So, the last couple of days I have spent a great deal of time trying to answer these attacks and use this opportunity as a witness. Interestingly, only four or five have pursued any kind of conversation. The rest seem to have crawled back into their hiding places. But the ones that have engaged the conversation have proven to be quite enlightening. Here are some of my observations from these interactions.

1. None of those who attacked seem to be able to make the distinction between their naturalistic worldview beliefs and science. They believe the two are one and the same.

2. They all believe that micro-evolution (natural selection) and macro-evolution (development from less complex to more complex life forms) are one and the same – even though there is no science to demonstrate the latter.

3. Virtually all of the people use the same arguments.

4. They all know their talking points, but make them think deeply about the implications of their points and they resort to platitudes.

5. When they can’t answer my points, they all resort to insults.

This expresses the difficulty of sharing one’s belief across worldviews. People simply don’t know what they don’t know and have a difficult time conceiving of things that don’t fit within their understanding of reality.

This really points out the need for Christians to make the effort to learn and understand worldview. Without it, we are going to have a very difficult time sharing Christ with those who need to know him.

Not so, however, for Mormonism.  In that system full salvation in the highest level of heaven (the Celestial Kingdom) is a life-long process of a series of steps including: Faith; Repentance; Baptism by immersion in the LDS Church by the Aaronic Priesthood; the  Laying on of hands by a member of the Melchizedek Priesthood to receive the Holy Ghost; ordination as an Aaronic and Melchizedek Priest (males only); receiving the Temple Endowments; Temple Works (baptism and other ordinances for the dead); observing the “Word of Wisdom” (abstaining from alcohol, tobacco, and caffeine); sustaining the Prophet; Tithing 10% of income; attending weekly Sacrament Meetings; and obedience to all church commandments.

One more essential practice for full Mormon salvation is Celestial (Temple) Marriage for time and eternity.  In other words, to reach the Celestial Kingdom the Mormon must be married in a Mormon temple and have (ideally) a large and successful family.  If they accomplish this requirement along with all the others they can go to the Celestial Kingdom where they may be exalted to godhood. So then, the family is not only important for the Mormon faith, it is essential and a necessary ingredient in salvation. As Bible believing Christians we commend Mormons for their valuing marriage and families so highly. However, we  do not agree with their unbiblical reasons why, especially their belief that marriage is a step toward becoming a god.  Nowhere in Scripture do we find it even hinted that humans may become gods (unless you believe the serpent in Genesis 3:5!).  It is wrong on two points. First it denies the infinity and eternality of the One and Only True God.  And second it elevates mankind to deity which is tantamount to idolatry.

All I can say is, this whole idea is just sick. I fully realize that sick things have been going on in the world from the beginning. But now this kind of thinking is so mainstream. Just the other night, the ABC television program 20/20 did a whole show on what Christians would call deviant sex as they: 1) interviewed the author of a best selling book about deviant sex, 2) profiled families (including their children) living in “open marriages,” 3) interviewed women who hire “escorts” for their sex life, and 4) talked with a TV host who interviews celebrities about their sex lives. These days, there is literally no immoral activity which is looked down upon by society in general, or even called immoral.

I don’t know about you, but I find the worldview beliefs which dominate modern pop culture to be totally repulsive. I really do believe that God exists and that he has shared with mankind the means by which we can not only know eternal life, but the way to know true meaning and fulfillment in this life. And the focus of that is not a list of dos and don’ts. Rather, it rests in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  It is just that a person who has an authentic relationship with Christ does not find the immoral lifestyle described above to be in the least bit fulfilling.

It is one thing to rail against the blatant and rampant immorality we see in modern pop culture. It is another thing to actually do something about it. There are many arenas where we can be active against immorality in society – political, economic, and social. But there is really only one way to actually create change, and that is by being proactive in sharing our faith with people who don’t know Christ. People only change when God changes their lives, and he set it up so that believers are to be the ones to carry the message.

Unfortunately, there are too few Christians who even know how to do it. That actually ought to be job one for every believer. Until we, in mass, pick up the mantle, things will only continue to get worse.

These kinds of incidents certainly demonstrate a level of intolerance towards Christians and Christianity, but that is not really the worst part. We actually ought to expect militant non-believers to engage in this kind of behavior. And since the number of folks in that category is rising, the number of incidents is bound to continue increasing. The bad part of this whole thing is that there are so few Christians who know how to intelligently push back against it.

The truth is, our faith has a powerful foundation and there is a defense for it. On the other side, the worldview foundations of all non-Christian beliefs are built on sand. They will crumble and fall if we simply push.

So, what is the problem? The problem is, there are so few Christians who are willing to step up to the plate and witness to those who are so lost. It is not that the information is lacking. There are all kinds of places to gain the knowledge needed to give a great witness for Christ. For one, the MarketFaith Ministries website is full of information to help in that arena. It is just that so few Christians have been willing to discipline themselves to get up to speed on how to share a powerful witness to this anti-Christian crowd.

As Christians, we ought to be troubled by what is going on. But if all we do is complain about it, we are truly in a sad condition. When we see people actively trying to persecute Christians, we are looking at individuals who are far from Christ and who need someone to share a witness with them. Until enough Christians gain that ability and become willing to mix it up, we will continue to see an increase in the persecution of Christians in America.