Diagnosis America V - Spirit of Selectivity

"If we ever forget that we're one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under." -Ronald Reagan

“Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.” – Paul (Romans 1:28)

Ours is a fast food culture is it not? “Have it your way, have it your way,” went Burger King’s jingle. Or Frank Sinatra telling us how he did it his way. Yup, America is one giant buffet table. So goes our faith as well. New Age Spiritualism, Transcendental Meditation, Wicca (witchcraft), etc, etc. The above aren’t Satanism, most are naturalism of one form or another to be fair and honest about it, but they are surely giant wastes of time. I was at a New Age wedding once – just once. The “priest” held up an incense scepter at one point – I believe it was the benediction - and asked the “Spirit of the West, and the Spirit of the East” and so on to “bless this union.” Huh? A bunch of us looked around at each other wondering what this nonsense was about. I made eye contact with a friend’s wife. She rolled her eyes and very publicly shook her head in disbelief. I couldn’t look at her for the rest of the ceremony for fear of busting out in laughter. It was funny, but kind of sad as well. The “Spirit of the East??” Seriously??? What a colossal waste of time. We drove all the way down to the south Bay Area, got a hotel room for the night for THAT?!?! A wedding before a judge would have had more spiritual and emotional meaning. Marriage is supposed to be a covenant made before God in which the man cares and loves his wife as Christ does for His church. But there I go judging other people and their life style choices. Ohhh….. get used to it! Wherever you go, whatever you do, you will be judged, potentially for being judgmental. Judgment waits for all of us at the very end. Christ will either defend you or say "I don't know him."

“Judge” is a key word here. The Spirit of Selectivity in this country that Jackson Senyonga observes is driven primary by judgment or the fear of it to be exact. People hate to be judged. Someone I know is still a bachelor (at +50 years old), because he doesn’t want to be “judged” on a date. Oh yeah, better to be lonely your entire life. Our multicultural society thinks it has it figured out and God isn’t needed because He’s such a party pooper. Hence the rise of New Age, TM, Wicca, Eastern spiritualism and other feel good, self help type faiths. The Sacramento Beast (Bee) had a sympathetic article not too long ago about a Wiccan conclave along Highway 16 somewhere. The “witch” interviewed dismissed Christianity as just another blood cult like any other pagan belief. Complete misunderstanding of the Passion, perhaps intentionally so. Not long after that, Bat Jr. (not his real name) was watching a “new” Scooby Doo cartoon and I was shocked to see it was about some Wiccan conclave the “gang” had stumbled onto and befriended. I stood there with my jaw hanging open dumbstruck by the genius of that strategery by the Dark One. Distracting my son from God using Scooby-dooby-doo of all things! Pure genius. I had to tip my hat to the Old Bastard on that one. Clever little turd he is. However, the TV in the loft has been disconnected from the cable box. "TV viewing will be under adult supervision from here on" – Thank You, the Management.

We want faith our way and the Dark One takes that selective nature of ours and skews it towards himself. No pain, no work, no judgment, just comfort and warm fuzzies, and on our time. “I’m Man’s biggest fan!” exclaimed Al Pacino playing the Great Deceiver in The Devil’s Advocate (a great movie even if Keanu Reeves can’t act). Some of us seek and he delivers the drive-thru window church if you will: “Hi, I want a serving of salvation with grace, a pain free life and hold the guilt and atonement for sins.” The problem is that isn’t what’s written, so it’s a lie. A pain free life was never promised post-Eden. In the Gospel of John, Jesus Himself in walking from the Last Supper to meet His destiny stops in a vineyard and described how God prunes from us that which will not bear fruit. Ever wonder how your garden feels when you prune it? Probably not a real enjoyable experience for the plants, but oh so necessary for it’s overall health. Otherwise, there’s random growth, overgrowth, suffocation, and eventually death. The healthy garden and healthy Christians are quite beautiful, but it took alot of work and some pain at times. No pain, no gain. We ignore God at our mortal peril as Paul warned the Romans. We been given freedom in this country and we currently seek to export that. That’s great, you go George, but the problem with freedom, as Ronald Reagan so clearly knew, is it’s often misunderstood. Yes, this is a “free country,” but that doesn’t mean you get to engage in every debauchery imaginable. Freedom was given to us by God to worship and glorify Him. The Freedom we export should be for God’s people to know Him, not the right to eat a Big Mac.