No Reason To Hide Interview Part 1

Flores looking to Jesus under the America of our forefathers is no more more crime and outright treason are bringing this nation to the brink of extinction in the modern church has not stopped this relentless march toward the abyss today what believers should do as foundations crumble all around the Moody Church in Chicago this is running to win with Dr. Erwin Luzerne whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line with Larry McCarthy here is pastor Luzerne to discuss his new book, no reason to hide standing for Christ and a collapsing culture. Well, this is pastor lids are welcome to a special addition of running to win today. I have been the studio. One of our pastors here at the Moody Church Larry McCarthy and he and I are going to be interacting on a new book I've written, entitled no reason to hide standing for Christ in a collapsing culture.

One of the reasons I wrote this book is to identify those pressure points that the church of Jesus Christ is facing today in the midst of our collapsing culture and so Larry and I are going to be interacting on this. I trust that it will be very beneficial to all who are listening now.

Today we are actually going to be covering chapters 1, two and three of this book were going to be discussing the purpose of the book will also be talking about the cultural demonization that is taking place in our own culture and then were going to even talk about the greatest lie which is our nation's most cherished delusion so I hope you stay with us.

Larry great to have you here today in the studio thank you. You know, as always, it's so good to see you but I have to confess I'm confused, lecturer traveler preaching conferences and now yet another book where you find the time not anyone I know the answer to that. Why this book and why now by this book and why now. I wrote this book because as I look at the culture I see various issues that Christians have to face, and they have to ask themselves the question, how do I relate in the midst of this, representing Jesus Christ. Well, gospel centered, to be sure, but nonetheless discovering that we cannot avoid what is happening around us, so that really is the purpose of the book, and that's why it includes such things as cultural demonization. The politicalization of sexuality issues of race and so forth. And our desire here is to guide people to have a biblical worldview and help them navigate Larry. What is become a very, very difficult culture implied and that is that as a Christian than I can't avoid these political discussions is that what you're suggesting. Larry, I've given a lot of thought to this and you know throughout the years. There are many pastors who say we have to avoid politics will as you well know, I have never endorsed a political candidate or political party.

I'm opposed to that for numerous reasons, but there's no way that we can avoid political issues abortion is a political issue as the whole issue on the trans movement you know where young people today Cummins say to their parents. I think I'm trans that's become political so you have men who are competing in women's sports because they say we are trans men you have laws regarding education.

Even the right of parents to have some say into their children's education has become a political issue. Yes, so Larry if those who are listening think that politics isn't important as the people in Germany during the Nazi era is politics important go to North Korea is politics important China politics is very important. In fact, I remember being in Washington DC and a congressman said to us as Christians.

He said you expect us to enact righteous legislation here in Washington. But how can we do it unless you send us people who love righteousness just so the point to be made is that the church today is being very challenged on a number of different fronts. For example, I mean certainly you're telling us we can't hide. We need to be involved in the political discussion with what other challenges do you see well we're going to be talking about issues that have to do with race yet again to be talking about that next time I want to just say a further word about the position of the church today and that is churches have to face the issue. Are they going to be complicit with the culture giving the culture, everything that they want.

Are they going to be complacent living in a bubble pretending that the culture is in collapsing or are they going to be courageous and you know Larry before we go on to questions of collective demonization which is really chapter 2 before we do that I have to say this I make the point that evil never retreats on its own. It only retreats when confronted by a more superior force, and Larry. What could that force be except the church of Jesus Christ worshiping Christ to his above all principalities and all powers. So what we need to do is to recognize that God has called the church to stand against the collapsing culture.

Boy what a great perspective evil just won't evaporate. It needs a force to push against it and I think that is probably of much-needed word that we need today. It won't just go away. You know, because of the fact that we are limited in time, Larry. I'm going to ask actually that we go to chapter 2 chapter 2 has to do with collective demonization, Larry you've read this book help us understand what was your reaction to this chapter were I was talking about what is happening in the culture. What is happening in business and in education. A couple of thoughts. I guess come to mind. First of all, this issue of demonization and that is the way that it is stifling free speech or stifling opinion that if in any way. You are an odds with what the culture is saying one year either crazy or you going to be marginalize are you going to be punished and so that I think encourages people to duck as you use this term to hide, so to speak, because I can't speak out. I might lose my job, I might lose favor.

I won't be popular.

People are gonna like me and so that the to see this as a trend that is going through our entire culture was really quite illuminating. You summarized it so well.

I make two points in this chapter that are really really important. It used to be.

