The US Capitol is the focus of global attention today. Police riot shields have been placed near doorways. Metal detectors stand outside the House of Representatives chamber. Capitol police officers are out in force in larger numbers and with heavier equipment than before. Fencing is in place in some locations.

All of this is in preparation for the first anniversary of the January 6 assault on the Capitol.

A year ago I wrote a Daily Article special edition as the crisis was unfolding titled “Chaos in Washington.” Millions of us watched on television as lawmakers were evacuated from the House and Senate chambers. Fox News‘ Chad Pergram stated, “This is the most significant breach of an American government institution since the British burned the Capitol after the Battle of Bladensburg on August 24, 1814.” Former President George W. Bush called the attack “a sickening and heartbreaking sight.”

The next day, I asked our readers to join me in praying for our leaders and people to seek reconciliation and peace, for Christians to respond with truth and grace, and for more Christians to be engaged in our democracy. You and I need to continue offering such intercession as much today as we did a year ago.

And we urgently need to renew our commitment to the most transformational yet countercultural way we can answer our prayers for our nation.

If I were Satan

The ultimate answer to every problem humans face is found in a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. He alone can forgive our sins, empower us to truly forgive others, and make us the “new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17) we must become to experience abundant life in this fallen world (John 10:10).

Satan knows this as well as we do.

As a result, if I were Satan, I would try to convince all Americans to be atheists. The twentieth century saw firsthand the consequences of the denial of God, with one hundred million deaths due to atheistic communism around the world. Erwin Lutzer was right: “It is said that after God died in the nineteenth century, man died in the twentieth. For when God is dead, man becomes an untamed beast.”

If I could not convince Americans to be atheists, I would try to convince them to be agnostics. This is because the practical consequence is usually the same. I have never met an agnostic—someone who is not sure God is real—who acted as if he is.

Satan is having moderate success on both fronts: according to Pew Research Center, the share of Americans who identify as atheists has risen from 2 percent in 2009 to 4 percent in 2019. The share who call themselves agnostic has increased from 3 percent a decade ago to 5 percent today.

What should be done about the remaining 91 percent who persist in some form of faith in God?

A masterful satanic strategy

If I could not convince Americans to abandon faith entirely, I would have a third strategy ready: to have faith in faith. To be “spiritual but not religious.” To believe that so long as we have faith in a “higher power,” a spiritual feeling of some sort, that is all the “religion” we need.

Our enemy is having great success here. As I reported yesterday, 63 percent of American adults believe “having faith matters more than which faith you have.” This is a quintessential postmodern approach: we can be tolerant of all faiths while requiring none. We think we can derive the benefits of believing in God or the gods without choosing any particular religion and its demands on us.

Imagine, however, applying this logic to any other dimension of our lives. So long as you have faith in medicine, it doesn’t matter which medication you take. So long as you have faith in roads, it doesn’t matter which one you travel. So long as you have faith in people, it doesn’t matter which one you marry. Where in life does “faith in faith” work?

This is a masterful strategy by Satan. It causes us to be “inoculated” by faith in a way that keeps us from getting the real thing. We get to live by moonlight in the dark without being exposed to the light of the sun.

There is only one road to heaven, but there are many roads to hell. This is one of the most popular today.

When Christianity works

Lest we shake our heads at the “faith in faith” mentality that is so popular and deceptive, let’s consider its insidious attraction for Christians as well. If Satan cannot get us to boycott worship services, Bible studies, prayer, and other spiritual activities, he’ll tempt us to make them an end instead of a means—to think we’ve checked the “God box” by going to church on Sunday and spending a few minutes in religious activities during the week.

If we are not entering his transforming presence in worship, hearing his voice in his word, and connecting intimately with him in prayer, we are placing our faith in faith. We are substituting religion for relationship. And we are missing the empowering, daily encounter with the living Christ that is our only path to being “more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Romans 8:37).

In addition, if we fall prey to the “faith in faith” delusion, we will sidestep the biblical call to evangelism (Acts 1:8) that our culture brands as “intolerant” since other people have their own “faith” as well. As I noted in my latest personal blog, this is an enticing way to appear tolerant in a post-Christian culture. But it victimizes those who need the salvation we have experienced and consigns them to an eternity separated from God.

If we want an end to the political animosity and divisiveness of our day, faith in political leaders and parties is not enough. If we want to prevent another January 6 riot, faith in law enforcement is not enough. If we want true hope in the midst of a pandemic, true peace in the midst of rising geopolitical threats, true joy in the midst of economic pain, faith in faith is not enough.

In her latest blog, my wife wrote these important words: “Christianity works when Christians allow God to work through their lives.” I would add that America works best when Christians do the same.

We can have faith in faith, or we can have faith in Jesus, but we cannot have both.

Which would he say you have chosen today?

