A Sanctuary for Satan

The recent Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage has many churches in an uproar as if this somehow cancels God's rule in this land.  The absence of prayer in schools and the removal of the Ten Commandments from government property add to the consensus that God has been ejected from the American landscape.  However, nothing could be further from the truth.

When Jesus was asked by the religious leaders of his day, when the kingdom (rule) of God would come, he replied,“The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is ,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst" (Lk 17:20-21). In other words, God's rule is not established when the landscape of a country is dotted with relics of religion, it is established in the relationship of our hearts.  God's presence is not seen in the government buildings or political rulings, he lives is in our hearts.

Of much greater concern to me than Supreme Court rulings or government removal of icons is the absence of God's rule in the churches.  As lamentable as the breakdown of the traditional family may be, the breakdown of the family of God is far more dire.  When one considers that the six out of ten affairs in the unchurched marriage is mirrored by six out of ten in the church, that is of far greater impact than same-sex marriage allowed by the state.

The level  of hypocrisy, the degree of judgment, the amount of greed, the impurity of spirit, the demand for comfort over commitment, the lack of concern for lost souls - the Americanization of the Kingdom of God that is evident in so many churches - that is the real scourge I see.  The fact that Satan has such a foothold in the secular society does not particularly concern me for he is "the god of this age" (2 Cor 4:4) and that is nothing new.

What concerns me is that the god of this age, Satan, might be so comfortable in so many of our churches as to find sanctuary there.  In society around us, I expect Satan to be dong well but in the sanctuary of the church, I would expect him to be totally unwelcome by our devotion to God, adherence to the Word and love of mankind.  Instead, far too many of our churches have actually become a sanctuary for Satan - a place where his deceiving ways are allowed to go nearly unchallenged.

We decry the breakdown of the family caused by a same-sex ruling while we directly destroying the family with a divorce rate that equals society at large.  We lament Supreme Court Rulings and then we defy God by standing in judgment rather than reaching out in love.  We concern ourselves over the Bible and prayer removed from our schools while we find no time for prayer and study in our homes.  Can I ask just one question?  "What's up with that?"  What on earth are we doing, for heaven's sake?

How about, instead of worrying ourselves over the direction of the nation,we concern ourselves with the direction of the church?  How about we knock the devil out of our sanctuaries?  How about we forget the notion of establishing God in the American landscape and work on establishing His Kingdom in our own hearts?  How about we "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness" (Matt 6:33)?  Jus' Ask'n.