IT’S TIME TO TURN BACK TO GOD by Shane Idleman
Churches have often served as the moral compass for the nation—to confront, challenge, encourage, and exhort. And this is precisely where I’d like to focus this article.
It’s time for us to turn back to absolute truth and away from relativism—back to Christ and away from the broad road that leads to destruction. We must repent, ask for forgiveness, and seek restoration. We should not apologize for preaching God’s Word, redefine what He meant, or back down from conflict. We are in the midst of a spiritual battle. We will be hated for following Christ, mocked for believing in truth, and challenged for promoting righteousness. We are called to deny ourselves, pick up our cross, and follow Him. Clearly, the day of the passive church is over. We must lovingly preach righteousness in our pulpits again: “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people” (Proverbs 14:34). Watch the short clip, America – Bring Back God, here https://vimeo.com/316530498
Richard Owen Roberts said it well, “The Lord has been so deeply grieved by the refusal of the church to faithfully proclaim the whole counsel of His Word in the power of the Holy Spirit that He has largely withdrawn from the church and left her to her own devices.” Roberts continues, “The heart cry of God is most certainly, ‘Return to Me, and I will return to you.’”
Now is your chance to support Gospel News Network.
We love helping others and believe that’s one of the reasons we are chosen as Ambassadors of the Kingdom, to serve God’s children. We look to the Greatest Commandment as our Powering force.
The greatest threat to Christians in America is not false religion, secularism, atheism, or any other “ism,” but compromise. When compromise occurs we avoid the difficult truths of the Bible and decentralize the Scriptures. We “play” Christian but compromise everything that Christ stood for. We have riches, wealth, and prosperity, but neglect the weightier matters—love, mercy, and forgiveness. When compromise reigns, we can easily become insensitive, indifferent, ineffective, unforgiving, unloving, and self-righteous. “Where does Christianity destroy itself in a given generation? It destroys itself by not living in the light, by professing a truth it does not obey” (A.W. Tozer).
America was great because many of her early leaders understood sacrifice and their need for God; they sincerely repented and turned to Him—they had genuine faith. Genuine faith is reflected in a transformed life, a love for God and His Word, sincere humility, selfless love, and true repentance. There is always a link between genuine faith and sincere repentance. Change will occur in America when there is a strong conviction of sin, sincere repentance, and genuine faith. Repentance is not an outdated, irrelevant word; it’s a positive word from the heart of God. Jesus, as well as John the Baptist, both began their ministry by proclaiming, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:2; 4:17).
Self-improvement is not repentance. Repentance is a change of mind that leads to a change in action—brokenness, genuine sorrow over sin, and humility are all marks of sincere repentance. Many wrongly confuse tears with repentance. It’s possible to be sorry, but not repentant. A penitent person sees sin as God sees it and turns from it. They do not want to continue in hurtful or harmful behavior. They accept full responsibility for their actions. At this point, tears often follow, and rightly so. The danger comes when arrogance and a hardness of heart, as we often see today, prevent us from turning to God.
