Gen. 1:27 π 2 Chr. 7:14 π Mt. 20:25-26 π Mt. 24:4 π Mt. 24:9 π Lk. 22:25 π Jn. 13:35; 2nd π Jn. 15:5 π Jn. 16:13 π Jn. 17:21-23 π Acts 17:24 π Acts 20:30 π 2 Cor. 6:17 π Gal. 5:13 π Eph. 4:3 π Eph. 4:12-16 π Eph. 6:12 π Phlp. 2:15-16 π 2 Tim. 3:5 π Heb. 6:4-6 π Jas. 1:27 π 1 Jn. 3:10-14 π Rev. 22:11
Phil Robertson, from Duck Dynasty and now In the Woods with Phil, was recently interviewed by conservative talk-show host, Ben Shapiro. Ben Shapiro asked a wonderful, much-needed question and Phil Robertson gave a short answer.
Ben Shapiro: We are watching in the United States a really big push toward an atheistic left that’s been happening over the last several decades. The levels of religious observance have been going down. The levels of church observance has been going down. What do you think the religious communities need to do in order to revivify religious belief. Because you look at the pews and they’re empty. And then it seems like every church or synagogue, they’re looking instead of talking about the Bible, it looks like they’re more interested in sponsoring church bingo night with pizza and a guitar player. So, what exactly do the churches need to do in order to actually fight back against the encroachment of the secular left?
Phil Robertson: What they did was, it’s been a slow, sixty years – in the last sixty years, they have pushed God into these structures that have the steeple on ‘em. They push Him in there and they say, “Keep Him right there. We don’t want Him in the Ten Commandments. Not what He said – we want those out of the courthouses. We don’t want a fifth-grade girl thanking her God for the sandwich she’s fixin’ to eat in a schoolhouse. We don’t want prayers among the football players on the football field.” So we’ve removed God and we’ve pushed Him out of our culture in every way possible. So we’ve pushed God out of the public domain and we’ve got Him pushed out of the way. So what we need to do is understand that worship is not about going to church, worshiping and leaving. Worshiping God is offering yourself, your body, as a living sacrifice everywhere you are – you point people to the God of creation everywhere you are. Work, play, 24/7. We have to implement that or we’re goin’ to have more of the same. (see the interview here )
As right as Phil is, the answer goes much deeper. This is not a sixty year strategy – as long as that time frame is, though, even that points to the real architect behind what Ben Shapiro calls “a really big push toward an atheistic left.” What is really in view here is a 2,000 year old strategy that far exceeds America and embraces the whole world – a strategy that cannot possibly be the product of any single human mind but must rather be the strategy of an ancient being who exists far beyond the time frame of any single human life.
It is exceedingly difficult to tell someone like Phil Robertson that he is wrong because he is so right about so many things. Phil says, “What we need to do is understand that worship is not about going to church, worshiping and leaving.” This is correct but it is also corrupted. That is, Phil sees nothing wrong with going to “church” to worship God so long as one is trying to follow God all the time. So what is the problem? Simply that the “God” of the “church” is not really the God of creation yet very few people are capable of recognizing this incredibly interwoven deception.
This idea
- that we can go to a specially crafted building that is deceptively called God’s house;
- that we can be instructed and even controlled and dominated by men (or women) who place themselves between us and God and who say they have a superior anointing over those in the crowd seated at their feet;
- that we can rub shoulders with genuine saints and hypocritical “Pharisees” at the same time and all can worship God together and be received by Him as doing a right and good thing;
- all while many in the “congregation” do not even bother to talk to Him throughout the day nor even think about obeying His commands –
all this is nothing but deception. Jesus warned that the primary sign of His imminent return was deception. ( Mt. 24:4 ) And Paul prophesied that “from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking corrupted things, to draw away the disciples after themselves.” ( Acts 20:30; top ) None have more precisely fulfilled this prophecy than what church history calls the “rise of the bishopric,” the historic validation of the “bishop” (now “pastor”) presiding over the local “flock” with authority purportedly delegated by God but in reality drawn from the world’s practices of empire.
