"Authentic faith has always thrived under persecution. During such times, it is not easy to be a Christian. There are no lukewarm believers or halfhearted followers of Christ in times of great difficulty. The battle lines are clear during such times, and it becomes evident that the kingdom of Christ is not of this world. The greater the difficulty, the closer it drives us to Christ. Only in Him do we find refuge. We truly become pilgrims and strangers. We carefully examine and cling to the basics of the faith. They become an anchor in the storm."
"Ironically, peace and prosperity have the opposite effect. When all seems to be going well, we tend to forget that we are engaged in warfare. The intensity of faith that gets us through the tough times tends to languish when life is easy. The Church becomes assimilated into the culture and cultural Christianity replaces authentic faith. The distinctions between Church and culture become blurred."
"If this is the case, it is easy to figure out where our country falls at the moment. The Church has become part of the culture. It has blended into the landscape as another institution. It is financially prosperous. It has become a force in politics and the law. Even the clergy are so enmeshed in the concerns of proper society that they have lost their spiritual distinction."
"In times like we are living in, ideas of radical obedience and self-denial fade into the background. Even faithful Christians become soft and more tolerant of the moral decline of the world around them. In general, most men and women think little about issues of faith. Since the majority of nominal Christians don't think much about their faith or take the time to study the Bible, it should not surprise us that they are not familiar with the very foundational tenets of authentic Christian faith. Only those principles or doctrines that fit with the general tenor of the culture are observed as common practice. The truths that stand in stark contrast to the systems of the culture are almost totally forgotten. This is especially obvious when these teachings confront the problems of pride, luxury and conformity to the culture. Even the clergy seem afraid to tread too heavily on these subjects in their preachings for fear they will be regarded as fanatics."
Sounds like this was written within the past year of so here in the USA, but the above is a direct quote from the book, "Real Christianity" written by William Wilberforce and was written in 1797. No, that's not a typo it actually says 1797! It is sad how little we have grown in the past 200 years as Christians, and humans. We are still making the same mistakes, walking in the same circles and wondering why things aren't better than they are. We are also still blaming God for all the troubles and questioning why He isn't doing anything and why we haven't been warned before this.
I highly recommend reading "Real Christianity" to everyone. It has convicted me greatly and is helping to guide my steps as I walk toward Jesus. I hope it does the same for you!!
