Tom Ambrose -- Save the church, not light bulbs

In previous years, environmentalists have tried to save trees and whales. This year, my former boss at WorldNetDaily, Joseph Farah, is on a crusade to save the incandescent light bulb (and, conveniently, to sell bumper stickers to promote his, uh, cause ... for a mere $6 per bumper sticker). But who wants to help save the church?

Does the old saying about Nero fiddling while Rome burned mean anything to you? If Nero really did something like this, it was a more likely a lyre than a fiddle that he used, but whatever the case, it is generally agreed that this ruthless persecutor of the church lost control of his empire because of his depravity. In the end, he committed suicide.

Today, it isn't Nero who is attempting to destroy the church, but wicked leaders within the church itself. As I discussed in my previous column, the church in America is a mere shadow of what it once was, and even that shadow is quickly fading. And like the misled Christians of Jonestown who committed mass suicide at the behest of their depraved leader, today many people in the American church are following their own leaders in harming the reputation and cause of Christ.

The Presbyterian Church USA, the Episcopal Church, and other denominations have been going through schisms for the past 30 years due to efforts of their church leaders to legitimize homosexual activity and pastors, despite both the Old Testament and New Testament clearly condemning such practices.
Popular ministers like Jimmy Swaggart, Jim Baker, Richard Roberts, Ted Haggard, and a very long list of other names have been involved a variety of church scandals ranging from misuse of church funds and drug abuse to adultery and prostitution.
Mega-church pastor John Hagee is currently under fire (and backpedaling) for claiming that "Jesus did not come to Earth to be the Messiah" as a hook to get people to buy his latest book. Hard to believe, but some Christians are defending this.

Folks, these things are clearly wrong and ought not to be happening in the church. They arise from selfishness, not Godly character. God's grace is not a doormat on which we can wipe our feet and then continue sinning with impunity.

I also am going to say something here that desperately needs to be said even though it will ruffle more than a few feathers: The clear mission of the church - as articulated by Jesus Christ - is to love God, to love others, and to make disciples (Mark 12:28-31, Matthew 28:19-20). In fulfilling this mission, our church buildings need to stop functioning as Sunday-morning country clubs. Our church leaders need to re-task the majority of their resources to reach out to the lost and hurting in our nation instead of building bigger empires and bank accounts.

But equally important on this point: Where in Scripture is the church given the mission to fix the government? Yes, we absolutely have obligations as citizens to vote and to demand accountability from our elected leaders. We also have obligations to defend the unborn, to stand against the proliferation of homosexuality and other evils in our communities, and to help those who are in need.

However, if the church would seriously focus most of its time, talent and treasure on doing the job it is supposed to be doing in reaching out to the lost and making disciples, there would be many more people in our nation who would be living their lives according to God's Word - people who, incidentally, can also vote.

Additionally, consider this: I want you to imagine with me for a moment that the presidency and all the seats in the House, the Senate, the Supreme Court and our nation's governors' and state legislative offices are occupied by people who honor God. Doesn't that sound grand?

Well, here's the problem: Even if someone waved a magic wand and made all of that happen, the reality is there are 300 million other people in our nation whom we still have to deal with - the majority of whom voted reprobate Bill Clinton in for a second term as president, and recently rejected Ron Paul, a person with excellent principles, in favor of the current presidential frontrunners. So even if we could with a one-time wave of a magic wand put everyone into office we desired, most of those people soon would be voted right back out of office.

We are wasting time if we chase political saviors to address the evil that is infecting our nation and world. Think about it. Political solutions can influence human behavior, but they will never change the corruption and arrogance of the human heart, nor will they ever remove the root problem of sin. Only God can change hearts and remove sin. It is way past time for the church to stop trying to make the tail wag the dog. Put God first and the politics will follow - not the other way around.

Unless the pastors, elders and other leaders of the church in America lead the people of this nation to honor God first and above all else, our nation will not survive. If these leaders will not lead in such a manner, then new leaders who are willing to be accountable for their personal conduct and for honoring the commands that Jesus gave the church must be found to replace them. If we want to take back America, this is how we must focus our efforts and time - not on seeking political saviors or posturing to save incandescent light bulbs.

Tom Ambrose is a former commentary editor of WorldNetDaily and reporter for the Business Times.