The Church Of The Here And Now

Friends, this is fiction.  But it is something that could possibly happen in the near future.  We Christians need to wake up and stand up for God before it is too late.  I hope this piece will give you something to think about.

If my people who are  called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from Heaven, and I will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

2 Chronicles 7:14.

I saw the building in the distance and decided to get a closer look.  The sign in the front yard had these words: Welcome to the Church of the Here and Now.

As I walked up the door, a man greeted me.   “I see you are interested in our church.  Let me give you a tour.”

Just inside the door was a table holding two large binders.  I did not see a Bible anywhere.  “These binders have taken the place of the Bible.  In the Church of the Here and Now we have found the Bible is Politically Incorrect.  The binders contain our lists of PC terms.  You see instead of sin we use the term mistake.  Instead of God we say Higher Power.  By doing this we do not offend anyone with differing beliefs.”

He then led me into the sanctuary.  “Here you see all the sections we have,” He proudly waved his arm around the room.  we walled up to a section.  “Here is where most of our white people sit  However, you will see a smaller section.  That is where white people who do not understand or believe in white privilege sit.  Next, we have a section reserved for our African-American members.  We find our friends of African descent very comfortable here.  We do not use words like slavery, shackles or anything like that for fear of offending them.  Our next section is for our neighbors who have crossed the border.  We do not call them illegal aliens—that is very offensive.  We called them our undocumented friends.”

The next section he led me to hard plastic bubbles built around the seats.  “I see you are wondering who sits here.” He said with a grin.  This is where our future leaders sit—our college students.  Here they are protected by the bubbles so nothing can hurt their feelings.  They each have their own ‘safe places’.  The last section was lit with rainbow lights.  When I asked about this section, he proudly replied, “This is for our LGBT members sit.  They requested their lights be in rainbow colors to show solidarity.”

“You will see each seat has special earbuds.  These filter out any offensive words that might slip in.  It also lets our members hear what will make them feel good.  Our pastor’s sermons are reviewed before Church by a special agency but sometimes words do slip in or fall through the cracks.”

By this time, I just needed to be alone and process all I had heard. “Uh-where are the bathrooms?” I asked.  “Oh,” he said with a broad smile. “right this way.”  He led me down a short hall and pointed to the bathrooms. “Naturally, they are all gender neutral.  After all we want to befriend not offend.”

When I awoke sweat was running down my face and tears were stinging my eyes.  I jumped from bed and knelt to pray.

“Father, this world has taken you out of our schools and out of the military.  Now you have been kicked out of church.  I pray that people's  eyes will be open before it too late.  You blessed great nation and now this country has rejected you.  God bless this country again.  but more importantly let your people wake up and stand for you like you stood for us at the cross.”  Amen