This week, Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson and President Trump warned about the growing influence of socialism and communism in the United States. As I listened to their concerns, I found myself reflecting on what they said. I certainly agree that the spread of both poses a serious threat to our nation. Their warnings have caused some people to fear what the future may hold. But they have led me to ask a different question: What if God were to use even such dark circumstances to accomplish His purposes in His Church?
Before anyone misunderstands me, let me be clear. I do not support socialism or communism in any form. I am emphatically opposed to both. They are godless ideologies, and history has repeatedly shown that they destroy rather than build up nations, families, and lives. They promise equality but only produce oppression, poverty, and the loss of liberties. No person should desire to see such systems prevail.
At the same time, the Holy Bible reminds us that God has often used adversity to stir His people. If oppression were ever to come to America, perhaps it would become the very instrument God uses to awaken a sleeping Church from its complacency. A great many Christians have become spiritually lethargic, apathetic, with their heads buried in the sand. The very trends Scripture forewarned would characterize these last days are evident all around us: Many believers are lukewarm. Many have wandered far from the heart of God and are now apostate. The Lord's warning to the church at Laodicea describes our condition all too well. Many have become captivated by the glittering attractions of this present world rather than wholeheartedly committed to Christ (Revelation 3:14–22).
The Great Commission has become little more than a familiar phrase to many believers rather than the driving purpose of their lives. Jesus commanded us to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19–20), yet countless Christians have little understanding of what it truly means to evangelize, disciple others, and be about our Father's business (Luke 2:49).
Instead of standing apart as a peculiar holy people, there is often little difference between the lives of Christians and the world. We pursue the world's priorities, seek its approval, talk like the world, dress like the world, sing like the world, and are entangled in its affairs. We have nearly lost the distinctiveness that Christ intends for His followers to possess. The world looks at our compromised testimony, and, as Paul wrote, "the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you" (Romans 2:24).
Perhaps if socialism or communism were ever to strip away the comforts and distractions that have lulled us into spiritual indifference, God would use even that suffering to draw His people close back to Himself. Perhaps it would loosen our grip on the temporary attractions of this world and remind us that we are strangers and pilgrims upon the earth, citizens of a better country whose true Home is in Heaven (Hebrews 11:13–16; Philippians 3:20). Perhaps it would rekindle a fiery passion for the lost and compel Christians once again to devote ourselves to rescuing the perishing and "pulling them out of the fire" (Jude 23).
History repeatedly demonstrates that the Church has always flourished under persecution far more than it has under prosperity. While comfort frequently produces complacency, compromise, and even apostasy, persecution has often purified God's people, strengthened their faith, and advanced the gospel of Jesus Christ in remarkable ways. This does not mean we should desire suffering or pray for oppression. Rather, it reminds us that God is sovereign over every circumstance and able to accomplish His purposes even in the darkest chapters of history.
If hardship is what it takes to awaken the Laodicean Church of our generation, then perhaps hardship is not our greatest enemy after all. Perhaps our greatest enemy has been our comfort all along. Rather than fearing what the future may hold, perhaps we should ask a better question: not “What will happen to America?” but “What is the condition of my own heart?” Am I fully surrendered to Christ today? Am I passionately pursuing the Great Commission, or have I become distracted by the comforts and pursuits of this present world? Am I living as a pilgrim whose true home is in Heaven, or have I become too attached to the temporary things of earth?
If each of us would humble ourselves, repent where repentance is needed, and wholeheartedly return to the mission Christ has given us before hardship comes, perhaps the awakening we so desperately need could begin today, without persecution ever becoming the instrument God chooses to use.
RETURN TO ALL BLOGS
Before anyone misunderstands me, let me be clear. I do not support socialism or communism in any form. I am emphatically opposed to both. They are godless ideologies, and history has repeatedly shown that they destroy rather than build up nations, families, and lives. They promise equality but only produce oppression, poverty, and the loss of liberties. No person should desire to see such systems prevail.
At the same time, the Holy Bible reminds us that God has often used adversity to stir His people. If oppression were ever to come to America, perhaps it would become the very instrument God uses to awaken a sleeping Church from its complacency. A great many Christians have become spiritually lethargic, apathetic, with their heads buried in the sand. The very trends Scripture forewarned would characterize these last days are evident all around us: Many believers are lukewarm. Many have wandered far from the heart of God and are now apostate. The Lord's warning to the church at Laodicea describes our condition all too well. Many have become captivated by the glittering attractions of this present world rather than wholeheartedly committed to Christ (Revelation 3:14–22).
The Great Commission has become little more than a familiar phrase to many believers rather than the driving purpose of their lives. Jesus commanded us to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19–20), yet countless Christians have little understanding of what it truly means to evangelize, disciple others, and be about our Father's business (Luke 2:49).
Instead of standing apart as a peculiar holy people, there is often little difference between the lives of Christians and the world. We pursue the world's priorities, seek its approval, talk like the world, dress like the world, sing like the world, and are entangled in its affairs. We have nearly lost the distinctiveness that Christ intends for His followers to possess. The world looks at our compromised testimony, and, as Paul wrote, "the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you" (Romans 2:24).
Perhaps if socialism or communism were ever to strip away the comforts and distractions that have lulled us into spiritual indifference, God would use even that suffering to draw His people close back to Himself. Perhaps it would loosen our grip on the temporary attractions of this world and remind us that we are strangers and pilgrims upon the earth, citizens of a better country whose true Home is in Heaven (Hebrews 11:13–16; Philippians 3:20). Perhaps it would rekindle a fiery passion for the lost and compel Christians once again to devote ourselves to rescuing the perishing and "pulling them out of the fire" (Jude 23).
History repeatedly demonstrates that the Church has always flourished under persecution far more than it has under prosperity. While comfort frequently produces complacency, compromise, and even apostasy, persecution has often purified God's people, strengthened their faith, and advanced the gospel of Jesus Christ in remarkable ways. This does not mean we should desire suffering or pray for oppression. Rather, it reminds us that God is sovereign over every circumstance and able to accomplish His purposes even in the darkest chapters of history.
If hardship is what it takes to awaken the Laodicean Church of our generation, then perhaps hardship is not our greatest enemy after all. Perhaps our greatest enemy has been our comfort all along. Rather than fearing what the future may hold, perhaps we should ask a better question: not “What will happen to America?” but “What is the condition of my own heart?” Am I fully surrendered to Christ today? Am I passionately pursuing the Great Commission, or have I become distracted by the comforts and pursuits of this present world? Am I living as a pilgrim whose true home is in Heaven, or have I become too attached to the temporary things of earth?
If each of us would humble ourselves, repent where repentance is needed, and wholeheartedly return to the mission Christ has given us before hardship comes, perhaps the awakening we so desperately need could begin today, without persecution ever becoming the instrument God chooses to use.
RETURN TO ALL BLOGS
