The Church Facing a Hostile Culture

As long as the church – a church – lives only for itself – preaching a message of salvation and assurance to its members, ministering to the poor, et al., the government will pay little attention. But when the church sets itself to its divinely given task of proclaiming the truth of God’s righteousness, the condemnation of sin, and the only way to salvation through Jesus Christ, our culture has been, and is, rapidly moving into serious threats to the rights and interests of all proclamation of the Gospel. As of today, those threats fall into three categories. Unless Christians across the nation unite to defend their God-given tasks and rights, other restrictions may follow.

The first threat is the Fairness Doctrine, involving broadcasting, which says that if you broadcast “controversial” viewpoints, then you must provide equal time for opposing viewpoints. This was first set up more than 40 years ago primarily to counteract political arguments. It was repealed by the Reagan administration. Now it is being promoted again. If it should be reinstated, it will affect more than politics – abortion, homosexuality, same-sex marriage, et al. A religious radio or TV station would be required to present the opposite viewpoint. The argument today by the FCC is “localism requirements.” If it should be made into law, the government would be the arbiter of whether an idea or discussion is controversial or not.

The second threat is what is known as “hate crimes legislation.” This is already the law of the land. It provides additional federal criminal penalties when a violent criminal act is “motivated by hate.” But when hate crime legislation is on the state level, it eventually carries over in to the area of speech. A pastor in Canada spoke from the pulpit against school textbooks which promoted “same-sex marriage.” A teacher in the community was outraged, and filed a complaint against the pastor with the area Human Rights Commission, which dismissed the case. But the teacher then appealed to a human rights tribunal. The result was that the tribunal ordered the pastor to make public apology, then pay $7,000 in compensation. But on top of that, it also issued a permanent injunction forbidding the pastor to say anything negative against the teacher, same-sex unions, or homosexual behavior in either public or private conversation for the rest of his life. – Fortunately, a Christian attorney filed an appeal in behalf of the pastor, and an appellate judge threw out the tribunal’s decision, ruling that it had no constitutional authority. But we can be sure that similar situations will develop here in the States.

The third threat is what is called the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. It would require churches and Christian organizations to employ non-Christians, including homosexuals, on their staffs. This needs to be fought with all the wisdom and power we have.

Along with the above is the increasing likelihood of medical staff being required to help with abortions. Doctors who refuse may be penalized in various ways, and nurses who ose may lose their jobs. The effort is being made to make this a normal procedure.

This is what we are facing in our nation today.

[Reprinted from The Watchman, June 2010, M. O. Owens editor. The Watchman is a free newsletter. You may subscribe by contacting Owens Ministries, Inc., P.O. Box 2066, Gastonia, NC 28053. Though free, of course The Watchman needs contributions.]