big box stores limited to 50%. But churches fined for violating the “rules”. In New York, bike stores and liquor stores were open, while churches and synagogues were severely limited in attendance. Casinos were allowed to operate at more capacity than churches. In Virginia, a pastor was arrested for having more than 10 people in a building seating 300. The 16 worshippers were widely separated, but the authorities charged him with violating the governor’s orders; he could have been jailed for a year and fined $2500, but the state did not follow through with this draconian action when the federal government intervened on the side of the church.
What has happened is that from within and without the Church is under attack. But in our nation over 214 million people claim to be Christian, where is the collective outrage? Where are the large demonstrations against doctrines that have been distorted or against those who would limit worship? There has been scattered resistance, but most who claim the faith in the Christ of the New Testament just sit at home and complain about it but do nothing. In fact, many who are supposedly faithful to the Bible voted to put into office those who adhere to a political philosophy which is contrary to that same Bible.
We Christians need to make our voices heard in local, state and federal forums. We need to cast off our apathy when leaders espouse ideas and policies that violate our faith. Millions of Christians could make a difference. But it seems that the gates of Hell are near; a remnant will always be faithful, but when church members, by their votes or inaction further the cause of the devil, the fires of Hell can be felt in our nation.