Does a moment go by that we don't hear about some group or movement making demands for their supposed human rights?
"My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." —John F. Kennedy
What happened to this? What happened to America? What happened to the church?
Greater love has no man than this: that a man lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13)
Today we are absolutely overwhelmed by the constant, self-centered shouts of those who demand that their country—or their church—gives them what they believe is rightfully theirs.
It's a false human rights movement.
The right to abortion. The right for same-sex marriage. The right to be equal. The right to be heard.
It's a sickening, selfish focus that is driven by human desire instead of a willingness to take up our cross and die. How often have people left churches because their supposed rights weren't addressed? How much dissension is in the workplace because people are looked over in favor of another?
I've said it before—today, when people's self-centered pursuits are rejected, they abandon relationships, leave churches and cause division, but when Jesus was rejected, He didn't abandon people. He didn't forsake the church.
He let people kill Him so they might be saved. He died so the church could thrive.
My point in this article isn't to address specific issues as much as it is to deal with a deadly, demonic spirit that is extremely advanced in its progress in the destruction of the church and, thus, the nation.
A Spirit of Entitlement
This spirit is pervasive in our nation, and unfortunately it has infiltrated the church to such a degree that it has altered the church's very DNA. Today people attend church with expectations of how they should be treated instead of a plan to lay down their lives for the sake of the mission. There is a predetermined checklist of items that they presume they are rightfully entitled to. If those demands aren't met, then trouble is initiated—just as the enemy planned.
This spirit of entitlement convinces us to look inward and fight for our perceived rights. It's fueled by pride that results in the pursuit of personal attention, gain and satisfaction.
Isaiah 14:12-15 says, "How are you fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weaken the nations! For you have said in your heart, 'I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit also on the mount of the congregation, in the recesses of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.' Yet you shall be brought down to Hell, to the sides of the pit."
Lucifer was focused on self—entitlement. This pride resulted in destruction beyond anything we could measure. He fell and weakened the nations simply because he was focused on self!
America, are you listening?
Because of Lucifer's attitude, millions of people have been destroyed, the Holocaust terrorized a generation, an ancient flood destroyed the masses, 55 million American babies have been murdered and Hell is growing in size to hold the increasing number of people who will live there for eternity.
Yes, a spirit of entitlement destroys.
"Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall" (Prov. 16:18)."When pride comes, then comes shame; but with the humble is wisdom" (Prov. 11:2)."Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before honor is humility" (Prov. 18:12).
Taking on Offense
When entitled people gather together, you have a union. Here in Detroit, this is understood well. There are certain expectations that must be fulfilled by leadership, or those in union will threaten harm to them or the organization. This concept isn't hard to understand. Often on the news we hear of school teachers or bus drivers who are in a union, and when their demands aren't met, they strike.
When an entitlement isn't met, offense is the result—and when people are in union with another who has been offended, they very quickly take on that offense—and, again, it is deadly.
We see this happen in churches all the time. Offended people have friends, who unify with them and come into agreement with their arguments.
Of course, it would be very easy right now to start considering all of the secular benefits to actual unions. We could discuss how the playing field is evened and the way leadership treats the working class is improved by holding them accountable.
But I'll say this very clearly—this spirit of false unity, entitlement and offense has no place in the church. Our nation would begin down the road of healing and strengthening if we all stopped making demands and started serving, loving and following Jesus and the principles of Scripture.
An offended people will destroy a nation. A surrendered people will build a nation.
As an example, the spirits of entitlement and offense drive the abortion industry. False compassion, demonic in nature, is one of the tools that is used to gain sympathy and support for that movement. The threat is that we will come across as unloving, uncaring people if we oppose that movement. The same is true with the homosexual agenda. False love results in accusations of homophobia and hatred for those who don't support their movement.
As Christians, we are handcuffed as we are forced into a position of affirming our love of these people. If we don't, they win the debate.
Our only weak, predictable response seems to be, "We love the sinner and hate the sin."
Boldness
We as prophetic voices in the church must brake off intimidation and fear of man. Keep in mind we are wrestling against demons, not humans. What is difficult is that when humans embrace the lies of the demons, we who stand for truth can come across as attacking those people. So many Christians avoid any appearance of conflict at all.
Listen closely: People are going to enter into Hell today. If we don't have bold prophetic messengers rise up in the spirit of John the Baptist, in the spirit of David and other historic Godly warriors, millions upon millions of people will actually, literally go to Hell! If it's rare to make it to Heaven, and common to enter Hell, how can we sit back and avoid a violent conflict with those forces of hell? We cannot.
"From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has forcefully advanced, and the strong take it by force" (Matt. 11:12).
Check out this commentary on the above scripture:
Greek: biazo (GSN-<G971>), to use force, to force one's way into a thing. The idea here is that before John the kingdom could only be viewed in the light of prophecy; but now that it was preached, men were pressing into it with ardor resembling violence or desperation. They appeared as if they would seize it by force (Matt. 11:12; Luke 16:16). It expresses the earnestness that men must have in getting rid of sin, all satanic powers, the world, and in standing true when relatives oppose them (Matt. 10:34-39). (From Dake's Annotated Reference Bible: Containing the Old and New Testaments of the Authorized or King James Version Text.)
This is where we are now! Let the fire-branded, love-driven warrior bride arise!
When David killed Goliath, it's true that he killed a human, but he was actually fighting against a demon that was manifesting through a human. David didn't sit down in a coffee shop to passively, casually discuss the dispute with Goliath. He was ready for a violent assault against the kingdom of darkness.
