Thread: Good For Nothing Christians by Chuck Baldwin

Good For Nothing Christians
By Chuck Baldwin
July 10, 2009


This column is archived at
http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/c2009/c ... 90710.html


"Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour,
wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be
cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men." (Matt. 5:13 KJV)

Jesus said that salt without savor is "good for nothing." Savor is the
ingredient, the character that gives salt its quality--and its value. When
salt is as it should be, it is a most precious commodity. Not only is it
used as a seasoning; it is, more importantly, a preservative. As most
everyone knows, salt was the primary source of food preservation before the
days of refrigeration. Salt has been deemed to be so valuable at times that
wars have actually been waged over it. During times of unusual deprivation,
salt can be even more valuable than precious metals. But when salt loses its
saltiness, it is absolutely worthless; it is "good for nothing."

Jesus plainly proclaimed that He viewed His disciples as being the salt of
society. In other words, when believers have the character they should have,
they provide the preservation of the land. They hold back and retard the
putrefying properties of spoilage and decay. But when Christians lose their
character, when they lose the internal resistance to decay, they become
"good for nothing" and the result is, the land is "trodden under foot of
men."

It grieves me to say that, for the most part, the modern Christian, the
modern pastor, and the modern church have lost their savor. Taken as a
whole, we have lost our inner character: the ability to resist decay and
preserve the land has long departed, and America is fast being "trodden
under foot of men."

Our churches are no longer places of respite from the world: they are
mirrors of it: the same dress; the same attitudes; the same carnality; the
same spirit; the same stubbornness; the same pride. Churches are no longer
bastions of truth: they are glorified social clubs or mere corporations,
where Christianity is never allowed to interfere with business. Instead of
being watchmen on the wall, our pastors are CEOs or, even worse,
politicians. Popularity and personal ambition far outweigh commitment to
truth and an independent mind. And as for Christian homes, forget it. The
modern American home is straight out of Isaiah chapter three: "babes shall
rule over them." In the average "Christian" home, children rule the mothers,
and mothers, in turn, rule the fathers. Discipline and instruction are out;
leniency and ignorance are in.We have a pandemic all right, but it's not the swine flu: it is a pandemic
of spineless Christianity. Parents who cannot stand up to their own
children; pastors who cannot stand up to their own congregations; religious
leaders who cannot stand up to politicians; and churches that cannot stand
up to unconstitutional government.

Our so-called "conservative Christian" special interest groups are far more
concerned about not losing financial contributions than they are about
confronting the real evils of society. And as far as the Religious Right is
concerned, it lost its soul somewhere early on in the first administration
of George W. Bush.

If one is looking for someone to blame America's demise on, don't look to
the prostitutes, drug dealers, or crooked politicians: look no further than
the doorsteps of America's churches. While the ominous clouds of oppression
and tyranny boil overhead, our churches are content to play kid games and
wallow in their own materialism and laziness. I realize there are exceptions
to the rule, of course, but they are few and far between.

Sadder still is the lack of anything on the horizon that points to any kind
of spiritual awakening. Look at the churches that are growing: for the most
part, they are of the Joel Osteen and Rick Warren variety, where conviction
has been replaced with compromise, and popularity has replaced principle.
Genuine Bible prophets usually occupy the pulpits where hardly anyone
attends. Truth has been replaced with entertainment, and calls for
repentance are drowned out by the clamor for prosperity theology.
I can tell you from personal experience that, in more than 34 years of
Gospel ministry, it has never been harder to continue to carry the torch of
truth than it is today. It takes a toll on one's physical health and
emotional being, and even on one's family. Any pastor desiring to carry the
torch of truth today need not expect to have many friends. And any
evangelist desiring to carry the torch of truth today need not expect to get
many meetings. Truth is about as popular as a bad case of the measles, and
yes, I mean among today's professing "Christians."

Should it surprise us, then, that we see the encroachment of our liberties
and the erosion of constitutional government coming hard and fast? Should it
surprise us that America is losing its conscience--not to mention our
heritage? Should it surprise us when we see hundreds of large, empty
internment camps popping up everywhere? Should it surprise us when we read
of would-be tyrants in Washington, D.C., trying to pass egregious
legislation that would strip us of our Bill of Rights? Should it surprise us
when we see multinational corporations working with foreign governments to
erode the sovereignty of these United States? Should it surprise us when we
see both Republican and Democratic Presidential administrations look the
other way while our borders are being invaded and even erased?

When the salt loses its savor, it is "cast out, and to be trodden under foot
of men." And that is exactly what is happening to us today.

Does all this make me fatalistic? Not at all. I am absolutely convinced that
God will always reserve to Himself a faithful remnant and a land of liberty
for those who desire it. But before we talk about the land, we must be sure
that our hearts are willing to pay the price to obtain it. We'll leave that
discussion for another time.

In the meantime, the clarion call to "come out" of this apostate,
compromising, and carnal "church" is a good place to begin. We created our
Black Regiment directory to help people find churches that were willing to
stand up for Christ and liberty, as did colonial preachers of old. To locate
Black Regiment churches and pastors in your area, or to volunteer to be a
Black Regiment pastor, go to

http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/blackregiment.php

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(c) Chuck Baldwin

Thanks....I appreciate article