1 Kings 18:21
"Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.” But the people said nothing."
Revelation 3:15-16
"I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth."
The story of Elijah is one of the most familiar narratives in the Bible. Ahab was king of the northern kingdom and he was the most wicked king the northern kingdom ever had. His wickedness was driven by his wife Jezebel, a foreign woman who made Baal worship prominent in the land.
In the previous chapter this mysterious charactor named Elijah stepped into the pages of history and made this proclamation:
1 Kings 17:1b
... "As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word."
And then he disappears.
For three years there was no rain and the famine was severe. The interesting thing is that Baal, as the supreme god, was responsible for the harvest. He clearly failed the people. Things had become desperate.
When Elijah returns he sets up a contest between Baal and the one true God and that's where 1 Kings 18:21 comes in. In spite of the desperate situation in Israel the people were waffling. When Elijah challenged them, THEY SAID NOTHING.
It doesn't seem that the nation as a whole was fully engaged in Baal worship. Elijah said they were 'wavering between two opinions.'
Why weren't the people speaking out? If even a simple majority had stood up against Ahab and the foreign woman he had married, they could have ended the apostacy right then. But they didn't.
In spite of the desperate situation in the land they were passive. Passive people don't do anything and, eventually don't know what to believe.
It is the same today with the church in America. The moral decay is happening at an incredible rate and we are hearing crickets from the church. We don't even know what we believe anymore.
Some years ago I remember hearing a well known TV preacher saying that if everyone who claims to be a follower of Christ would vote according to biblical principles, it would only take a few election cycles and abortion would be completely outlawed. And if these same people would refuse to watch TV shows and movies that were dishonoring to God, Hollywood would go out of business.
The reason that abortion is still legal and Hollywood is rich is because those who call themselves followers of Christ are consuming the moral garbage like starving junkyard dogs.
Jesus had very harsh words to say to the church in Laodocia about their lukewarmness. He was ready to spit them out. The modern church is a picture of Laodocia; lacking conviction, combining Christian principles and worldy philosophies, and general passivity. We just don't want to get involved and speak up.
By the time the last disciple had died, Christianity had spread to the entire civilized world. They had 'turned the world upside down.' (Act 17:6) Today it appears that the world has turned the church upside down.
That's what happens when we are passive. Passivity leads to compromise. Compromise leads to compliance. Compliance leads to conformity. Conformity leads to irrelevance.
Obey the governing authorities.
Romans 13:1-2
"Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves."
Some have used this passage to claim that as Christians, it is our duty to simply submit to the governing authorities. I heard that over and over again in regards to the recent saga of Covid-19. There were very few in churches who understood that this was an act of tyranny to shut down churches and businesses. In response, let's go back to the story of Elijah. After the one true God showed unequivically that he alone was God, and Baal was a false God, Elijah did something that many who call themselves Christians would assert was a violation of Romans 13:
1 Kings 18:40
"Then Elijah commanded them, 'Seize the prophets of Baal. Don’t let anyone get away!' They seized them, and Elijah had them brought down to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered there."
This was an open act of rebellion against the king. By the standard many who call themselves Christians use to justify following the tyrannical mandates, Elijah would have been in violation of Romans 13. What gave Elijah the right to execute the prophets of Baal? Now some would say, "Well he was a prophet." This is true and his prophetic authority was firmly established by the fact that his predictions of drought came true and his God answered by fire.
But there is something else.
There was a law higher than the king -- the Covenant given at Mount Horeb. Ahab was in violation of that covenant. Therefore Elijah and the Israelite citizens had the right, and a duty, to rebel against Ahab and Jezebel.
In the United States of America we have a law that is higher than our elected officials. It's called the Constitution. And there is still a higher law than the Constitution -- the same higher law as the Covenant God gave at Mount Horeb. The Founders gave instructions in the Declaration of Independence for what the people must do if they find themselves under unjust and unlawful government. If our elected leaders act in ways that violate the Constitution or don't govern in accordance with authority specifically given in our Constitution, then we don't have an obligation to comply.
If the Israelite citizens had rebelled against Ahab they could have stopped Baal worship and there would have been no need for a drought. But in spite of the 3 year drought and the famine that went along with it, they were silent.
Fifty-one years ago the Supreme Court passed Roe v. Wade. Had the church risen up against abortion at that time we could have stopped it fairly quickly. But except for a few lone voices, the church was silent. And those that did speak up were encouraged to keep quiet and were often ridiculed by those that claimed to be Christ followers.
Our moral decay is exponentially worse.
And the salt has lost it's savor and is pretty much useless.
So what is it going to take to get the church to rise up and be the salt and light that we are called to be? In Elijah's day, 3 years of drought and God miraculously setting fire to the offering didn't result in one recorded repentance. Oh, the people fell on their faces and declared that the Lord was God, but very quickly things went back to normal. There was no revival. It reminds me of the Sunday morning after 9-11. The churches were packed -- that Sunday. But in the weeks that followed things went back to normal. There was no revival.
What is it going to take?
It is time for the church to repent of its passivity and lukewarmness. Stop trying to conform to the world. Being separate does not mean cloistering ourselves from the world around us. It means being in the world but DIFFERENT from the world.
Speak out against the evil!
Engage as stewards who will have to account on the final day for how we took care of the country that God gave us!
VOTE! BUT BE AN INFORMED VOTER AND VOTE ACCORDING TO GUIDELINES IN SCRIPTURE AND NOT BY YOUR FEELINGS! Remember that we will have to give an account to God for how we voted.
And for those who claim to be Christians, but who are really just foolish virgins who walk around with lamps having no oil in them;
IT IS TIME TO CHOOSE A SIDE!!
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