Where Are The Christians
Can you imagine going to the Colosseum with 50,000-80,000 people and watching men, women and even children fight to their death? The Romans had this as their entertainment for centuries. They would fight each other with whatever weapons they chose and wild animals were even used to add more excitement. The more violent the action the more the crowd loved it.
One day a pilgrim, said to be a man who devoted himself to a holy life of prayer and self-denial, traveled to Rome to visit the churches and to spend Christmas there. He had gone to the Colosseum to see what the large crowds were about. When he saw that two gladiators were in a life and death struggle he jumped out of the stands and pleaded with them and the audience to stop murdering each other. But the crowd shouted that it was no place for preaching and the gladiators resumed. He then stood between them and while trying to be heard again, the crowd shouted for him to be killed. One of the gladiators then stabbed him and along with stones from the crowd, he died in the arena. The man's name was Telemachus. It is said that "his spirit had been stirred by the sight of thousands flocking to see men slaughter one another, and in his simple-hearted zeal he had tried to convince them of the cruelty and wickedness of their conduct."[1] But Telemachus did not die in vain. When the crowd saw his death they were shocked by it and they were able to see how hideous their wicked behavior was. And from that day on, no other gladiator fights were held there.
Many of us can see that America has lost its moral compass over the last century and maybe even beyond that. Abortion is legal, sexual immorality is rampant, marriage is no longer just between a man and a woman, God's Word is no longer respected; the list could go on and on. But why is that? Are there so few Christians in America? The number of those who claim to be Christian in America ranges from 78%-83% of the total population, depending on where you go to obtain the numbers.[2] If you use the mid-range of those percentages at 80%, that only leaves 20% of the total population to be non-Christian. So where are these 80% who claim to be Christians?
Are non-Christians the only ones who support and participate in immorality? It is reported that there have been nearly 50 million legal abortions in the U.S. from 1973-2008. The numbers show that it is not just the non-Christian population that have abortions, as 37% consider themselves as Protestant, and 28% as Catholic.[3] Other sources show another 18% consider themselves to be born again Christians. If the data is right, that is 83% of abortions are had by those who claim to be a part of the Christian population.
In a Gallup poll titled "Values and Beliefs"[4], which was conducted in May 2013, showed what people believed to be morally acceptable (MA) or morally wrong (MW) on these behaviors:
Homosexual relations - 59% (MA), 38% (MW)
Sex outside of marriage - 63% (MA), 33% (MW)
Divorce - 68% (MA), 24% (MW).
Why would a nation who has an 80% population that claims to be Christian have so many moral issues? Do they not know what God's Word says on how we are to live our lives? If they did, they would see that their actions and what they believe to be morally right, is in conflict with what God's Word says. They would see that homosexual behavior is a sin (1 Corinthians 6:9; Romans 1:26-32; Leviticus 18:22). That marriage is between a man and a woman (1 Corinthians 7:2; Genesis 2:18-24) and is for life, with one exception (Romans 7:1-4; Matthew 5:31-32, 19:6-9). They would see that the purpose of marriage is for companionship, to have children and to avoid sexual immorality (Genesis 1:27-28, 2:18-24; 1 Corinthians 7:2,9; Titus 2:2-5). That abortion is the murder of a living human being (Jeremiah 1:5; Psalm 139:13). It seems that many who claim to be a Christian call evil good and good evil (Isaiah 5:20).
One man, Telemachus, changed a nation when he stood up and opposed them for their cruelty and wickedness. Is it too much to think that if 80% of a population changed their ways that a nation's immorality problem would improve? What if instead of claiming to be a Christian, the 80% walked and lived according to God's instruction and not man's. What would this nation be like then? Would we have lost our right to pray at sporting events? Would there be a push to remove God's name from our nation's song and money? Would immorality be viewed as wrong instead of being acceptable? We can change this nation! But we have to live by God's Word and obey His commands. Jesus said, that if we love Him, we will obey Him (John 14:15, 21). Let's start obeying God and we can then truly say that we are "one nation under God."