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By popular acclamation, Betty White was “America’s sweetheart.” I first became acquainted with her on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and laughed along with most of America at her Rose Nylund portrayal in The Golden Girls. She was terrific in Boston Legal and The Proposal among other projects.

Now we have learned that the famed actress filmed a tribute to her fans just ten days before her death. She was participating in a documentary special titled “Betty White: 100 Years Young—A Birthday Celebration” that would play in theaters across the country. The feature-length special will still debut on January 17, but it will be retooled to be a celebration of her life and career. It has been retitled to “Betty White: A Celebration.” 

Her popularity is well deserved and not just for her television career. By one account, she supported twenty-six different charitable causes, from the American Heart Association to the Red Cross and Special Olympics. Her devotion to animals was especially passionate and noteworthy. 

Given her remarkable life, I would imagine many of you cringed at my title for today’s article. Of course someone who was as beloved and did as much good as Betty White would go to heaven, many people will say. 

To even raise the question is to seem intolerant, the worst thing a person can appear to be today. It feels unkind to ask such a question about a cultural icon like Betty White, doesn’t it? 

What did Betty White believe? 

That’s because it’s conventional wisdom that “all good people go to heaven.” Only one in three Americans affirm the statement, “When you die you will go to heaven only because you have confessed your sins and have accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior.” By contrast, 63 percent of adults believe “having faith matters more than which faith you have.” 

According to a substantive Probe Ministries study, over 60 percent of Born Again Christians believe Muhammad, Buddha, and Jesus are all valid ways to God. Pew Forum reports that 39 percent of Americans say even people who do not believe in God at all can go to heaven. Only 2 percent of Americans think they are going to hell. 

As a result, most Americans think Betty White’s personal religious beliefs are irrelevant to the question. She was reportedly a member of the Unity Church, which describes itself as being “for people who might call themselves spiritual but not religious.” Its “five principles” state: 

1. God is all there is and present everywhere. This is the force of love and wisdom that underlies all of existence.
2. Human beings are divine at their core and therefore inherently good.
3. Thoughts have creative power to determine events and attract experiences.
4. Prayer and meditation keep us aligned with the one great power in the universe.
5. It is not enough to understand spiritual teachings. We must live the Truth we know.

I could find no evidence that the Unity Church teaches the need for people to confess their sins and turn to Christ as their Savior and Lord. 

By contrast, as you know, the Bible clearly teaches that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Since “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23), it is vital that we “believe in the Lord Jesus” to be saved (Acts 16:31). Scripture teaches, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8–9). God’s word proclaims, “There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12, my emphasis). 

Is Christianity “worth bothering with”? 

Does this mean that Betty White did not go to heaven? I have no way to know that, of course. I did not know her personally and, even if I did, I could not see her heart. I could find no evidence that she believed what Scripture teaches regarding saving faith, but it is not for me to judge the state of her soul. 

What I do know is that she went to heaven only if she had trusted in Christ as her Savior. The same will be true for you and me one day. 

However, my larger point relates less to her and more to you: Is this conversation unsettling for you? I assume you agree with Jesus’ testimony, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). But do you often consider the eternal destiny of those who do not? 

C. S. Lewis wrote: “Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and, if true, of infinite importance. The one thing it cannot be is moderately important.” 

Billy Graham agreed: “If Christianity is important at all, then it is all-important. If it is anything at all, then it is everything. It is either the most vital thing in your life, or it isn’t worth bothering with.” 

Don’t cheat yourself out of spiritual victory” 

I am praying that today’s article will be a catalyst for us to pray more passionately for those we know who, to our knowledge, do not have a saving relationship with Jesus. I am praying that we will then respond to our prayers by sharing our faith more diligently, winsomely, and courageously with them. 

And I am praying that we will seek in this new year to be the change we wish to see: Christ-followers others can follow to Christ. 

Dr. Graham continued his admonition with the warning: “So don’t give the lie to the Christian faith by professing Christ without possessing him. Don’t lock the church door with the key of inconsistency and keep the lost from coming to Christ. Don’t hinder revival by your unbelief and prayerlessness. Don’t cheat yourself out of spiritual victory by allowing sin to imprison you.” 

Then he added: “The supply of heaven is adequate for the demands of our spiritually starved world. Will we offer that supply to the hungry masses?” 

Who among the “hungry masses” do you know today?

NEW AND NOTABLE: The Denison Forum Podcast has launched! We’re excited to bring you this new, long-form weekly podcast featuring Dr. Mark Turman and me, as well as guests in the future. Throughout this month, you’ll be treated to an inside look at my forthcoming book, The Coming Tsunami. Be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Also, know that The Daily Article Podcast will continue as a daily podcast narration of this Daily Article email. The Denison Forum Podcast is a new offering from us that goes in-depth on today’s most pressing issues.

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