False Human Rights Destroying the Church and Our Nation
Does a moment go by that we don’t hear about some group or movement making demands for their supposed human rights?
“My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” —John F. Kennedy
What happened to this? What happened to America? What happened to the church?
Greater love has no man than this: that a man lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13)
Today we are absolutely overwhelmed by the constant, self-centered shouts of those who demand that their country—or their church—gives them what they believe is rightfully theirs.
It’s a false human rights movement.
The right to abortion. The right for same-sex marriage. The right to be equal. The right to be heard.
It’s a sickening, selfish focus that is driven by human desire instead of a willingness to take up our cross and die. How often have people left churches because their supposed rights weren’t addressed? How much dissension is in the workplace because people are looked over in favor of another?
I’ve said it before—today, when people’s self-centered pursuits are rejected, they abandon relationships, leave churches and cause division, but when Jesus was rejected, He didn’t abandon people. He didn’t forsake the church.
He let people kill Him so they might be saved. He died so the church could thrive.
My point in this article isn’t to address specific issues as much as it is to deal with a deadly, demonic spirit that is extremely advanced in its progress in the destruction of the church and, thus, the nation.
A Spirit of Entitlement
This spirit is pervasive in our nation, and unfortunately it has infiltrated the church to such a degree that it has altered the church’s very DNA. Today people attend church with expectations of how they should be treated instead of a plan to lay down their lives for the sake of the mission. There is a predetermined checklist of items that they presume they are rightfully entitled to. If those demands aren’t met, then trouble is initiated—just as the enemy planned.
This spirit of entitlement convinces us to look inward and fight for our perceived rights. It’s fueled by pride that results in the pursuit of personal attention, gain and satisfaction.
Isaiah 14:12-15 says, “How are you fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weaken the nations! For you have said in your heart, ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit also on the mount of the congregation, in the recesses of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’ Yet you shall be brought down to Hell, to the sides of the pit.”
Lucifer was focused on self—entitlement. This pride resulted in destruction beyond anything we could measure. He fell and weakened the nations simply because he was focused on self!
America, are you listening?
Because of Lucifer’s attitude, millions of people have been destroyed, the Holocaust terrorized a generation, an ancient flood destroyed the masses, 55 million American babies have been murdered and Hell is growing in size to hold the increasing number of people who will live there for eternity.
Yes, a spirit of entitlement destroys.
“Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall” (Prov. 16:18).
“When pride comes, then comes shame; but with the humble is wisdom” (Prov. 11:2).
“Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before honor is humility” (Prov. 18:12).
Taking on Offense
When entitled people gather together, you have a union. Here in Detroit, this is understood well. There are certain expectations that must be fulfilled by leadership, or those in union will threaten harm to them or the organization. This concept isn’t hard to understand. Often on the news we hear of school teachers or bus drivers who are in a union, and when their demands aren’t met, they strike.
When an entitlement isn’t met, offense is the result—and when people are in union with another who has been offended, they very quickly take on that offense—and, again, it is deadly.
We see this happen in churches all the time. Offended people have friends, who unify with them and come into agreement with their arguments.
Of course, it would be very easy right now to start considering all of the secular benefits to actual unions. We could discuss how the playing field is evened and the way leadership treats the working class is improved by holding them accountable.
But I’ll say this very clearly—this spirit of false unity, entitlement and offense has no place in the church. Our nation would begin down the road of healing and strengthening if we all stopped making demands and started serving, loving and following Jesus and the principles of Scripture.
An offended people will destroy a nation. A surrendered people will build a nation.
As an example, the spirits of entitlement and offense drive the abortion industry. False compassion, demonic in nature, is one of the tools that is used to gain sympathy and support for that movement. The threat is that we will come across as unloving, uncaring people if we oppose that movement. The same is true with the homosexual agenda. False love results in accusations of homophobia and hatred for those who don’t support their movement.
As Christians, we are handcuffed as we are forced into a position of affirming our love of these people. If we don’t, they win the debate.
Our only weak, predictable response seems to be, “We love the sinner and hate the sin.”
Boldness
We as prophetic voices in the church must brake off intimidation and fear of man. Keep in mind we are wrestling against demons, not humans. What is difficult is that when humans embrace the lies of the demons, we who stand for truth can come across as attacking those people. So many Christians avoid any appearance of conflict at all.
Listen closely: People are going to enter into Hell today. If we don’t have bold prophetic messengers rise up in the spirit of John the Baptist, in the spirit of David and other historic Godly warriors, millions upon millions of people will actually, literally go to Hell! If it’s rare to make it to Heaven, and common to enter Hell, how can we sit back and avoid a violent conflict with those forces of hell? We cannot.
“From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has forcefully advanced, and the strong take it by force” (Matt. 11:12).
Check out this commentary on the above scripture:
Greek: biazo (GSN-<G971>), to use force, to force one’s way into a thing. The idea here is that before John the kingdom could only be viewed in the light of prophecy; but now that it was preached, men were pressing into it with ardor resembling violence or desperation. They appeared as if they would seize it by force (Matt. 11:12; Luke 16:16). It expresses the earnestness that men must have in getting rid of sin, all satanic powers, the world, and in standing true when relatives oppose them (Matt. 10:34-39). (From Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible: Containing the Old and New Testaments of the Authorized or King James Version Text.)
This is where we are now! Let the fire-branded, love-driven warrior bride arise!
When David killed Goliath, it’s true that he killed a human, but he was actually fighting against a demon that was manifesting through a human. David didn’t sit down in a coffee shop to passively, casually discuss the dispute with Goliath. He was ready for a violent assault against the kingdom of darkness.
