A seasoned minister and pastor who personally understands the importance of being ready to face persecution warns that the American church has bought into the lies of woke culture, because of weak foundations.
Dr. Michael Youssef specifically addressed the woke culture that has overtaken churches in a portion of his recent interview with KCBI, a Christian radio station in Dallas Fort Worth. He said that some churches have gone along with it instead of challenging it and exposing how it contradicts biblical teachings.
"And now, this whole Woke culture has become an issue that sadly, in order to avoid pressure, and avoid the trouble of going to explaining, taking a stand against it, many churches, they bought into it wholeheartedly and even preaching it," he said.
As a Christian, persecution was a part of Dr. Michael Youssef's childhood in Egypt. Given what is presently happening in America, he said that he never imagined he'd be teaching his grandkids to be prepared to confront circumstances similar to those he's faced.
"I never thought that here I am, you know, 50 plus years later after leaving the middle east, that I'm going to see this here in America. That I'm going to train my grandchildren to be equipped to face very similar situations in schools and in society at large," he said.
Coming full circle, he is still grateful to the Lord for the equipping he received in his youth. He said that he is not just equipping his grandkids, but also the children and families in his church.
"And I say to them that there is a greater reward beyond your imagination, beyond your comprehension. This is new to the American culture. This new to the western civilization. I'm training them and I'm grateful that I have that knowledge to be able to pass it on," he said.
In reference to his book, "Hope for this Present Crisis," he said that he does not sidestep the crisis, but rather discusses the antecedent and its origin, getting to the point of how deception has occurred along the way. He emphasized that there are other excellent Christian publications out there, but he simply wants to emphasize that he has given seven steps for how people may cope with the current crisis.
A summary of the book begins with fighting for the Truth and concludes with the Church. He said that the conclusion should reflect on the Church of Jesus Christ because if people begin to fear the risks of not fitting in with the secular society, they will go along with it and then eventually claim that they've accepted it. To this he said,
"Why are we the church of Jesus Christ? We might be just the church of the world. The church of Jesus Christ has to be distinguished and based and built upon the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and that is the truth, the whole truth."
He added that if the gospel is watered down in a church, then it's no longer the church of Jesus Christ.
Interestingly, at the start of the interview, Dr. Michael Youssef mentioned that there are over 10 million Christians in Egypt despite persecution being a "normal" part of life. Of course, these brothers and sisters in Christ are keeping a low profile so as to avoid persecution as much as possible.
