America Has an 'Awful Lot of Cowards in the Church Today,' General Jerry Boykin Says
SILVER SPRING, Maryland — The American Church is helping "destroy America" because too many spiritual leaders are acting like "cowards" and not standing up to defend biblical principles in society and culture, Family Research Council Executive Vice President Lt. Gen (Ret.) Jerry Boykin said Friday afternoon.
Giving a keynote speech at The Bridge – International Christian Concern's first annual conference on the persecuted church – Boykin warned that if the church wants to help Christians that are being persecuted for their faith overseas, Christians in the United States need to stop "conforming to the world."
"The church is conforming to the world. We are compromising on every issue — biblical standards. We are compromising and conforming to the world," the former commander of the U.S. Army Delta Force said. "That's why it is ever worse for these Christians that are being persecuted all over the world for living their faith. Because of, we, who are supposed to be the most powerful nation."
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While there is constant debate about whether America is a Christian nation, the former Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence and ordained minister argued that the Constitution "came directly out of the Bible." Boykin added that "every freedom that was matriculated has come out of biblical teaching."
"And, we are conforming to this world and destroying it," he contended. "The church in America is destroying our society because the church is not standing strong and being the salt and light that it is supposed to be and now, we are losing our freedom. Society today in America wants us to believe in the 'freedom of worship.' What we have is 'freedom of religion.'"
Reflecting back on the shooting at the Family Research Council headquarters in Washington D.C. on Aug. 12, 2012, in which the gunman admittedly targeted the office because of the organization's view on marriage and other issues and planned to kill as many as he could, Boykin proclaimed that the time has come for Christians to prepare to be the "warriors of God's kingdom."
"What society is trying to tell us today is ... 'Keep it in the church, keep it in the home but don't bring it into the public square.' We are accepting it and conforming to the world," Boykin asserted. "It is time for Christians to speak and rise up and be the mighty army that God has called us to be."
He cited Revelation 19 to explain that when Jesus returns, He will return as a "fighting warrior." He then cited Exodus 15:3: "The Lord is a warrior. The Lord is His name."
"Don't you think somewhere between Exodus 15:3 and Revelation 19 we are supposed to be warriors in God's kingdom. It's time for us to rise up and be what God called us to be — the warriors of His kingdom," Boykin stressed. "By the way, He did not give His blood just you would go to Heaven. That's a reward. All that is a little ribbon you get on the end of the tour like the one I used to get on my uniform. That is your end-of-the-tour reward. What He called you for is to be the warriors of His kingdom."
By and large, the American church has "abdicated" its duties and "fallen asleep," and Boykin calls for strong pastors and spiritual leaders to wake up and take the charge.
"[The people] want to hear the feel good message. They don't want to hear about accountability and they don't want to hear about sin. They want to hear what makes them feel good," Boykin explained. "The Bible says that is what they call tickling your ears and it is time that the church in America wake up. We got to have some leaders but it is going to take courageous leaders. People with courage and have the courage to stand for biblical values."
Part of the problem, Boykin added, is that too many pastors and leaders in America have caved under the forces of societal pressure and have turned a blind-eye to biblical teachings.
"If you go to Revelations, who are the first people thrown into the lake of fire?" Boykin asked. "It's the cowards, and we got an awful lot of cowards in the church today."