For example, if you had a PhD in chemistry as a Christian you could teach in any University as long as you are a good teacher and competent in your field. But today, if you apply I'm told you're asked questions like this are you comfortable with multiple pronouns of what about the LGBT Q plus community are you on board. Let me give you an example. Last summer Rebecca and I had breakfast with an attorney and she was representing two women in a store. It was actually at chainstore who were asked to wear a black lives matter insignia on their lapel but also a rainbow signifying their agreement and their solidarity with the LGBT Q plus community and they said no.

20 years of working there, but both were fired. My point is simply this, that the time has come in America where it isn't enough to simply do a job with integrity and faithfulness unless you buy into all of the things that are around us in our culture and that's what happened actually in the Soviet Union and the Soviet Union merit was not based on competency.

It was based on whether or not you with allowed enthusiasm agreed with the Soviet system and that's what happens today. I'm thinking. For example, which is coming to mind of a dentist friend of mine who had to take an exam. He'd been a dentist for many many years, but he had to take a course in implicit bias. Or we could say micro aggressions now. He had treated all of his patients with the quality whether they were LGBT Q whether they were Muslim and yet now he's told it is not enough to simply treat everyone equally.

You have to buy into the cultural narrative that is being promoted and if you don't, you actually could be fired or you could be fined. I will be really clear here this the gray area where people used to be able to meander comfortably has now collapsed down to this razors edge and it seems like you're suggesting you can't straddle the fence you got to get on one side of these things are the other you know when chapter 1, I point out that it used to be in America where you could live in what I call her what has been called the mushy middle. Those days are over. That's why the title of this book is no reason to hide because you can't hide this you have to declare yourself you can't be in that mushy middle anymore so we have all those illustrations and I could give a lot more but there's a second way that the Soviets promoted their view and that is they fused the problem which in Russia means truth.

The media was a spokesperson for the leftist agenda.

If, and here's where we get to the Council culture. For example, is a matter fact I won't go into detail but a message that I preached a couple of months ago was actually banned on Facebook and YouTube congratulation regulations if it's because of the Council culture which says that you have to promote the cultural narrative.

If you speak against it.

You will be vilified. You will be canceled. Now this is unique because Larry you and I know that liberals have always prided themselves in freedom of speech. Yes, and that you could have more than one point of view being presented. But here again we come to Marxism. See Marxism says that if we have freedom of speech.

The capitalists, the oppressors will always win and can therefore what we have to do is to shut down freedom of speech, and it's time for the Oakcrest to speak so that's one of the reasons why, in our universities today. If you are a conservative you are not allowed to speak. It is time for the minority for the oppressed to speak and they're the ones now that have freedom of expression. So we've come to the point where you can be canceled.

If you have a different view of the vaccines. If you have a different view of the trans movement. If you have a different view of even the economy.

You can be canceled and that of course is exactly what Marxism did in the Soviet Union. Certainly it has done it in China and that's why it is so important for us to recognize that we are in a new day, aren't we Larry, we absolutely are, but you raise a couple points in the book and one I think has to just be underscored throughout this discussion is that unity does not require that we agree about everything and were especially going to be emphasizing that in the next program of running to win because we are going to be talking about race this and that were not avoiding any of the difficult issues in this discussion and they're not hiding I'm not hiding and the reason is because I want us to think biblically. I want us to respect one another, even if we have these differences but you know Larry time is running along and we have to get to chapter 3 the greatest lie. The big lie that is America's most cherished delusion, tells more, Larry.

It actually begins. Of course, in Genesis chapter 3 where the serpent said to Eve, you shall be like God, not God's plural, the word is Elohim.

You shall be like God, knowing good and evil. Yes, the greatest lie is to take the authority of the Scriptures and the authority of God and to place it within human beings so that we have autonomy.

Totally independent thought and we can define who we ourselves are based on that now. In this chapter. What I do is I talked for example about the lie of Karl Marx, Karl Marx didn't not believe in God, Karl Marx hated God, I quote a poem that he wrote where he said I shall be equal with the create a tour yes. So in other words, what he was trying to do is to say I'm taking the place of God. Now let's let's just put all this together and and this is too good for me to Passover know we have a lot of material to cover, but today the Western influence of the Enlightenment, for example, is being taken out of our universities.

Everybody is being demoted or canceled except Karl Marx is an Karl Marx. By the way, was a racist, but he is given a pass, but nonetheless what he was saying is, is that there are two groups one is the old press and then the other group is the oppressors and them as far as he was concerned the nuclear family had to be destroyed because after all men they will press their wives, parents will press their children. They took them to church, God was the ultimate oppressor. So you had to take away freedom of speech and freedom of religion in order to bring about this wonderful utopian revolution that he believed could happen.

