Intro: All of us mean well when we make those resolutions, promising ourselves that this time it is going to be different. But within a week or two we revert back to the familiar; our default position is to return to the way we have always lived. Shedding light on New Year’s Resolutions is Dr. Erwin Lutzer, former senior pastor of Moody Memorial Church in Chicago. Welcome Dr. Lutzer.
Question: Why do most of us break our New Year’s Resolutions, often in the first week or two after the first of the year?
Answer: No matter how often we tell ourselves that we govern our lives by reason, the stubborn fact is that we are controlled by our desires; our passions override our better judgment. We know better, but we don’t live up to what we know because our default position is to fall back into a familiar, and hopefully a more agreeable lifestyle. In short, the will does not match our hopeful goals that demand change. The fact is not a one of us lives up to all that we know.
Question: Have you made any resolutions for this coming year?
Answer: Rather than speaking about resolutions, I’d rather think of resolutions as goals that I want to achieve this coming year…goals that relate to our culture. My first resolution, or goal is gratitude. For example, I am determined to help my grandchildren to better understand our nation’s history, and appreciate what we have as Americans. America is far from perfect, but we need to understand that our system of government and our Founding Fathers had a Judeo-Christian basis for their convictions; we need to have shared values as Americans: our commitment to freedom and the rule of law, and the checks and balances of our government. We often hear about our failures, we need to be thankful for our blessings.
Question: Looking back over this past year we have had many racial issues that produced conflict. How can we do better in achieving the goal of racial healing the racial tensions in our country?
Answer: Actually, as a pastor I believe that the church is in the best position to speak to this issue. The Bible teaches that all human beings are equal in value; and, we all the races are more alike than we realize. All of us are sinners and we need forgiveness and reconciliation. In other words, we don’t really have skin problem but a sin problem.
In the New Testament era there where many different tribes and racial and ethnic groups that hated each other, but as they met as Christians, there was a sense of unity. As Christians when we meet to celebrate the body and blood of Christ that was shed for us, there are no white spaces or black or brown spaces, we are one in Christ. My hope for the coming year is that the church would have a greater impact for the good of our culture. My goal is to encourage pastors toward that end.
Question: How can Christians work together at a time of great political polarization?
Answer: As Christians we must realize that that which unites us is greater than that which divides us. Our unity in Christ has to transcend our political differences. My hope for the New year is that we have greater respect for each other and all those who differ from us. And the core of what we believe is that in Christ God has entered this world to bring individual salvation but also to unite all those who believe.
Question; 2020 has been a year with many challenges politically, the pandemic etc. Do you think that 2021 will be better?
Answer: We all hope so, but it might be worse. We don’t know what the future holds. But we pray that going forward, we will realize that our fate is not in our hands—the pandemic has taught us that—we must turn to God for strength and help. We have just celebrated Christmas, the birth of Christ. We have to realize that with the coming of Christ, we have, as it were, a hand from heaven, coming to rescue us from ourselves. Our hope lies outside of this culture, outside of ourselves as we point to Christ who came to redeem us.
In fact, in the Psalms, we are told, “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide under the shadow of the Almighty” (Psa. 91:1) I like to think of it as sheltering in God. Corrie Ten Boom who survived the horrors of a concentration camp in Nazi Germany said, “We must trust an unknown future into the hands of a known God.”
Question: You have written a New Book titled: We will not be Silenced—Responding courageously to our culture’s assault on Christianity. Tell us about it and where can people get it?
Answer: Amazon or your local bookstore.
Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer is Pastor Emeritus of The Moody Church where he served as the Senior Pastor for 36 years. He earned a B.Th. from Winnipeg Bible College, a Th.M. from Dallas Theological Seminary, a M.A. in Philosophy from Loyola University, and an honorary LL.D. from the Simon Greenleaf School of Law. He and his wife, Rebecca, have three grown children and eight grandchildren and live in the Chicago area.
CONTACT: Jerry McGlothlin 919-437-0001 jerry@specialguests.com
Questions for Dr. Erwin Lutzer about his book, “We Will Not Be Silent”
When you think of famous evangelists and bible teachers, you think of Billy Graham and D.L. Moody. Our guest is Dr. Erwin Lutzer who was senior pastor of Moody Memorial Church in Chicago for 36 years. He has author of many books including his latest titled: “We Will Not Be Silent.” Welcome Dr. Lutzer
Q: What made you decide to write We Will Not Be Silenced?
Answer: We are being shamed into silence merely because we dare to uphold Biblical sexuality, and even the essence of what the Gospel, itself. It is being replaced by secular views of social justice. I’m also concerned about how culture often shapes our world-view about church-state issues and the role of the church to stay in it’s own corner, so to speak.
Q: Tell us about cultural Marxism…what is it and what are its goals?
Answer: Classical Marxism brought about revolutions in Russia and China where the authorities seized private property in favor of state ownership. We all know that that ended with millions of people killed.
