Identifying Our Friends
By Chuck Baldwin
January 27, 2011
Archived column:
http://chuckbaldwinlive.com/home/?p=2947To a packed out crowd of over 500 Montanans who had assembled in
minus zero weather to hear me speak, I made the statement, “Not all
Christians are our friends, and not all non-Christians are our
enemies.� Indeed, being able to identify our friends is more than
half the battle.
When I spoke of identifying friends or enemies, I was talking about
one’s overall positive or negative contribution to the principles of
liberty. I will say it again, not all Christians are our friends, and
not all non-Christians are our enemies. This is difficult for many
Christians to wrap their brains around, I know.
I will go one step further: in America today, claiming a new birth
Christian experience means absolutely nothing when it comes to
defending liberty principles. After traveling more than 60,000 miles
over the past two years to virtually every crack and corner of this
vast country, my studied observation is that the ratio of Christians
to non-Christians who are true freedom fighters is probably no better
than 50%. I will further say that often times Christians are actually
greater enemies to freedom than are non-Christians. I never thought I
would hear myself say that, but, today, I really believe it.
I am so thankful I was brought to Christ at a young age by sincere,
genuine Christian parents, because if I was looking at the attitudes
and actions of many professing Christians today, I would be totally
repulsed by both Christians and churches. In many ways, I am anyway!
And I totally understand why many unbelievers never want to darken the
door of a church. I especially understand it on behalf of those
freedom-minded unbelievers who properly recognize the Church as a
willing accomplice of the emerging Orwellian society that the elites
in Washington, D.C., and elsewhere are quickly creating.
Can one imagine virtually any prominent Christian spokesman from the
so-called “Religious Right� in America today saying, “If ye love
wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the
animated contest of freedom--go home from us in peace. We ask not your
counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May
your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you
were our countrymen.� Yet, in the mid-1700s, there was no more
outspoken Christian than the author of those words: Samuel Adams.
Imagine any modern-day Christian leader saying, “Government is not
reason; it is not eloquence; it is force! Like fire, it is a dangerous
servant and a fearful master.� Who said that? Our first President,
George Washington, who at his first inauguration put the Bible to his
lips, kissed it and said, “So help me God.�
Yet, many, if not most, of today’s Christian leaders and pastors
view government, not as a “dangerous servant� and “fearful
master,� but as much a master as God Himself, and themselves as its
humble servant. In fact, when many Christians are forced to choose
between submission to government and submission to God, they will
choose government every time. Believe me, I’ve tasted this bitter
pill up close and personal!
Or, imagine a prominent Christian leader speaking these words today:
“Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price
of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course
others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death.�
Of course, the famous Virginian, Patrick Henry, spoke those words. And
anyone who has studied the life of Henry knows there was not a finer
Christian gentleman who ever graced American soil than he. And
remember, these words were not spoken against a foreign government,
but against the government to which he was subject.
In fact, if one wants to incur the ire and derision of the average
Christian pastor today, just start quoting anything from America’s
Founding Fathers.
All over America, FEMA representatives are instructing willing
pastors to assist the federal government by encouraging their
congregants to surrender their firearms, should the President declare
a “national emergency.� All over America, pastors and churches are
eagerly accepting tax-generated “faith based initiative� monies.
All over America, pastors (and church boards) are scared silly to do
anything that might jeopardize their church’s IRS tax-exempt status.
All over America, pastors are misusing and abusing Romans 13 to
justify turning free men and women into government slaves.
I am reminded of the trenchant words of Martin Luther, who said,
“If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every
portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which
the world and the devil are at the moment attacking, I am not
confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ. Where
the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved. And to
be steady on all the battlefields besides is merely flight and
disgrace, if he flinches at that point.�
Luther was right! When it comes to defending the great (not little)
principles of freedom and liberty against which Satan and his minions
are currently attacking, it seems that most Christians and pastors and
filled with “flight� and “disgrace.�
For example, why is it left to people such as Jesse Ventura to fight
these Nazi-like, sexually invasive, humiliating harassments by TSA
agents at America’s airports? Where is Pat Robertson, John Hagee,
Joel Osteen, or Rick Warren?
See Ventura’s story at:
http://www.infowars.com/ventura-strikes-back-with-lawsuit-against-tsa/Furthermore, where were America’s pastors and Christians when
George W. Bush was creating this gargantuan surveillance society that
is now snooping and spying on virtually everything we do, say, earn,
or purchase? Where were they when George H.W. Bush’s attack dogs
killed Vicki Weaver and her son, Sammy, outside Ruby Ridge, Idaho?
Where were they when Bill Clinton’s and Janet Reno’s Stormtroopers
were murdering over 80 American citizens (most of whom were old men,
women, and children) outside Waco, Texas? They “flinched!� And
they continue to “flinch!�
It is going to be very interesting to watch how this freedom fight
evolves. I suspect that when push comes to shove and the lines of
demarcation are finally drawn, it will shock us who winds up on what
side. I stand by my statement: not all Christians are our friends, and
not all non-Christians are our enemies.
P.S. We have now conducted two Sunday services at the brand new
Liberty Fellowship in Kalispell, Montana. For the first two weeks, we
are averaging over 200 freedom-minded folks attending these Sunday
afternoon services. To my friends around the country, you can help us
three ways: 1) pray for us, 2) help us financially by donating to this
new outreach. Checks or Money Orders may be made out and mailed to:
Liberty Fellowship
P.O. Box 10
Kila, MT 59920
Please be aware that contributions to Liberty Fellowship are NOT IRS
501(c)(3) tax-deductible. My wife and I have no outside income. We
live on the income produced by my web-based work, ChuckBaldwinLive.com
(and this column), and from donations to Liberty Fellowship, 3) tune
in to the Livestreaming broadcast of Liberty Fellowship every Sunday
afternoon at approximately 2:30 (MST). To watch the broadcast live, go
to:
http://chuckbaldwinlive.com/home/?page_id=17*If you appreciate this column and want to help me distribute these
editorial opinions to an ever-growing audience, donations may now be
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