So let's hang onto that for a moment. Larry, let's just think about this.

Now let us combine this with Freud as I mentioned in the book is Freud believed that sexual expression and the sexual experience was the highest sense of fulfillment.

I do have to speak carefully here for my own benefit, so that I say this accurately. If you can think about Freud in this way, Marx said there has to be a revolution.

We cannot have freedom of speech.

The revolution must transcend all individual rights and freedoms for the ultimate good of the revolution. Let's combine that now with Freud's view of sexuality. Sexuality in our culture has been politicized because in today's culture, nothing can stand in the way of the sexual revolution. Your individual freedom has to be compromised. You cannot have your religious expression. Oh, I know you can do this in a church in the synagogue, perhaps in a mosque, but that's it.

It has to stay there because in the broader culture. All that can happen is that this revolution has to take place so and I need to ask is this the harvest of seeds that have been planted over a long period of time, or is this just some new evolution of Marxism that were now experiencing is a is a result of Freudian theory that sex is the answer to all of life's problems so sexual freedom will solve every problem of our culture and we certainly see that attitude but this this Godhead. This self worship is this anything new, necessarily, are we dissing the harvest of seeds planted a long time ago boys out of an excellent question. I would say that the harvest really began when seeds were planted through the infiltration of Marxism into America and so these seeds were already planted in the 1970s, yes, but they haven't really grown into a full tree so to speak. Until now. Now we see the fruit of it all. Yes, because you know so often we hear about cultural Marxism.

So let me explain what is cultural Marxism, cultural Marxism is the view that we can bring about a Marxist society without blood he revolutions like in China and in Russia we can do it by attacking the culture.

So if we attack the culture and its institutions, and we quote burn down all that exists, and by that I mean not necessarily literally fire but nonetheless to destroy the institutions then we can bring about Marxism incrementally and people are going to love it because they're going to say to themselves.

We now see its benefits. So that's what cultural Marxism is and out of this grew the whole critical theory, so you have the critical race theory. Of course, but you also have queer theory you know feminine theory.

All of these various studies because they are intended to attack the culture, yes. And in this way, cultural Marxism. It is believed will succeed if you know Larry were coming to the end of our time. I know that the clock goes altogether too quickly and I want to just speak for a moment, to all who are listening today and I want to remind you that Tim the book no reason to hide can be yours for a donation of any amount we make these resources available because as you have frequently heard me say we want to help you make it all the way to the finish line also want to mention that when you get your book directly from the Moody church media you'll receive a unique invitation to have a live town hall conference all have the opportunity to respond to your questions.

I also want to emphasize that you should get on the telephone call your friends ask them to listen to running to win next time because we are going to be talking about race.

The issue is going to be diversity, equity and inclusion is that really helping us in race relationships and perhaps you've been asked this question or you been told. America is illegitimate because after all, the land was stolen from the Indians. How do we respond to those accusations. How do we respond to the racial division that is taking place because one group is being blamed for what is happening to another group. How do we respond as Christians, we respond respectfully. Of course, but we also have our differences and as we mentioned at the top of this program, even if we don't agree on everything we as believers still celebrate our unity in Jesus Christ. So we're going to be with you next time. The topic is going to be race, the name of the book no reason to hide. Thank you so much in advance for your contributions because together we are able to make a difference running to win is in 20 different countries in four different languages just because of people like you.

Thank you, Pastor no one looks or discussing no reason to hide standing for Christ in a collapsing culture.

Next time I'm running to win how diversity, equity and inclusion work against race relations and why. Critical race theory is tearing apart our schools, cities and families only talk about these buzzwords of diversity and equity and inclusion.

It comes with this compromise of competency and in a way victimhood is now a path to power. I believe and I think you'll agree with me Larry that it's possible to believe in individualism and capitalism, democracy and meritocracy without being racist that I agree.

The problem with critical race theory is that it keeps tearing apart. What Jesus died to bring together this. Don't miss this crucial second program in a series of four book no reason to hide will be sent as our gift to you when you give a gift of any amount to support running to win. Just call us at 1-888-218-9337 that's 188-218-9337 online go to RTW offer.com that's RTW offer.com or write to running to win Moody church 1635 N. LaSalle Boulevard Chicago, IL 60614.

This is Dave McAllister running to win is sponsored by the Moody church