April 20, 2024 / The Army of Objections to the Christian Faith

Hey, Calvary Fremont –

Many are rejoicing that the walls of the Christian faith are crumbling and that we could see the death of Christianity in our lifetime. People are leaving Christianity for various reasons. The following is culled from various websites.

One man cited 500 unanswered prayers. (I get that, but then I think that there were 500 times God didn’t answer prayer the way this man wanted. We pray, “Thy will be done,” and then gripe when our will isn’t done.)

One website noted that younger people dropping out of church because their life-choices aren’t being honored by a judgmental church. Some say attendance is inconvenient. Others assert that the church is racist or has supported racism in the past. Some drop out because some in their church supported Trump, or don’t support LGBTQ+ causes, or don’t or do embrace BLM and CRT ideology. Others say they struggle with evil on the world, hypocrites in the church, truth in other religions, and contradictions in the Bible. I’m sure you can add a few more.

I have struggled with the challenge of unanswered prayer, with that appears to be an overly prudish and outdated moral code, with the jarring reality of hypocrites in the Church, with the difficulties swarming around the presence of evil in the world, with the stubborn questions clustering around Biblical authority, and with the charming presence of good and truth in other religions. Any Christian who has swam in these waters has felt the forceful pull of their undertow. An arrow from the bow of any one of these issues can be lethal for some, but in combination, when this Army of Objections to the Christian Faith lays siege to your soul, many find their walls crumbling as their resistance fails and they open their gates to unbelief and the denial of the truth they once affirmed.

“Pastor Tim, what has kept you from walking away from Christianity?”

Jesus Christ. Jesus is alive. Jesus is risen from the dead, ascended to the right hand of the Father, and enthroned in glory with the Father. Jesus is coming again to judge the living and the dead. Listen, there are sane and satisfying responses to all the siegeworks thrown up by the Army of Objections to the Christian Faith, but Jesus risen from the dead is my Champion who walks in the midst of the besieged Church and shows Himself risen from the dead, never to die again. Jesus has conquered sin and death and hell and the devil and the grave! Those for whom the resurrection is just a metaphor of hope or a symbol of the triumph of the human spirit are easily defeated by the onslaught of this Army and their corpses litter the ground. But those who rally to their Champion repel the Army of Objections to the Christian Faith. And when the dust settles and the smoke clears, they stand because their Champion is able to make them to stand.

The Army of Objections to the Christian Faith is ever on the march, ever sharpening their swords, and ever developing new weapons. The bombs exploding within the Church now are a new breed of weapon. They have to do with so-called sexual freedom. If the Church doesn’t affirm gay anything and everything and champion abortion and celebrate the newly discovered trove of multiple genders, the fuse is lit and the explosion results in defections from the Christian faith for standing in the way of human flourishing. The Engineers in the Army of Objections are very clever. Yet Jesus is risen from the dead! There are satisfying answers to all the Enemy throws, but the victory and presence of our Champion is the defense of the Church. May you be found in Him. A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing!

Be blessed and stay healthy and follow Jesus – Pastor Tim