03 - Wanted - A Politically Incorrect Church 2010 By Pastor Jeff Wickwire Notes

Political Correctness is defined as: The use of language or conduct that deliberately avoids giving offense, particularly on the basis of ethnic origin or sexual orientation.

In other words, Political Correctness is all about not offending someone, particularly as to their race or moral lifestyle.

Sounds good and nice and…even Christian, right?

Not really…in fact, PC has become the church’s #1 enemy!

I submit to you today that Political Correctness is not really about not offending someone; it is a form of Marxism where, for the first time in our history, Americans have to be fearful of what they say, of what they write, and of what they think.

They have to be afraid of using the wrong word, a word denounced as offensive or insensitive, or racist, sexist, or homophobic.

And I believe beyond this that PC is about muzzling the Word of God.

It is about silencing the testimony of scripture concerning sin and right and wrong.

It is about snuffing out the conviction of the Holy Spirit.

It is about shutting God out of our society.

Jesus said, “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.”—Jn 3:19

TOLERANCE

Now, Political Correctness has crowned one WORD the King of all Words:

That word is “TOLERANCE.”

If you are illuminated, if have seen the light, you will be TOLERANT.

Now, what does “tolerance” mean?

Not long ago, the word 'tolerance' meant 'bearing or putting up with someone or something not especially liked'.

But now, tolerance has been redefined to mean that 'all values, all beliefs, all lifestyles, all truth claims are equal' and should therefore be graciously tolerated.

Denying this makes a person 'intolerant', and thus worthy of contempt.

Where does this leave Christians? Well, since we believe in the uniqueness of Jesus Christ above all other faiths, we are deemed intolerant.

For instance, Jesus said:

'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me' (John 14:6). Exclusive. Unique.

And the apostle Peter said,

'It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved' (Acts 4:10-12). Exclusive. Unique.

The new definition of 'tolerance' makes the Christian claims to the exclusivity of Jesus sound 'intolerant', which justifies much of the anti-Christian bigotry in the media and education system.

So under the new PC definition of tolerance, all world views are equally valid because there is no absolute, non-negotiable truth as found in the Bible.

THE RESULT of all this? Tolerance has replaced truth as the primary American virtue.

This flies in the face of the Word of God which clearly presents absolute truth and an absolute God and a one-and-only Savior.

Now, let’s take a look a closer look at QUEEN TOLERANCE:

First, let's clear up one of the biggest sources of confusion: The issue of judging others.

Since the new Tolerance claims that all world views are equal, much of our country has been brainwashed into believing that to judge someone is to be intolerant.

This false belief is the hook in the soul of our nation that is going to ruin us if we don’t wake up. The Bible teaches that:

To judge is not intolerance, it is wisdom.

ILLUS: Birds and hawk just this week.

Secondly….there are:

Two kinds of JUDGING

Jesus and Paul both taught against the first kind…

In His "Sermon on the Mount," Jesus said:

"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Matt 7: 1-2

The Apostle Paul gives a similar teaching in Romans 2:1:

"You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.”

No doubt, these verse sound like it would be wrong for us to pass judgment.

But the same Greek word for judge, "krino," can mean " to condemn," or it can mean “to distinguish one thing from another."

When Paul and Jesus taught not to judge, they meant “don’t condemn” others.

They were not saying we should refuse to exercise judgment by distinguishing right from wrong, good from bad, godly from ungodly.

For instance, Jesus said, “You will know them by their fruits.”

How will you know someone by their fruits unless you make a judgment on the kind of fruit their life has produced?

Hebrews 5:14 says, "But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil."

The Bible does not teach us not to judge, it teaches us not to condemn.

It never tells us to “tolerate” sin.

It tells us to not condemn the sinner.

In Galatians 6:1, Paul has learned that someone has been found living in sexual sin.

Rather than “tolerating,” it, the church is instructed to deal with it.

"Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted."

James says the same thing:

"My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins." (James 5:19, 20)

How can you “turn” someone from error if you don’t pass judgment on what they’re doing?

Rather than calling for tolerance, James calls for confrontation.

One of the churches in Revelations was actually commended for their intolerance:

"I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false." (Revelation 2:2)

It's a far cry from tolerance when the Bible says, “Hate what is evil [loathe all ungodliness, turn in horror from wickedness], but hold fast to that which is good.” (Romans 12:9)

While it is God who does the "condemning" kind of judging, we must be prepared to do the "discerning" kind of judging.