Cultural Marxism says we can achieve the same goals incrementally; that is by capturing education, changing the laws, by restructuring the family, and shaping public opinion through the media, by electing the right people into office etc. If this happens we can achieve Marxism without a bloody revolution. Many people promote these ideas without realizing they have Marxist influence.
Q: We see racial tensions here in America. We have made great progress in reconciliation issues and yet now the gap seems wider than ever. What lies behind all of this?
Answer: When Marx wrote his manifesto it was primarily an economic treatise, and for him, the key to history was oppression. The nuclear family had to be broken up because husbands oppressed their wives, parents oppressed their children and the church and God were the ultimate oppressors. Liberate people from oppression and they will live together happily.
Today these theories are applied to race. The poor are said to be oppressed by the capitalists; Christians oppress the LGBTQ community and whites oppress black Americans and the like. The goal is to inflame feelings of oppression to keep the races in perpetual conflict. Yes of course oppression exists but by locating the problem only as external and not dealing with the reality of sin in every human heart, we can only remain in perpetual conflict. The goal, of course, is that the oppressed eventually overcome their oppressors and capture cultural dominance.
As a result, racism is being used to fight racism. When people are divided into groups based on the color of their skin, that is racism. This is contrary to MLK who taught us not to judge one another by the color of our skin but the content of our character. Individualism is often denied; the group you belong to is what is important. Conflict and blaming are encouraged.
Christianity says there are not that many differences between us; we are all sinners who need God’s forgiveness and this is the basis of true reconciliation. Then we ask: what can we do together to make things better moving forward.
Q: What about Black Lives Matter?
A: All black lives matter…those who are killed every weekend here in Chicago; the black babies that are aborted. Every Black Life Matters! But the organization that uses this label is admittedly Marxist. That’s why they website speaks about the “disruption of the nuclear family”, etc.
Q: Why do so many college/university students end up hating America?
A: They are told that America is evil because it was based on slavery and capitalism.
Of course evils were done and we admit that with sorrow. But the constitution and the declaration of independence that “all men were created equal” held out the promise that there eventually would be equal rights for all. More progress must be made but we have come a long way.
What we should do is to compare America with other countries. Today there are still 40 million slaves in the world, primarily in Africa and India. Of course slavery is evil, but the reality is that the West did not invent slavery, but thankfully, Christians such as Wilberforce in England ended it. We have to see things in perspective.
Q: You have a chapter on free speech…why is it being rejected in our universities and in our culture in general?
Answer: Here again, Marxism has influence. A Marxist named Herbert Marcuse in the sixties said that if we grant everyone free speech the capitalists will always win because they take advantage of free speech to defend their views. He argued that it was time that the oppressed should be granted free speech; it was time we heard from them. The capitalists should not be allowed to promote their oppressive views.
Translate that for today: the oppressed, such as the LGBTQ community should be given a platform to speak, minorities, etc. but the oppressors (generally the white males) should only be silent and listen. So to quote the words of one professor, “a double standard is unapologetically called for.” People who say such things of course use free speech to promote their views…a privilege they deny to others.
Of course this is totally wrong! You do not believe in free speech unless you give people the freedom to present a view that offends you. Liberty means you are free to express your views etc. As Frederick Douglas pointed out that freedom of speech is the first right taken away by tyrants. “Free speech is the dread of tyrants.”
Q: One of the most interesting chapters is on propaganda. What are its goals and how are these goals achieved? Give examples.
A: The goal is to so shape people’s perception of reality that even when faced with a mountain of counter evidence, they will not change their minds. The strategy is to create a cultural stream that is so powerful people cannot resist it. We saw that during the riots of 2020, where those who refused to bow to the BLM agenda were vilified…there was zero tolerance. Cultural streams were created to normalize same-sex relationships and even bizarre behaviors like a drag queen reading stories to children. Woe to those who oppose this. We could also mention how the change of pronouns, etc…becomes such a powerful cultural stream that we are all expected to get on board.
Q: One of your longest chapters is on socialism….why is it so attractive and why must it fail?
Answer: it is attractive because it seems to make sense to say that the government should take charge and make sure that the rich should give their money to the poor in the name of equality.
But it must fail because of human nature. Where people work for the state they will do as little as they can to receive the most they can. But more than that: socialism can only talk about the distribution of wealth; it cannot create it. And as Margret Thatcher said it, “Socialism does not work because pretty soon you run out of other people’s money.”
Q: You have a chapter on the sexualization of children….what is happening and what can parents do about it?
Answer: through many “comprehensive sex education classes” children are being introduced to pornography and every form of sexual deviancy. This is intended to destroy the influence of parents and the Bible, the church etc. Children who are sexually confused are more easily led and molded to accept leftist and Marxists views about the destruction of the family etc.
Q: An interesting chapter is on how the radical left is teaming up with Islam to destroy America. Talk to us about that.
Q: You have a chapter titled: Vilify! Vilify! Vilify! How are disagreements being resolved today? And give an example of what this means for the church today.
Q: The final chapter is based on the words of Jesus to the church in Sardis, “Strengthen What Remains.” What do you think Jesus might say to the church today?
