Paul Derengowski, ThM
Yesterday, at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas, United States Senator, from Texas by the way, Ted Cruz said, “Religious liberty is under threat in this country like never before. As these threats grow darker and darker and darker, they are waking people up in Texas and across the country.”
The more I thought about his comments, the more it made me wonder if they were necessarily true. Is religious liberty under attack or is it something else and we are, once again, either too personally embarrassed or too spiritually anemic to say so?
According to the Pew Forum study conducted back in May of 2015, there really is not that big of a change in the number of religious people in America. Oh, there are a couple less Evangelicals, but a few more Jews, Muslims, and yes, even atheists, the latter of which are as religious, if not more so, than anyone else.
In fact, it could be argued that Americans are as religious as they ever have been, with some, such as the Muslims and atheists, having no problem with their religiosity coming under attack or curtailed. They are some of the most outspoken of the religious, with the secular media constantly putting a microphone in their faces, so that that they may be heard.
So, what is the real “threat” when the subject of “religious liberty” is brought up and just what can anyone do about it?
The real threat is not that religious liberty is under attack, but that Bible-believing Christians, who hold to an absolute position of universal truth that has been revealed by a sovereign, caring, and loving God is under attack. But, there is nothing new about that. That has been going on since the Garden of Eden days and will not cease until Judgment Day.
What we are seeing, though, is a ramped-up effort on the part of those espousing a self-serving, if not totally meaningless and dead end, religion, who refuse to be governed by what God has said.
They see Christians as the enemy, which Jesus said the world hates. They hate Jesus, however, before they hate Christians. And they hate God the Father before they hate Jesus.
So, the unbelieving world lashes out, hoping to silence the Bible believer, because it knows that if it can do so, then it will not have to listen to the truth that exposes what Jesus called their evil deeds.
Sadly, though, rather than speak in terms which define specifically what is really going on, the discussion 
is couched in First Amendment sloganeering or an attack on “religious liberty.”
What that does, though, is to mitigate where the real hatred originates and where it is being directed. It also makes Christianity just another run of the mill religion, like all the rest.
To add insult to injury, it is then assumed by too many Christians that the politician will provide the solution to all the hostility directed at them by the world, which will in turn provide the favorable religious atmosphere where the Christian message can be delivered.
Blurring the reality of religious hatred by the non-Christian world and then relying upon political figureheads is not going to solve anything, however. If anything, it will result in creating a false security where the Christian will fall deeper into a spiritual stupor than he is already.
The real solutions, therefore, to the problem of bashing Christians and Christianity is first to recognize it for what it is and then call a spade a spade. It is not “religious liberty” that is under attack. It is Bible-believing Christianity that is under attack!
Secondly, since so many Christians are lackadaisical or walking around in a daze when it comes to even knowing what a Christian is supposed to do or think, they need to snap out it and get in the battle!
Finally, it needs to be remembered that regardless of how good things might be going at any particular time for the Bible-believing Christian, it is fleeting at best.
The worldly system hates the Christian and the Bible makes it clear that conditions are only destined to get worse before it culminates in the judgment of every miscreant that decided the only way to strike out against God was by belittling, maiming, or murdering a Christian.
So, the next time a political figure or talking head on the radio or television gets off on the subject of “religious liberty,” and how it is coming under attack, and those persons fail to clearly define just what that means, please note, they are not doing anyone, especially among Bible-believing Christians, a favor.
Instead, they are adding to the increasing hostility toward Christians, Jesus, the Bible, and God Himself.
Americans are as religious as they ever have been and what we are seeing today is simply a culmination of 240 years of religiosity. It reeks of hypocrisy and will eventually lead many one day to believe they are doing God’s service by killing a Christian, and that simply because they do not know God or Jesus (Jn. 16:2-3).