He made clear what the situation was and what was to be done! How easy it would be for David to be accused of not loving Goliath! But the truth is that David loved God first (Luke 10:27) and was fully invested in partnering with him. Human arguments would have to meet the fierce decrees of the child of God! Fear-driven false humility was not an option for David. David was on a mission of salvation—the salvation of God's people.
"David spoke to the men that stood by him, saying, 'What will be done for the man that kills this Philistine and takes away this reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?'" (1 Sam. 17:26).
David was bold. Who is this uncircumcised Philistine? He was calling out Goliath's immorality and his lack of consecration to the Lord.
Come on church! Quit cowering in false-humility and rise up in the greatest love this nation has ever known! It's time to declare the word of the Lord to the uncircumcised enemies of the Lord in America!
But beware, many in your sphere, in the camp of the Lord, will also be intimidated by your love-driven boldness. The prophetic, apostolic anointing often results in jealousy and accusation against the one advancing fearlessly. Accusations of pride will always accompany those who are willing to live radically by laying down their lives for the Lord.
Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spoke to the men. And Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, "Why have you come down here? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and the evil of your heart. For you have come down that you might see the battle."David said, "What have I done now? Was it not only a word?" (1 Sam. 17:28-29).
His brother attacked him! I'm sure he felt conviction as little brother David was going to do what every other person should have done—deal with the uncircumcised Philistine with expediency!
Will you raise your anointed, prophetic voice, or will you seek a false sense of peace? Remember we are to be peacemakers, not peacekeepers! We cannot keep peace where there is no peace!
We have no obligation to passively form our words in such a way that we will be heard. It's time to bring a shaking to this nation—before it is literally destroyed!
The Philistine came walking and drew near to David, and the man bearing the shield went before him. When the Philistine looked and saw David, he despised him. For he was a youth and ruddy with a handsome appearance. The Philistine said to David, "Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?" Then the Philistine cursed David by his gods. The Philistine said to David, "Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the heavens and to the beasts of the field."Then David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a shield, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have reviled. This day will the Lord deliver you into my hand. And I will strike you down and cut off your head. Then I will give the corpses of the Philistine camp this day to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the earth so that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. (1 Sam. 17:41-46)
It's time that we go after the anti-Christ spirits that are overtaking our nation! We can no longer use human arguments. It's time that we are anointed in the boldness and power of the Holy Spirit! We aren't to prove our love, we are to love—and true love brings true problems in the pursuit of liberty for a nation! We see this cover to cover in Scripture.
Let me be clear: I deeply love but do not care.
I will say it very, very clearly. I radically love those who are advancing humanistic agendas, even though you may not believe me. That's your battle, not mine.
Jesus loved people though He would not bend to their demands. He cared about their emotions, their hearts, their eternities—but He didn't defend himself. He let his accusers kill Him. Who was the one who cared and loved when he was lifted up on a cross that day?
In an attempt to break the church out of a passive, false-love driven debate over holiness and morality, I will say this very clearly:
I do not care enough, young woman—about your career, your comfort, your supposed right to independence or the crisis and cost a new baby will bring to your life—to affirm your plan to kill your baby. You are not entitled to comfort. You are not promised happiness. I challenge you to lay down your life for a baby that God thought enough about you to entrust its care to.
When you wave a coat hanger in the air during an abortion rights protest, you are declaring that you have more compassion for one who would intentionally harm someone than one who is being harmed. The answer to losing access to 'safe abortions' (how is intentional murder safe?) is not to head out to the back alley to abort the baby yourself with a hanger—it is to have the baby and love it with selfless passion! The answer is so simple!
I do not care about a supposed right to sexual freedom, gay or straight, that results in a devastating lifestyle that is bringing destruction on our nation. Decrees of holiness must return to our churches and nation again.
I do not care about equality in our nation if it results in climbing over people who are in our way or forcing them to affirm our self-centered position. It's time that we lay down our demands, surrender our agendas and quit manipulating systems in a selfish pursuit of personal gain. It's time for humility to reign in America again!
Christian leaders, I honor you deeply and pray for you, and I do understand the pressures you are under. However, I do not care about personal agendas, self-centered ministry projects, self-assigned titles or ego-driven programs, and I will not unite with those who embrace them. Your legacy and history in the city is meaningless unless it results in a future of Holy Spirit freedom for desperate people. I will expend energy, time and money to run with you if you are humble and passionate about the plans of God in the region. Let's slow the flow to hell together.
"Let each of you look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Let this mind be in you all, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped. But He emptied Himself, taking upon Himself the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. And being found in the form of a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death, even death on a cross" (Phil. 2:4-8).
I care about the heart of God and His overwhelming love for people—and the fact that hell is swallowing millions of them. I care about the clear truths of Scripture. I trust in God's wisdom and I refuse to allow humanism to gain the upper hand in the debate. I care about bold prophetic messengers who will lay down their lives and open their mouths and shout truth from the rooftops.
Today, not tomorrow, it's time to die to self and run to the battle, as the spirit of Goliath is threatening to destroy us. It's time for the circumcised, consecrated lovers of God to take back America.
John Burton has been developing and leading ministries for over 20 years and is a sought-after teacher, prophetic messenger and revivalist. He has authored nine books, has appeared on Christian television and radio and directed one of the primary internships at the International House of Prayer (IHOP) in Kansas City. Additionally, he planted two churches, has initiated two city prayer movements and is currently directing a prayer- and revival-focused ministry school in Detroit called theLab University. John also has a web- and graphic-design business and is continually developing new and exciting ventures. He and his beautiful wife, Amy, have five children and live in the Detroit area. He can be reached via his website atjohnburton.net.
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