Thus even Ben’s rightful derision of the “church’s” pizza music party mentality is askew. It is not enough to talk about the Bible in places where routine disobedience and dismissal of plain teachings from the Bible are interwoven into the very structure of their “Christian church” practice. “The pews are empty,” says Ben. But pews do not exist in the New Testament! Neither do pulpits! Authoritarian clergy-ism (a.k.a. “pastor”/CEO with a professional staff) is condemned. ( Mt. 20:25-26 , etc.) God will never dwell in any building made by human hands but we spend more money on poorly utilized buildings that we call His house than we spend on orphans, widows and the poor combined! (see Acts 17:24 , Jas. 1:27 ) Until we allow God to be Lord over His true house (His people!), we will simply be another part of the world that practices enmity against God. That we do all this “Christian” religiosity in His name but have no real power of God to change our lives ( 2 Tim. 3:5 ) is the real reason we see the secular encroachment making unbelievable advances in our time. God has always said, “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” ( 2 Chr. 7:14 – emphasis added; top)
In all actuality, the mass exodus from the “church” is not all bad news. Certainly, some leave for wrong reasons and inadvertently remanufacture yet another version of a misguided “church,” quite often in someone’s living room. Sadly, others leave both the “church” and all ideas of God behind in the dust. But many have left simply because of the putrid smell of death that pervades the place and these see no reason to seek the living in the place of the dead, even when struggle, loneliness and isolation is their only other option. Many have heard the call of the Lord, “Come out from among them. Be separate. Be clean.” ( 2 Cor. 6:17; top ) and have obediently left the “church” in order to more purely pursue Christ and God.
What will it take to “revivify religious belief”?
First, it is required that people stop seeking to revive the “church” – the building of buildings, the exaltation of some over others, the practice of false and useless religious notions, etc. Let the dead remain dead. ( Heb. 6:4-6 , Rev. 22:11 ) The “church” is the harlot, the prostitute who mimics the role and function of the bride and who does so for a price – money, prestige, personal fulfillment, etc. The people of Christ are those who simply go where the Lamb leads them, who are redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, who are saved by grace and demonstrate their salvation by their obedience to His commands and directions. It is still true that the genuine follower of Christ is known by his or her selfless and Christ-directed love for others ( Jn. 13:35 ) – no one is a genuine follower of Christ just because they embrace and perpetuate their favorite, preferred peculiar intellectual dogmas carnally wrenched from the words of truth found in the Bible. The Spirit of God is still the only One who leads us into all truth ( Jn. 16:13; top ) – and He does not lead one group into one truth only to lead another group into a conflicting truth. Christ is not divided.
Second, it is required that every part does its share of the work, that all the saints (and not merely the paid professional staff) do the work of the ministry. ( Eph. 4:12-16; top ) It is not enough to invite someone to “go to church” with us so they can hear a hopefully stimulating lecture. The world must see and experience Jesus in us – in love, power and purity – or else we are just another part of the counterfeit fraud that has appropriated His name but has never experienced His grace nor progressed at all toward spiritual maturity.
Third, we must cultivate the personal relationship with God through Christ Jesus that transforms us into the individual He created us to be. We must not succumb to the confusion that the world is embracing. God created humankind in His own image making them to be male and female. ( Gen. 1:27; top ) God is not confused as to which sex an individual belongs to and it is the work of the deceiver to so shake the foundations of a person’s life that they become so confused and disconnected from even this basic element of their identity given to them by Christ and God.
Further, fathers must be godly fathers. It lies most heavily on men’s shoulders to be men – mature godly males, husbands and fathers who lead (mostly by example) their family into a clearer picture of what God the Father is really like. Women and children are similarly responsible to be godly in their respective roles, none of which implies mindless doormats or silenced recipients of emotional, psychological, spiritual authoritarian abuse. It is the highest priority of all spiritually maturing individuals to “preserve the unanimity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” ( Eph. 4:3 ), not exercising “beneficial” authority over those unfortunate enough to be subjected beneath them. ( Lk. 22:25 ) We are all called to liberty but none have the right to indulge their flesh ( Gal. 5:13; top ), neither in gross sinful worldliness nor in sanctimonious religious hypocrisy.