ABSURDITY OF UNBRIDLED TOLERANCE

Think with me for a moment: If we really walked in total tolerance of all behavior, society would descend into chaos.

For any society to survive there’s got to be a willingness to apply social pressure to curb behaviors that are judged unacceptable.

Instead of being tolerant of any and all activity, we have a right and a responsibility to stand up and say, "No, we will not be tolerant of the murder of unborn girls and boys."

And what about today’s hottest topic: "Same Sex Marriage"

We are told we must be tolerant of this NEW definition of marriage.

But how far does this kind of tolerance go?

If America and the church cave in here, then the demand for tolerance of the marriage between one man and two women, or one woman and two men is just around the corner.

And how long will it be before an animal lover says, "I love my dog." Are we to tolerate their marriage?

Think it can’t happen here? Think again. Who would ever have guessed we’d be dealing with same sex marriage even 20 years ago?

BOTTOM LINE: There is no such thing as total tolerance.

We choose to draw the line where the Bible draws the line—

MARRIAGE is the union of one man and one woman, and we are INTOLERANT of any other definition.

Finally, the fact is that,

Tolerance may turn out to be the most unloving attitude of all.

Take for example Lee, a father who made it very clear to his son that there was no tolerance for drugs in his home, and if the son crossed that line, he would have to leave.

The son crossed the line, and the father remained firm with his intolerance.

It was a blustery, rainy night when the father took his son to the door and put him out in the street with only the clothes on his back.

After closing the door, the father turned away and wept like a baby.

But that act of intolerance saved his son, and just a few months later, he was back, and father and son established a wonderful relationship.

The problem is, the lie of tolerance has led many Christians into error.

We must be willing to discern what is tolerable and what is not, and hold fast to our intolerance of that which, according to God's Word, is not pleasing to Him.

The church that pierces the darkness will resist Political Correctness!

The young minister in Lithuania explained that in the days of the Soviet Union you had to do as they said because you were afraid of what would happen to you if you didn't. There was always someone watching you or listening to you, and you were afraid to say what you really believed for fear of what might happen to you. They could send you to prison, take your children away from you, or you could even lose your life. Millions did. It has been said that during the reign of Joseph Stalin, 20 million people were executed.

In the 21st century, although we live in a free country which is the United States of America, we are beginning to be afraid to speak what we really believe. We are now being intimidated by two words, and they are the words, "politically correct."

Although there is not the threat of the Gulag or of having our children taken from us, we are nevertheless being told that there are certain things that we must not discuss because they are not politically correct.

I might be wrong, but I believe that the term "politically correct" is an expression that is being used to force the ideas and points of view of an agendized few on the rest of us.

Not only that, but the words "politically correct" also mean that it is not to be talked about anymore. It is a done deal.

If this were not bad enough, the concept of political correctness has somehow gotten into the church. This will have far-reaching implications, because it will allow error to be institutionalized while truth is being intimidated into not being able to respond or to rebut what may be going on.

Not long ago, I was sharing some of my convictions with my boss, who happens to be the conference president. I shared with him that in Washington we have two principle parties, the Republicans and the Democrats. These parties are always debating each other and disagreeing with each other. When a senator of either party stands up and disagrees with the administration, he or she is rarely accused of being a traitor to the country.

You see, a country that does not allow a free and open debate is one where freedom does not exist, or if it does, it will soon die.

I could only wish that, in the spirit of Christ, more people would stand up and let their voices be heard. When we do not hear the voices of many, what ends up happening is that things soon are taken over by a radicalized minority, and then the debate is stopped in the name of political correctness.

This is no time in the history of our church for us to allow ourselves to be intimidated by those who, for the moment, have the upper hand and would stifle debate by saying that something is or is not politically correct.

We often hear of the importance of being open-minded. Often the same mindset that advocates being open-minded is the one that insists on political correctness. Personally, I believe we should be open-minded to that which is according to the Word of God and closed-minded to that which isn't.

This is no time to worry about being politically correct. It is a time in which we must be sensitive, not to offending the society around us but rather to doing the will of God in our lives.

We knew the last days were coming. Now they are here. We knew in the last days there would be persecution, but I don't think we realized that the persecution would begin with an attempt to take over our minds and force us by intimidation to reflect the popular thinking and world view that happens to be in at the moment.

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