Will Radical Islam Be Our Cross?

And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. Matthew 26:39 KJV

A great many Christians in this country start their day on their knees praying a similar prayer concerning Radical Islam. They see what is happening in Europe and they consider the worldwide birth rates among Muslims - and they wonder just what could stem the oncoming inevitability. They cling to the notion that America is blessed by God and that this Christian Nation would never be forsaken by the Almighty. After all, the Christians in this country support Christian Missions throughout the world and are surely the last hope for the message of Christ. They feel entitled to the freedom to worship and the comfortable lifestyle they have come to take for granted.

It's pretty to think that we are immune from persecution because of our token monetary and personal expenditures towards the Kingdom, but I believe certain facts dowse such confidences.

How many babies has America aborted? Has this rich country instilled sufficient materialism to poison its future, to taint what's left of its values - producing a culture bereft of decency and moral resolve?

And the Church? Moody Radio estimates that 50% of American males and 20% of the females in the Church are addicted to pornography on the internet and via other sources.

Is it indicative of our lukewarm faith that most American church-goers are better equipped intellectually to quote Seinfeld episodes than scripture? And what percentage of the world's richest Christians actually tithe? Even if we believe that God awards protection to faithful countries and peoples - we hardly rate His intervention.

I believe that God will mold and structure worldwide events in such a way that will bring glory to Him. In the spiritual realm, the Principalities of Good and Darkness pay attention to more salient realities than our little sense of justice - our perceived notion of entitlement - and glean more spiritual gravitas from a persecuted huddling of believers in Iran, or a tormented Christian in China, than all the comfortable praise elicited for 60 minutes every week in American Churches.

The "blood of the martyrs" has always been the essence, the nourishment of Faith and Evangelism - sustaining a God-Ordained movement that transcends cultures and countries. Rich and distracted American Christians might be wise to consider how their spiritual pittance weighs against a greater Glory that might weigh upon their future.

Radical Islam may be the Cross that separates "the sheep from the goats" and distinguishes the Holy Vestiges from the Lukewarm Enclaves of traditionalist sopophiles. We may pray that this cup passes, but that may not be the plan.

"Embracing the Cross" may become for the American Church a more defining and unpleasant exercise than the ritual mumblings of a spoiled and forgetful flock.