Fourth, we must not be drawn into superficial arguments but must always endeavor to point darkened individuals to the light and spiritual wisdom behind our American Constitutional rights, liberties and responsibilities. We are not to go out “liberal” or “leftist” or “homosexual” or “abortionist” baiting or bashing. These people, as deluded as they are, are individuals for whom Christ died. Winning an argument is not a victory – only leading someone to repentance is a victory. Issues are secondary to this primary goal. Abortion is not a woman’s right to choose to avoid the consequences of her sins of fornication or adultery – it is murder of an innocent, unborn child. Homosexuality is not an innocent preference – it is a rejection of the Almighty God’s order and function of His creation. Second Amendment rights are not about the right to own cool and powerful guns – it is about the right to protect the life God has given us and others around us from rampant and unrestrained evil that would otherwise be forced upon us. And the list goes on. Modern churchianity has lost sight of the fact that God is still a God of battle ( Eph. 6:12; top ) and anyone who does not enter into the battle is not going to see the life-changing power of God. Until we have the faith to take up our weapons and advance toward the enemy, we have no chance of God blessing us with victory. This is a no-brainer.
Darkness is overtaking the world. Jesus said that all nations would hate His disciples in the end times. ( Mt. 24:9 ) There is no reason to believe that America will not be overcome by the darkness. Whether America falls during our watch or not, we are still required to stand for Christ’s kingdom of light and righteousness. We can only hope for America that we can gain a respite and draw many into the light before they are lost to the darkness. But our hope is not to be found in the renewal of America’s adherence to the liberties, rights and responsibilities given to us by the Creator God. Our hope is found only in the Person of Christ Jesus. If we are graciously enabled to bring a restoration of America to these things, it will only be by the mercy of the Almighty God. If we are not so enabled, we still bear the responsibility to be “blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom we shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life.” ( Phlp. 2:15-16; top )
They may take our lives but they cannot take our souls. If we have already crucified our self, they cannot kill a dead man so we are free to give our lives to and for Christ. Those of us who truly belong to the kingdom of Christ and God must expend our life only in the service of our King. Anything else, even patriotic passion for making America great again or tireless efforts to “revive” the “church,” is only a waste of time and a diversion away from the way that leads us to life abundant and eternal. Making America great again and seeing a renewal of the work of the Holy Spirit in our midst is and must remain a by-product of getting our own life right with Christ and God. When we abide in Him, we will bear fruit for His kingdom. ( Jn. 15:5 , etc.) When we love one another as Christ loved us, we will truly belong to Him and the world will know we are His disciples. ( Jn. 13:35 , 1 Jn. 3:10-14 , etc.) And when we are one as Christ and God are one, then the world will know that God sent Him to take away our sins. ( Jn. 17:21-23; top ) Anything else is merely deception, a deception that kills the very life we desire and say we pursue.
Let he who has ears hear.
- Come Out; The End Time Men - W.W. Fischer The call to come out was heard by this author in the mid-1980s – and written down for our edification!
- Carnal Followers and Lawless “Theologians” - Neil Girrard - ( in Adobe/pdf format ) If we are to come out of lawless churchianity, we must first recognize the hidden sin of the leaders and spiritual fathers who contributed to the making of it.
- An Admittedly Flawed System - Neil Girrard - ( in Adobe/pdf format ) Some people are able to admit that the “church” system is flawed – but what does that really mean?
- The Theft of America’s Soul: A Review - Neil Girrard - ( in Adobe/pdf format ) Phil Robertson’s uncompromising stand is a refreshing contrast to today’s political correctness and liberal, left-wing diatribes.
I’d love to hear comments and/or questions from you! Email me!