Boy do I have mixed feeling about this article by Chuck Baldwin because it is just chock full of truth spun with some of his usual crap. Please read the full article and not just what I clipped so you can follow what I am about to say about Baldwin’s views.
First, I do not like his title although there may be some in truth in it. However, my definition of a lazy Christians is not Chuck Baldwin’s definition. To me lazy Christians are those will will not read the word, take the time to fellowship with God, or with other Christians and do little if any work for Christ on earth. Baldwin in his articles seems to think you have to be an American Patriot resisting the New World Order in order to be a fruitful Christian.
Second, I disagree that Christians cannot know the season of the Lord’s return. In spite of the usual passages that Baldwin uses out of context as if they were for the latter day Church. The Church can know the season of the Lord’s return and can know that the days we live in are prophetic times and very near the time of Christ’s return. It would make no sense for Jesus to tell us to watch if there was nothing to look for. I will not burden anyone here with how we can know these things from the signs in scripture and the signs in world trends. You can read all that in my twenty-five article series on World Current Events and Bible prophecy.
Next, I do agree with Baldwin that some following Bible prophecy have become unbalanced and do have the attitude that it all has to end within a decade. Some spend their days doing nothing but looking for tea leaves to reinforce their speculation. The prophetic scripture is not enough for them so they go to Islam eschatology and read books based on pagan myths or hidden formulas that conform to their 2012 – 2019 deadline for Christ to return. There is a lot of that going on. I call them the post-modern theologians of Christian eschatology because whatever is relevant to their new found theory or Gnostic truth is used regardless of the source.
In my opinion, Baldwin in his many articles confuses Christian constitutional patriotism with the Christian commission. Frankly, he seems to believe in American Christian dominionism. He seems to think that those not pursuing the goal to make America ruled by Christians are not pulling their weight. Also, much of what he says about our forefathers is true but not all all of them were the wonderful Christians that Baldwin paints. Just read early American history and you will see many evils. Most did confess Christianity but their actions did not always reflect Christianity. They had diverse differences in what true Christianity was in their faith and practice. Defacto Christianity in America was not really established by some great Christian effort by our forefathers as Baldwin indicates. Christianity became the defacto religion because almost all American early immigrants were already Christians. Most of them left Europe become of the persecution there against Christians.
Baldwin said if pastors and Christians of Colonial America believed and acted as most Christians believe and act today this country would still be a Crown colony. The fact is that most pastors and Christians had no part against the Crown at first. It was only a very small percentage of elitists that broke with the British and led the American rebellion. Since when is rebellion initiated by God anyway? The early settlers were not really living under tyranny, they were some of the freest people on earth at the time. Who knows what America would be like today if there never had been an American revolution? We would probably be another common-wealth country. Did nations like Canada fair that much worse than us? After looking at American wars and our civil strife are we that much better off because of the revolution?
Which brings me to another point. What new world order are Christians supposed to rebel against? Baldwin’s Illuminati conspiracy version, the present version, the half dozen future versions that are on think tank drawing boards, or maybe one that has not even been conceived yet? Why is world government more evil than nation government even before the arrival of the Antichrist? Should not Christians be working from within to be the salt and light to the coming world government? After all, we already know a world government is coming. Bible prophecy tells us so. The world had previous world kingdoms did God tell his people to rebel against them? So who says that a future world government has to be evil and not in God’s will? The next world government is likely to occur some years before Satan is cast out of Heaven and given free reign.
That is not to say that Christians should not oppose evil anywhere but lets really draw the line on opposing what is evil, and not determine what is good and evil based on Baldwin’s vision of some future real or imagined evils of a new world order.
I do not like the slave-like mentality that people in America have today either, but it seems to me that our government is really a reflection of the people of this nation. Americans put their task masters into power and if Americans did not want them they would get rid of them. They want them because they promise them handouts. So why do we tolerate evil in America? Because that is what most Americans want. America morally is post Christian. Even many so called Christians are morally post Christian. So knowing that, how does Baldwin or anyone else expect to establish some new Christian dominionism in the United States? Through force? Through civil disobedience? It is not likely that it will be done through ballets because we are certainly outnumbered. The only real way to achieve this goal would be through conversion of Americans to true Christianity but Baldwin is not ever suggesting that. Instead he expects to get Christian blood out of a dead stone.
I do agree with Baldwin that many Christians see Bible prophecy and the world through American eyes and wrongly think America will never see judgment before the Rapture. It is obviously to me that we will, in fact the judgment has already started because even so called Christians have rejected God in their actions and choices and that is reflected in the evil people they put into power.
God can bless America if we turn back toward him. However, it is not the teaching of Bible prophecy that is preventing that from happening. It is as Baldwin himself said and that actually contradicts his thesis that Christians are using Bible prophecy as an excuse to become lazy.
I believe the real reason why so many professing Christians are so apathetic
and indifferent to what is happening has nothing to do with the teachings
of Scripture, Bible doctrine, eschatology, or anything of the like.
It has everything to do with old-fashioned laziness. Today’s average
Christian just flat does not want to be bothered. He has a comfortable
house, an easy chair, television, and a set of golf clubs in the closet.
