ObacalypseNow650

 

Okay, so you can probably tell by the title that this post isn’t exactly gonna be “the feel good hit of the summer”.

In some ways, that’s a pretty solid assessment.

But in one great big fundamental sense, addressing these “signs o’ the times” head on ought to inspire some of the greatest, most positive feelings imaginable in the heart and soul of the true Believer…not because big, bad, evil advances like those addressed here are a sign of our imminent departure or escape by way of a Left Behind-style *poof!*, but because we as Christians  – each and every individual one of us – have been purposefully placed here and now to glorify God through our faithful stand and application of His Word to the confrontation and solution of these problems. Put another way, this is our great opportunity to proclaim and apply the true Gospel in pursuit of our Great Commission, all by His grace and for His glory. (See: Matthew 28:18-20.)

How’s that for something to “feel good” about?

How’s that for something to be excited over and thankful for?

Pretty awesome, huh?

Yeah, I think so, too.

But the modern American spin on Christianity and its Great Commission doesn’t tend to present it that way, does it?

Generally, things like ISIS, Ebola, the emerging Orwellian NSA State, our teetering Monopoly Money economy, and the aggressive homosexualization of the culture are spun as inevitable, unstoppable horrors to be endured, accepted, and even celebrated in a sense by Christians as part of a steady decline that supposedly culminates in a whirlwind of uber-badness right before Jesus returns to pick up the mess left by a church and great(?) commission that is on the verge of being completely squished by its enemies.

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American Churchianity’s Self-Fulfilling (End Times) Prophecies

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This eschatological view (perception of “end times” prophecy) has been incredibly effective in neutralizing the Church and Great Commission. It has also therefor played a major roll in bringing about the present Obacalypse.

This “end times” perspective brought into Christendom just a couple hundred years back and recently advanced through books like the Left Behind series explains much as to why so many professing Christians, particularly of a politically conservative bent, are presently inclined toward many actions that profoundly aid and abet the enemies of Christ while hindering the Great Commission of the true Church. Some examples of this include…:

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Before going on much further, it seems important to note that I was once one of those Christians who bought into pretty much every one of the ideas that I am critiquing here.

I’m not sharing these critiques out of any sense of personal superiority or personally achieved enlightenment. Everything that we have (including everything that we know) is a gift from God. None of us have room to boast, and I am certainly no exception to that rule. My goal in sharing these hard truths as I understand them  – truths that I know tend to touch on and rattle some very sacred cows and favorite security blankets – is not to bash or pummel those “poor, silly” people who have what I think might be “bad theology” or “bad eschatology”. My goal is to share truth as it has been given me with Brother and Sisters so that, wherever they are in their walk of sanctification, they might be inspired to test everything, including my words and their cherished “end times” beliefs, in the perfect light of Christ as revealed in His Word.

It is my hope that such testing in accordance with the revealed will of the Lord in Scripture will inspire each of us to pursue ongoing personal repentance and reformation, and that such reformation would produce true, Christ-centered application of His Word in every realm and on every cultural battlefield in His creation.

It is my conviction that until and unless the people of God personally repent and initiate such a transformative reformation, the culture in which we live is, and should be, doomed.

It is also my conviction that when His people do rise up, by His grace, and pursue such reformation (aka “The Great Commission”) then, and only then, every good thing becomes possible…no matter how dark the culture may be or impossible restoration might seem.

That is my understanding of the Gospel and Great Commission.

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Obacalypse Now: The Judgment of God on an Unrepentant America

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Hopefully this gives us some proper context and a better perspective as we consider some of the specific items on the Obacalypse Greatest Hits list.

To be plain: We ought not be viewing Obama as the true source of the Obacalypse.

He cannot be the true source of the Obacalypse because…we are.

We, as in: the professing church of Christ in America.

Is Barack Obama evil?

Oh yeah.

Is he just the sort of wicked leader that one would expect the Lord to give to a people who have been so drenched and steeped in prideful rebellion for so long that they no longer even clearly see, much less desire, the God of Christianity?

Yes. Certainly. No doubt there.

Even so, what we must understand is that these judgments – perpetual war, pestilence, wicked leaders, etc. – are upon us now first and foremost because the professing church in America has failed to embrace and pursue the Great Commission to “make disciples” as lovingly commanded by the Lord of creation. In trading in the Gospel-fueled, Christ-centered Great Commission for all manner of secular conservative, liberal, or libertarian alternatives to “solving the problems of the world”, the church has been conformed to the world she was commissioned to transform and is therefore most to blame for where we are at now.

Lest you become really depressed after reading up to this point, please remember the point made at the beginning: We are here purposefully.

Each and every true, supernaturally saved New Creature in Christ – regardless of our past error, apathy, laziness or anything else – has been perfectly placed by the Lord right here and right now to prayerfully contemplate and actively apply His Word to all of these problems. We are right where He wants us and He has perfectly equipped each and every one of us for the mission at hand.

So even the failings of the professing church – great though those failings may have been and may be even now – are not to deter or depress us. Even our own confusion and disobedience of the past is not to impede us – and is no excuse to us.

No, by His grace, even our past errors have been and will be perfectly used by our loving Lord to bring maximum glory to Himself and maximum benefit to us (see: Romans 8:28).

How cool is that?!

We have everything we need in His perfect Word to confront and correct (or destroy) every enemy on every front on the battlefields that surround us.

Each and every one of those battlefields is a place of great opportunity, not a place of inevitable defeat.

One of the first things that we need to do, by God’s grace, in pursuit of that victory is actively seek a spirit of ongoing personal repentance and reformation, so that we might continually strive to expose and bring down the cherished idols that are enabling the enemy and suppressing Truth in our lives and, by natural extension, the culture in which we live.

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Before we can truly tackle the Obacalypse, we have to stop blaming the world and the worldly for pursuing worldly paths that can only ever ultimately lead to destruction, and we need to start recognizing and repenting of our central role in promoting that worldliness.

Once that is done, we can boldly and coherently take up the banner of Christ and embrace the Great Commission that He has given us.

Lord willing, future posts will present some practical biblical approaches to tackling some of the specific problems we are facing in this critical moment in God’s creation of time, but, for now, I wanted to share what I hope is a clarifying, invigorating, and encouraging perspective on the present Obacalypse and the future means by which I fully expect it to be overthrown.

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See also:

Everybody Expects…The Liberal Inquisition!

Problem>Reaction>Solution: Why we will beg to have our freedoms taken away and go to war forever.

The America Idol (Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love The Almighty State)

US raises terror threat level to “Orwellian”: Citizens line up to hand over more freedoms

Singing Sweet, Sweet Lies in the “Land of the Free” and the Home of the NSA

Why Americans don’t do repentance.

7 Empowering Truths for Politically Active Christians

Politics, Religion, and the Threat of Spontaneous Combustion

The (church built) Zombie Apocalypse is upon us…

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© 2014 Scott Alan Buss – All Rights Reserved.

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