Monthly Archives: August 2012

America: the Imagine Nation

We are at war. It is a war of imaginations. This is not a war between liberals and conservatives. It is not about what is happening in the Middle East. It is about what is happening between your ears. This is a battle for your heart and mind.
Hollywood and Madison Avenue know this. They are in the idea business. They are determined to control your thinking. It is about creating appetites for products. It is about getting us to buy and consume things, or getting us to buy into bad ideas. Gay marriage is the latest crusade. The enemy of the Spirit has long ago begun an aerial bombardment of the very beaches they are now storming. Our positions are about to be over run.
We don’t need the thought police to enforce God’s Word however. The world already suffers enough under the swords of the Taliban. The Taliban want to impose Sharia law in Pakistan. They beat little girls who would learn to read, and kill barbers who shave men’s beards. A faith that must be forced is a farce. There is no way the Christian Right can make America right. The key word here is “make” not right.
The weapons of our warfare are not carnal. Politics are carnal. Somehow, thinking that we can appeal to Democracy to save us is absurd. The righteous are always in the minority. Thinking that we can “out-flank” the enemy at the ballot box is Peter cutting off the antagonist’s ear. It won’t save us. Republicans are trying to figure out how to retake the White House and to re-capture the Congress, as if that will somehow solve our problems. We cannot fix spiritual problems with physical solutions. The “every thought” that Paul was talking about are my thoughts, not my neighbor’s. We are to preach the Gospel. God changes hearts.
Western, false prophets have shaped American thinking. Darwin, Freud, and Marx have created the last generation. They are the founding fathers of the new America. Great maga-media giants preach their doctrines. Their beliefs, like blood, run through the veins of National Geographic, Disney Land, CNN, and modern American Churchdom. Abortion, gay marriage, and Practical Atheism* are its children. Freud tries to answer man’s question, “Who am I?” Darwin: “Where did I come from?” Marx: “Why are we here?”
The American pseudo-church has long been infected with these philosophies which are akin to a moral swine flu. When the spiritually hungry come to the American church asking for bread they often get stones, pop-psychology, politics, and a possible following on face book . The word for church is ekklesia. It means “called out.” The early church knew what “called out” meant. Peter put it: “having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” Today we are trying to be “in,” not out. That is why the church is so worldly. The answer to the culture wars is a call again to Holiness (glory and virtue). Don’t try to save Sodom. Sodom is doomed. Yes, knock on doors and warn people to get out of town, but forget about trying to save the city. Recognize a bad idea when you see it. They will try to sneak into your heart every time you turn on the TV. Cast down evil imaginations. Imagine that!
*Practical Atheism is claiming to believe in God but living like you don’t.