So the Church in the United States is in free fall. We have moved into a time of post modern thinking, which means that the bread and butter of the Judeo-Christian world and the absolutism that has been the foundation of Western Civilization is no longer authoritative.

Truth is a matter of perspective and belief system. With the loss of Absolutes, there can be no single position to take on any issue. The idea of universal benevolence is a great concept, but the history of mankind is fraught with more war than cooperation. The pagan gods valued power and war more than humility and self sacrifice. When Russia rejected its Church and tried to institute a worker’s paradise, greed and corruption won out. Stalin murdered millions and enslaves whole ethnic groups in brutal gulags. When he died, neighbor spied on neighbor and enemies of the state were jailed or poisoned. Pol Pot wanted to start Cambodia over, from the beginning, without foreign influence, and bodies stacked up in the rice paddies. Mao wanted a Cultural Revolution and millions died and more were displaced and re-educated. Man’s history outside of the influence of humanist religion ain’t so good.

Post modern thinking and the idea of consensus at any cost has led to rapid changes in the culture’s view of once universally rejected ideas and policies, the two most pressing ones today being abortion and human sexuality. No more dark alleys hiding subterranean abortion facilities – abortion is available in most of the States. Sex is displayed everywhere and available 24/7, in any variety you want. Being gay is but the first step on a path through every conceivable sexual definition and orientation, ending with the ability to change your gender. And maybe can marry anyone – the family has been redefined in a plethora of ways.

All this has not happened without resistance. A culture war has erupted, and the Church has been politicized on both sides of that war. In fact most outspoken Christians have mostly been brought into the Republican Party, which is battling against wokeism, a term that defines the attack on absolutes that has accompanied post modernism. Fewer Christians line up on the other side of woke.

It’s all so exhausting. Theologian Tim Keller has divided the ministry of the Church into 4 sections: ministry to the poor, restoration of the disenfranchised, protector of life (the abortion battle) and advocate for the family (made up of a man/woman Union). The Republican Party has built a political platform around pro life and pro family. Christians on the Left focus on the poor and disenfranchised, often ignoring abortion and sexual Revolution. Republican Christians often forget about the poor and disenfranchised. No one seems interested in everything.

Schisms and politics. People are leaving in droves. And we are fighting over which one of the two ministries we will ignore and about getting in bed exclusively with one Party. And who arrives – in. By 2016 – a politician despisnhbh ed by many. He woos the Church. Christians find community and meaning in political rallies. Donald Trump, a man of low moral character, is the darling of Evangelicals. Christians didn’t need Jesus, get have Donald. And millions jump ship. If Christianity is Donald Trump, I’m not interested. Well guess what? For millions Christianity IS Trump.