“And He answered and said unto them, ‘I tell you that if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out” (Luke 19:40).
What happens when the church fails to fully embrace and embark on its God-ordained mission of evangelism? What about when it is more consumed by internal divisions and controversies than by spreading the Three Angels’ messages? Does God simply pull back and refrain from pouring out His Spirit on our sin-sick world? God forbid!
No, He comes in dreams to Muslims, He manifests in the form of reason to the gender-confused, and He illuminates the wickedness of godless materialism to the unchurched podcast host.
What prompted the writing of this piece and the reflections in my previous paragraph? I’ll tell you.
Joe Rogan
I was watching an episode of the Joe Rogan Experience with NFL Quarterback Aaron Rodgers, and I heard famed skeptic Joe Rogan pontificating on the fact that society needs religion and the moral norms it instills. He ended those thoughts aptly with, “We need Jesus.”
Following that episode, I watched a show he did with former college swimmer Riley Gaines, who gained notoriety for standing up to the invasion of biological men into women’s sports, and Riley preached about her belief that Jesus is coming soon. There was no scoffing from Joe.
I have been listening to Joe Rogan for a long time, and these two conversations (and others he’s had recently) mark a sharp departure from how he used to speak of religion and our Lord.
In the case of Joe Rogan, a self-described liberal and progressive, the broader social revolution known as wokism has taken him by storm. The logical unfolding of progressive ideas revealed to Joe the madness of the originating ideas. Society is falling apart, despair is rampant, and something has to change.
Blair White
Even more heartening to me was a tweet I saw on X (formerly Twitter) from famed center-right transsexual Blair White. Blair, a 30-year-old man who identifies as a woman and has undergone countless surgeries to make himself appear as such, posts videos to his YouTube channel championing various conservative policy issues. However, his massive confusion has caused a lot of public scandal.
But in the aftermath of the Biden administration privileging “Trans Day of Visibility” over the day that most American Christians celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, Blair, who opposes left-wing identity politics, tweeted the following:
He plans on attending church for the first time. Having spent some time listening to Blair’s testimony, I am fairly convinced his gender confusion is a result of the sexual and physical abuse he endured as a child. The fact that the cultural wins from the White House have prompted him to explore faith and Christianity is a hopeful sign. Let’s pray he hears the true gospel of Jesus Christ and receives freedom from his sinful lifestyle.
Richard Dawkins
The final example I will point to illustrate my point is a video that has been circulating on social media of famed biologist and “New Atheist” Sir Richard Dawkins. Dawkins, who has been a fierce critic of all forms of organized religion and theistic belief for years, has recently gained favor with many conservatives for his common-sense views on the gender binary and radical Islam in the aftermath of the October 7 terrorist attacks in Israel. The latter event prompted countless massive pro-Hamas/Islamism rallies throughout Dawkins's country of England.
That, on top of the fact that Christianity, the historical religion of the U.K., has been falling to record lows in both church attendance and belief while Islam has been growing at a steady pace due to massive amounts of legal and illegal immigration into Britain. Mosques have been going up at record speed, and Islamic holy days have begun replacing traditional Christian holidays. Dawkins doesn’t like these developments. Despite a lifetime of tearing at the foundations of faith, he calls himself a “Cultural Christian” and doesn’t want Britain to lose its Christian social trappings. Sounds a little like he wants the fruit of Christianity without the tree of faith and belief that produces those fruits. Dawkins' comments are here:
Conclusion
The logical consequences of social progressivism and left-wing social madness have created fertile ground for a gospel harvest. I implore my beloved Seventh-Day Adventist Church to rise to the challenge before our generation. Make sure that our local churches are ready to receive refugees from the sexual revolution and meet them with grace and the life-changing message of the gospel.
Make sure our churches are ready to receive transgender-identifying individuals who are beginning to realize they were lied to, homosexuals who realize that their lifestyle has caused them heartache and misery, single mothers whose foolish choices put them in an impossibly difficult situation, and all other manner of sinners confused by a corrupt culture.
Jesus Christ managed perfectly to mingle both truth and grace, and let’s strive to follow in the Savior’s footsteps.
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Author Bio: Joey Carrion: Political Science student at Andrews University, cohost of the Gio and Joey Show and Wire and Faith, regular guest on the Re:Wire podcast on YouTube/Rumble/X, and lover of country music, good books, and meaningful political and theological discourse.