He takes two or three weeks’ vacation every year, goes to church on
Sunday (a church that does not intrude on his comfort zone, of course),
pays taxes, and votes for his favorite “pro-life” Republican
candidate every two years, and assumes that he is a “good”
Christian and “patriotic” American. He is neither!
So even Baldwin admits that belief in the soon return of the Lord’s is not the real problem with Christians. The problem is that Christians in the U.S. have just become laodicean and lazy. If we can get pastors to solve the lukewarm issue in the Church, that will be about the best pastors can do to solve the issue of evil in America.
Chuck Baldwin — Christians Use Prophecy To Excuse Laziness
In response to my two previous columns regarding the current development of a devilish New World Order, many professing Christians wrote me with comments to the effect that we should not be concerned about whatever global tyranny may be developing, because “it’s all a part of God’s plan,” or “Jesus is coming soon,” and similar statements. I, too, believe in the imminent return of Jesus Christ to earth. But, then again, so did Christians from every generation over the last two millennia. In fact, the Apostle Paul was looking for the return of Christ while he lived (Philippians 3:20). But does anticipation of Christ’s Second Coming excuse personal neglect, indifference, and downright laziness? Of course not.
When confronted with an obvious evil (a burgeoning tyrannical New World Order, not to mention a number of lesser evils), modern Christians will shrug and glibly say, “It’s God’s will; we must not oppose it,” or words to that effect. This attitude says, “I will tolerate or even condone evil in order to hasten Christ’s return.”
In the first place, no one knows when Christ will return, no matter how many books or tapes they have produced to say they do.
In the meantime, millions of Christians across America are trying to play God. They talk as if they know when Christ will come. It’s actually worse than that. They have the attitude that they have no personal responsibility to defend freedom and resist despotism. They seem to look at God as some kind of glorified fireman, who is obligated to rush in at the last minute to rescue them from a burning fire–a fire that they helped ignite, or at least, refused to put out themselves when they had the opportunity to do so. It’s the old, “God would not let that happen in America” syndrome.
I believe the real reason why so many professing Christians are so apathetic and indifferent to what is happening has nothing to do with the teachings of Scripture, Bible doctrine, eschatology, or anything of the like. It has everything to do with old-fashioned laziness. Today’s average Christian just flat does not want to be bothered. He has a comfortable house, an easy chair, television, and a set of golf clubs in the closet. He takes two or three weeks’ vacation every year, goes to church on Sunday (a church that does not intrude on his comfort zone, of course), pays taxes, and votes for his favorite “pro-life” Republican candidate every two years, and assumes that he is a “good” Christian and “patriotic” American. He is neither!
A real Christian patriot would never allow his country to be taken over by a gaggle of elitist goons bent on stealing his liberties–including his religious liberties–without doing everything in his power to prevent it. A real Christian patriot is active, alert, engaged, zealous, and committed to preserving liberty.
Tell me again that “there is nothing we can do about it,” or “it’s God’s will,” or “Jesus is coming soon.” Better yet, tell it again to the suffering Christians around the world; tell it again to our Christian forebears; tell it again to your children and grandchildren who are going to inherit a land of tyranny and oppression, all because you were too lazy to resist.
So, the next time you hear some piety-draped Christian talking about how he won’t engage the enemy and fight for liberty, because of prophecy, or some other spiritually-sounding platitude, just remember, it has nothing to do with prophecy, or anything of the sort: it has everything to do with old-fashioned laziness.
I think that you’ve said this very well. In these times we’re easily tempted into believing that resisting societal and political evils or evil man-made religions will make us good Christians. But if it goes at the expense of preaching the gospel then it’s mostly just vanity – even if what we are saying is basically true. True does not include NWO though. Sure there may be some sort of new global order emerging, and that is undoubtedly what many elitists are seeking to create in the long run, but the idea of a secret club of mighty men controlling the media and our governments in a conspiracy to bring about a world government, is far-fetched at best, or an outright lie at worst. It’s most likely just the natural course of events, history has a tendency of repeating itself anyway. A true world government has never existed but many empires have existed that comprised the known world at the time. I believe the States would not have been better off today without the American Revolution, but I don’t like the overly romanticized image people give to the revolution either. It’s probably true that most American colonists were much better off under British rule than the French were under their absolutist kings. Even so I’m very sympathetic to the principles of the American Revolution, and rather skeptical of the French counterpart. The American Founding Fathers basically implemented the British system of representative and constitutional government but they took it further than that by incorporating classical liberal Enlightenment ideas. Hardly considered conservative at that time, though not necessarily incompatible with [orthodox] Christian faith (some Whigs in Britain were an example of that). Many well-known Founding Fathers were archetypes of Englightenment since they were individualist deists. Hardly orthodox and conservative Christians at all. American Christian “patriots” should stop claiming the Founding Fathers and the Constitution for themselves because they are misinforming the public. There are very good political conservative thinkers out there who (sadly) are not born-again Christians. Does that make them immoral and bad conservatives? True, they’re sinful and lost, but does that mean they cannot make decent politicians, inventors, actors, musicians, writers, business executives and so on? For heaven’s sake, no! You’re not Conservative and Christian because your Founding Fathers supposedly all were orthodox Christians; you are Conservative because you firmly believe in the merit and wisdom of their ideals and think these principles should be preserved, and you are a [socially conservative] Christian because you believe in Christ as your Savior and accept the Bible as God’s personal revelation to mankind. People who fail to distinguish between these things pose a danger to the very ideals they claim to believe in and to the freedom of others whose rights and liberties are covered by that very same U.S. Constitution.
