The Episcopal Church has been apostate for some time. Long
before the flagrant sodomite Gene Robinson was elected bishop in 2003 the
Episcopal Church had been in a state of sharp doctrinal decline. The
denomination began to turn away from Scriptural authority in earnest and ordain
women back in the 1970's but many conservatives held on until Robinson's
ordination. At that point they began to peel off and either join the Anglican
Church in North America or leave the Anglican heritage altogether.
So in other words, anyone even remotely interested in
Biblical and historic Christianity has broken with American Episcopalianism.
But something happened recently that marks a new turn for this
odd American leftover of the Church of England.
Matthew Shepard has now been interred within the confines of
its walls, in this case the walls of the National Cathedral. His story was
quite prominent in the news back in the late 1990's and many people mark his
brutal death as one of the big turning points in the social acceptance of
homosexuality. The turn began in the late 1960's, picked up some speed in the
1970's and 1980's but absolutely exploded in the 1990's with a rash of movies,
television shows and a growing political movement. Shepard's 1998 death
followed Ellen DeGeneres's 'gay' proclamation on her television show in 1997.
My how times have changed. Disney canceled the show the
following year and many believed it was because of the direction the show had
taken. Today Disney actively and aggressively promotes sodomy. Much that has
become normative in our culture would have been unthinkable even twenty years
ago.
Of course there have always been those who have suggested
that he wasn't killed for being homosexual, that there's more to the story and
drugs may have played a significant part in the affair. It could be but legends
form and conservatives are hardly exempt in this. Look at Ronald Reagan or John
McCain. Their lives have also been mythologised by those seeking political
gain.
Shepard's death led to calls for further expansions of 'Hate
Crime' legislation but due to the fact that the Republicans controlled the
House in the late 1990's and Bush took over the presidency in 2001, the efforts
went nowhere. But under Barack Obama the legislation which had languished for
the better part of a decade was passed and the Matthew Shepard Act was born.
The National Cathedral has always been a problematic
enterprise. It has become something of a national shrine and in many ways has
ceased to function as a viable church. Westminster Abbey also comes to mind as
something of an analogy. There are many famous people buried there and in many
ways the National Cathedral has become an extension of the Washington Mall... a
shrine/museum piece to the American Empire.
The structure is impressive to be sure and though it hints of
European grandeur the overall experience falls short. It is nevertheless a
piece of cultural and ecclesiastical history and thus I've visited it on more
than one occasion and made a point to take my kids there. But I would never
dream of sitting in on a service.
Shepard's internment is noteworthy because it marks a final
'Ichabod' phase for both the individual 'church' and the denomination as a
whole. It was bad enough that they abandoned the Scriptures generations ago and
have proceeded down a pernicious road to apostasy, but now by interring Shepard
within the walls of the 'shrine' they have made him into a saint. Shepard will
now be venerated and made an object of pilgrimage. And why? Because he's a
martyr, a martyr in the new sodomite religion that is American Christianity.
That's a broad sweep but I would also include Evangelicalism
as being under this umbrella even while I will admit the degrees of apostasy
are variable and graded. Many would say Evangelicals haven't become openly
defiant of God's commands in the way that liberal Episcopalians have. I beg to
differ. While they give lip-service to the authority of the Scriptures they have
rejected its teaching substituting the Kingdom of Christ for one of avarice,
violence, idolatry and human pride, upon which their nationalism rests. The
descent into Sodomy isn't a story of some leftist activists from the 1960's who
'took over' large portions of the US and Western Establishment. No, Sodomy is
the result of Western decadence, a culture of greed and exploitation, a culture
sold out to self-glorification, self-seeking, covetousness and power. And the
Church has for the most part embraced this ideology, blessed it and promoted
it... and as a consequence has been carried along by the culture. Evangelicals
are by no means exempt in this. They may decry the Shepard internment but in
reality they are just as much a part of the story and the Church's descent into
rank worldliness.
Shepard's internment was a religious act. The Episcopal
Church USA has its first sodomite saint. As I've suggested before, how long
before the Christ of Scripture is transformed into a Sodomite Saviour? That's
where this is going. In a generation (perhaps) the Sodomites will 'claim' Jesus
and it will be the rejecters who will be accused of idolatry, of making God
into their own image.
Again, the sad and confusing part is that though the
Sodomites are wrong in every way, there's a hint of truth to their accusations
being levied at Evangelicals. They too have their idols and have created a
fictional Christ that blesses their violence and avarice. The apostasy is
pervasive even at times seemingly ubiquitous. The churches that are still
orthodox are in many cases standing on the edge of a precipice and I fear that
when society makes further evil turns they will in some cases 'snap' and jump
off the cliff... turning the gospel into some kind of radical revolutionary
violence.
It's all the more ironic as they condemned 'Liberation
Theology' and other such movements for the very same thing and yet I see a
future in which most Evangelicals apostatise and those who don't will in large
numbers suffer social ostracisation. They will lose their middle class
lifestyles they have worked for and believed in. And yet how will they respond?
Sadly, I believe many are going to turn to extremism and will fall into a type
of criminality which they will excuse as righteous. And yet the criminality
will be about politics and the coin, not the gospel.
Criminality on the basis of the gospel is one thing. We most
certainly can break laws when it comes to worship, speech and the distribution
of Scripture. But we are not called to take up arms and to circumvent taxes.
These are political concerns. Regarding finances I will admit there are times
when the lines get blurry and it can become almost impossible to live otherwise.
In that case I can understand someone working 'under the table' out of
necessity, forced into the position by social and political realities. But if
this is combined with an ethos of violence and defiant political rebellion then
it becomes something else.
The Shepard canonisation (let's call it what it is) marks a
turning point for both the culture and cultural Christianity. It amplifies the Ichabod status of the National Cathedral
and the Episcopal Church and it's a warning for Biblically minded Christians
everywhere. Evangelicals will certainly oppose the move and yet their responses
are political and will ultimately lead not to some kind of 'restoration of
righteousness' for America, a fiction in every aspect. No, their moves will
lead only to backlash and thus (ironically) more Evangelicals caving in to the
Sodomite wave.
