Have we reached the Tipping Point?

Have we reached the Tipping Point?

Jesus was a Tipping Point. His entry into the course of human affairs is the dividing line for calendars. For most of the last two thousand years, dates were noted as BC, before Christ, or AD, Anno Domini (In the year of the Lord). Several years ago, with objections from the scientific community and non-Christian peoples, a change in designation was imposed. Now the times are generally referred to as the Common Era (CE) or Before the Common Era (BCE). Even so, the dividing line is Jesus’ entry into the world. He was a Tipping Point; everything changed after his birth.

There have been many other Tipping Points in human history when an event, or several events came together to reveal that the direction of the world was changing. The dropping of the first atomic bomb is an example, because everything changed after the flight of the Enola Gay on August 6, 1945. I believe we are close to a Tipping Point in the USA when the Christian church will be significantly diminished, if not removed from the American culture. I may not see the actual Tipping Point in my remaining lifetime, but I doubt that my grandchildren will continue to publically worship in church buildings for the rest of their lives.

Two items in the news this last week point to the coming Tipping Point. First, an Appeals Court upheld New York City’s ban of Christian churches renting public school facilities on the weekends. Throughout the USA, new churches and smaller churches have met for worship in school cafeterias or gyms. It is a win/win situation: the schools receive needed revenue and benefit by responsible groups using, and helping to maintain, their schools, and the churches have accessible, affordable places to meet. Now, in NYC, community-based groups can still rent the schools; just not Christian groups. The city used the guise of separation of church and state to advance their position, which is laughable considering that the legislative chambers of Congress were used as worship sanctuaries on the weekends in the early years of our republic.

The second news item was about the CEO of Mozilla, the company that makes the Firefox WEB browser and Thunderbird email software. Their CEO was removed because in 2008 he made a personal donation to a group in California that was supporting Proposition 8, an effort to disallow same sex marriages in California. When his donation was made public knowledge, it offended key personnel within his company and he was forced to resign, notwithstanding his personal commitment to fully support the gender inclusiveness policies of his company. Similar occurrences have taken place on university campuses across the country. The bottom line is that freedom of thought and freedom of expression are being severely limited in the USA. This trend will have a profound impact on churches and will push the Christian church to the Tipping Point, from which the influence of the Christian church in the history of the USA will be greatly diminished.

I have noted this trend for the last several years. In 2011, Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks was invited by Pastor Bill Hybels of the Willow Creek Church to speak at the Willow Creek Leadership Summit. This annual event is broadcast to thousands of churches across the USA. The LGBT, or gay community, objected to Schultz speaking in an evangelical church that they deemed ‘anti-gay’ and began organizing a boycott of Starbucks. In deference to the threatened boycott, Schultz canceled his appearance at the Leadership Summit.

Also in 2011, an editor of the New York Times wrote an article revealing the distain in which he views Christians and people of faith. He noted that of the Republican presidential candidates, one was a Mormon, two were evangelical Christians and one was a conservative Catholic. He wrote that this “raises concerns about their respect for the separation of church and state, not to mention separation of fact and fiction.” (Bill Keller in the New York Times Magazine, August 28, 2011, Emphasis mine) Mr. Keller’s dim view of Christians apparently is shared by the NYC School Board with their ban of Christians using school facilities.

How will these trends impact the churches? First, at the very least, I believe the political groups, empowered by their success in restricting language and attitudes which are inconsistent with their agenda will move to disqualify churches from their ‘non-profit” and “tax-exempt” status. Their claim will be simple. The churches violate accepted cultural standards, and government policy, by restricting the rights of members of the gay community (and also women in some churches) for ordination or leadership roles within the churches. Therefore these churches should not enjoy the benefits of tax exempt or non-profit status. The financial impact of this action will cause the expenses of the churches to dramatically increase as they would be liable for real estate and other taxes, as well as potentially reducing their income as tithes and offerings would no longer be tax deductible.

Not all churches will be so adversely affected. Many have already, and others may modify their doctrinal positions to comply with cultural standards. However, as the financial viability of many churches become perilous, all churches will find that the prevailing sentiment in the USA will more and more marginalize the voice of the churches in America.

As is the case whenever the powerful flex their political strength, it will be the poor who suffer the most. As the churches are eliminated from Main Street in America, so also will their outreach programs that feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and shelter the homeless.

But God isn’t through yet! Jesus promised that he would be with us always. The Christian church may have to go underground, but history has taught us that such persecution purifies the faithful remnant. Even so, it is sad to see the Thought Police of George Orwell's novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four, getting such a strong foothold in America.

Sē’lah

<><  <><  <><  <><

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.