I agree, It is nice to have someone on this blog who actually reads what is posted, who is informed on the issues and who thinks about what he says.
I expect I will be taking some heat on this issue since many Christian patriots see things Baldwin’s way. I do think that the American system of government was the best man ever designed for a free people but even one of our founders said the system will only work with a moral people. With morals now breaking down we are seeing that he was absolutely correct.
So how do you make the American system work now with a nation of people who have embraced liberal postmodern thinking? Chuck Baldwin’s teaching has no real answers for that because he is teaching as if the majority of Americans still believe in moral absolutes like our forefathers. Obviously that is not true or Americans would not be electing amoral Liberals that are set out to destroy the American system that our forefathers set up.
Perhaps it is time for Christians in America to realize like Abraham that our real country is not of this world.
i had read that article on Baldwin’s site, but not thought it through really. I do see your points now. Baldwin gets people all worked up into a Christian Revolution, and in the end…the actual end…when we are asked to worship someone else rather than God, then our direction will be clear. Like the times of Meschach (sp?) and Daniel, and the coming tribulation, God never wants the state to supersede his authority, and expects us to be faithful to Him. I think in the meantime, it’s a balancing act, and I can’t turn off someone to Christianity if I portray myself as a crazy Christian revolutionist….many Christians are lazy in SO many other respects and areas; I think the tribulation is going to weed out a lot of people simply because constitutionally I believe our liberties will be limited, and we will experience much of the external harshness of what it means to be a Christian. But at the same time, this is what the Church is meant to be anyway….not a system of concerts and enrollment forms as it has become today…and since my wife is crazy into history, she equally agrees that the romanticism of conservatives concerning our forefathers is just ridiculous! The facts speak for themselves, and a lot of those guys, although could be defined as conservative politically, practiced behavior far from Christian principles.
Also keep in mind that I think the downfall of America is coming some time before the biblical tribulation.
The downfall of America could come like the flood in Noah’s day. For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage,….. Things could get a lot worse all of a sudden. Just like when we have a rain storm here in the desert the flood waters move very swiftly, washing away everything in it’s path. Watch and pray so you are not caught up in the gulley washer. Be also warning others of the coming disaster, if they listen then they will be saved, if they don’t it is not your responsibility, it is God’s.
Brian, your wife is right. Romanticism deludes people’s thinking. That’s not to say people should hate and despise their countries, but people should put things in the right perspective. We always insist on putting Bible verses in their context. Why not apply the same rule to history? Sure, the Founding Fathers were “conservative.” All you need is to redefine the term conservative. They were definitely social conservatives by our standards – but then even until just a few decades ago, Western society was socially conservative because it still had a belief in the merit of Judeo-Christian moral values. Even most Communist peoples of Eastern Europe and Latin America were social conservatives when it came to family values and patriotism. So were the Soviets politically conservative because they were socially conservative? Of course not. All this labeling is disrespectful of your Founding Fathers’ ideals. In many ways you might even say their views were extremely progressive at the time. So Conservatives are wrong to claim their views were “conservative” and that it was somehow the Bible that served as the main inspiration for the Founding Fathers. But the point is not about whether they were conservatives or not, anyway. I think it’s about the morality of their views. Isn’t being a Western conservative today about supporting tradition over vain ideas, good over evil and truth over lies? Edmund Burke is considered a conservative but he was nevertheless a Whig and not a Tory. The Classical Liberals (also known as “liberal conservatives”) of Britain likewise did not engage in social engineering because they believed that the family was a God-given institution that had been formed years before the appearance of representative government, and therefore beyond their jurisdiction. Lastly, Liberal Americans should stop claiming that the Founding Fathers would have approved their vain causes of feminism, abortion and the gay agenda. The only reason they didn’t address these issues was because the immorality of future generations of Americans was simply unthinkable to them and they certainly could not envision it. I think it’s utterly absurd to suggest that any of the Founding Fathers would have agreed that such things would have to be protected under the Constitution. I don’t think they ever meant the Constitution to be applied to such Liberal fantasies, and yes, in that sense I do agree with American Conservatives that they would have been more in their camp if they were alive today.
By the way, this is also in part why Jesus never addressed homosexuality. The fact He never talked about it in the Gospel doesn’t imply He approved of it at all. If anything, His silence on the issue reveals that He considered it sinful just as the Torah says, and so did all the Jews. Well, two thousand years ago, at least. Now half of them are some of the most vocal supporters of one of most abominable and destructive sins that exist on this planet. It is only when St Paul writes to the Romans and the Greeks that this issue receives some attention because it was more relevant to his audience since their cultures allowed that kind of… practises.
Chuck Baldwin although is a patriot he is wrong on some things and this article on laziness is one of them.