When God Is Unwelcome

by Steven Harper (adapted)

Anyone who keeps up with the news will know that we are in the midst of a drastic upheaval in our social standards and mores. The last few decades have brought us no-fault divorce, abortion on demand and that federally funded. [In January, 2016, National Right to Life estimated, based on data from the Guttmacher Institute and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), that the total number of abortions since 1973 has reached 58,586,256 mg]. We also now have the de-criminalizing of certain sexual behaviors, and the legalization of same-sex marriage. Yearly polls have shown a slow, but consistent, decline in church attendance and religious affiliation, with the number citing no religious affiliation narrowing the gap with those who claim to worship every week. The changes in our nation’s sense of morality are changing just about every aspect of society. Laws are being overturned and abolished, opponents of the new amorality silenced, marginalized, and even punished by courts. Judges are no longer favorable to long-held standards of morality that once ruled this country.

When the standard of morality is thrown out and even the laws of the land seem to conflict with our beliefs and God’s laws, what are we to do, and what should we expect? Well, believe it or not, this isn’t anything new. There was once a time when God was no longer welcomed in the public arena beginning with the political leader of the time. Significant changes took place, as a result. Not surprisingly, the faithful people of God were not welcome, either! Let’s take a look at that time and learn some important lessons. Romans 15:4 reminds us that “whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that through patience and through comfort of the scriptures we might have hope.” The time is relatively early in the period of the divided kingdom, and Ahab was ruling the northern kingdom (I Kings 16-18).

Sin became trivial. “And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him” (I Kings 16:31). When Ahab became king, it was said, “Ahab did yet more to provoke Jehovah, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him” (I Kings 16:33). Ahab was so far from God and His ways that he looked on the idolatry of Jeroboam (the low standard of kings for many years prior to Ahab) as no big deal, so he lowered the bar even more!

Faithful disciples today should not be surprised that sin has become a non-issue to the majority of society. Once people believe there is no God, that we all just evolved by chance and were not created, or there will be no judgment where all will give an account for what they have done on earth; then there is no motivation to have or uphold any moral standards other than each individual’s desires. With a generation or two who have lived hearing these things, it should not be surprising that society’s morals are declining. The only question should be how quickly they will decline. When God is eliminated and unwelcomed, then each individual becomes his or her own god and they alone set the standard for morality. Sin becomes a trivial matter because sin is no longer “sin,” and no one can tell anyone else they are wrong because there no longer is such thing as “wrong.” Isaiah warned, “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20).

New gods were established. Ahab “… went and served Baal, and worshipped him. And he reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria. And Ahab made the Asherah” (I Kings 16:31-33). Almost immediately after becoming king, Ahab went and served Baal and worshiped him. Since Ahab no longer cared to serve the one, true God, it was nothing then, for him to follow after the false gods and set up altars and have wooden idols made for him and others to serve.

While many people today who claim no religious affiliation also claim to not serve God or anyone else, the reality is not as black-and-white as they would have us believe. Paul reminds us, “Know ye not, that to whom ye present yourselves (as) servants unto obedience, his servants ye are whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” (Romans 6:16). We may not recognize the true and living God as our God. However, whatever we elevate to the highest position in our lives becomes our god, and we start serving that and making that our highest aim whether it is power, material gain, alcohol, sex, entertainment, or one of a million other things. Paul also reminds us that “covetousness” is idolatry (Colossians 3:5). We must admit therefore, that a lust for material things can certainly become our god. The challenge for faithful disciples is to not be deceived into thinking anything other than the true God should be our main purpose in life, and convincing those caught up in following the gods of this world to leave those behind and begin following the true God. Jesus taught, “But seek ye first his kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33). The wisdom writer also taught, “(This is) the end of the matter; all hath been heard: fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole (duty) of man” (Ecclesiastes 12:13).

The faithful were vilified and attacked. Ahab’s wicked wife Jezebel “cut off the prophets of Jehovah” (I Kings 18:4) and “when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Is it thou, thou troubler of Israel?” (I Kings 18:17). This is a common tactic of those who stir up trouble, to lay all the blame on the one who exposes them; criticize those who disagree as intolerant as they ostracize and exclude those who have held to the ways of God. Ahab was clearly the one who troubled Israel with his unfaithfulness and idolatry, yet he viewed Elijah as trying to divide the people. Isn’t it ironic how the ones who cause the most trouble within the Lord’s church are the first and loudest ones to criticize those who expose them as the ones causing division? Those who cry for tolerance are the most intolerant. As quickly as our society is sinking into amorality and immorality, it won’t be long before God’s people will be marginalized as trouble-makers. Some will feel justified in physically attacking any and all who disagree with their low standards of morality or who dare call it sin. Since some are already being attacked and vilified in the courts, do not be surprised when the physical attacks come.

God still cares for the faithful. God instructed Elijah to “... hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before the Jordan. And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.” Further God said, “... Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Sidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow there to sustain thee” (I Kings 17:2-16). Though times were dire for the faithful, God did not forget Elijah and other faithful ones, providing for their needs even in the darkest times. God may not send ravens to provide food as He did with Elijah, but He has given us the promise that if we truly put Him first in our lives, we will not lack. “I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread” (Psalms 37:25). When times get tough, remember God still cares.

God can still be believed. “Hear me, O Jehovah, hear me, that this people may know that thou, Jehovah, art God, and (that) thou hast turned their heart back again. Then the fire of Jehovah fell, and consumed the burnt-offering, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, Jehovah, he is God; Jehovah, he is God” (I Kings 18:37-39). When Elijah challenged the people to follow God through the demonstration on Mount Carmel, God showed Himself powerfully to the people so there was no doubt as to who the real God was. Today, God may not show Himself in the same miraculous way He did with Elijah at Mount Carmel, but the evidence that God exists can still be seen and those who see may know and believe that God is. “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hinder the truth in unrighteousness; because that which is known of God is manifest in them; for God manifested it unto them. For the invisible things of him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, (even) his everlasting power and divinity; that they may be without excuse” (Romans 1:18-20). Let us continue to do our part in showing God to the world by pointing them to these evidences, and by living a godly life.