____________________________________________________________
[1] Fox's Book of Martyrs
[2]http://christianity.D106/od/denominations/p/christiantoday.htm
[3] http://www.abort73.com/abortion_facts/us_abortion_statistics/
[4] http://www.gallup.com/poll/162689/record-high-say-gay-lesbian-relations-morally.aspx
One day a pilgrim, said to be a man who devoted himself to a holy life of prayer and self-denial, traveled to Rome to visit the churches and to spend Christmas there. He had gone to the Colosseum to see what the large crowds were about. When he saw that two gladiators were in a life and death struggle he jumped out of the stands and pleaded with them and the audience to stop murdering each other. But the crowd shouted that it was no place for preaching and the gladiators resumed. He then stood between them and while trying to be heard again, the crowd shouted for him to be killed. One of the gladiators then stabbed him and along with stones from the crowd, he died in the arena. The man's name was Telemachus. It is said that "his spirit had been stirred by the sight of thousands flocking to see men slaughter one another, and in his simple-hearted zeal he had tried to convince them of the cruelty and wickedness of their conduct."[1] But Telemachus did not die in vain. When the crowd saw his death they were shocked by it and they were able to see how hideous their wicked behavior was. And from that day on, no other gladiator fights were held there.
Many of us can see that America has lost its moral compass over the last century and maybe even beyond that. Abortion is legal, sexual immorality is rampant, marriage is no longer just between a man and a woman, God's Word is no longer respected; the list could go on and on. But why is that? Are there so few Christians in America? The number of those who claim to be Christian in America ranges from 78%-83% of the total population, depending on where you go to obtain the numbers.[2] If you use the mid-range of those percentages at 80%, that only leaves 20% of the total population to be non-Christian. So where are these 80% who claim to be Christians?
Are non-Christians the only ones who support and participate in immorality? It is reported that there have been nearly 50 million legal abortions in the U.S. from 1973-2008. The numbers show that it is not just the non-Christian population that have abortions, as 37% consider themselves as Protestant, and 28% as Catholic.[3] Other sources show another 18% consider themselves to be born again Christians. If the data is right, that is 83% of abortions are had by those who claim to be a part of the Christian population.
In a Gallup poll titled "Values and Beliefs"[4], which was conducted in May 2013, showed what people believed to be morally acceptable (MA) or morally wrong (MW) on these behaviors:
Homosexual relations - 59% (MA), 38% (MW)
Sex outside of marriage - 63% (MA), 33% (MW)
Divorce - 68% (MA), 24% (MW).
Why would a nation who has an 80% population that claims to be Christian have so many moral issues? Do they not know what God's Word says on how we are to live our lives? If they did, they would see that their actions and what they believe to be morally right, is in conflict with what God's Word says. They would see that homosexual behavior is a sin (1 Corinthians 6:9; Romans 1:26-32; Leviticus 18:22). That marriage is between a man and a woman (1 Corinthians 7:2; Genesis 2:18-24) and is for life, with one exception (Romans 7:1-4; Matthew 5:31-32, 19:6-9). They would see that the purpose of marriage is for companionship, to have children and to avoid sexual immorality (Genesis 1:27-28, 2:18-24; 1 Corinthians 7:2,9; Titus 2:2-5). That abortion is the murder of a living human being (Jeremiah 1:5; Psalm 139:13). It seems that many who claim to be a Christian call evil good and good evil (Isaiah 5:20).
One man, Telemachus, changed a nation when he stood up and opposed them for their cruelty and wickedness. Is it too much to think that if 80% of a population changed their ways that a nation's immorality problem would improve? What if instead of claiming to be a Christian, the 80% walked and lived according to God's instruction and not man's. What would this nation be like then? Would we have lost our right to pray at sporting events? Would there be a push to remove God's name from our nation's song and money? Would immorality be viewed as wrong instead of being acceptable? We can change this nation! But we have to live by God's Word and obey His commands. Jesus said, that if we love Him, we will obey Him (John 14:15, 21). Let's start obeying God and we can then truly say that we are "one nation under God."
____________________________________________________________
[1] Fox's Book of Martyrs
[2]http://christianity.D106/od/denominations/p/christiantoday.htm
[3] http://www.abort73.com/abortion_facts/us_abortion_statistics/
[4] http://www.gallup.com/poll/162689/record-high-say-gay-lesbian-relations-morally.aspx
