Lessons From the Classroom: When Biblical Faith Became the Enemy

Jesus said, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated Me before it hated you” (John 15:18). We generally don’t want to be hated, especially for our faith. We want to be liked and let the fruit of our lives draw people to Jesus. But there is an aspect of our faith that we must be ready to accept and even embrace, especially as our culture moves further away from truth and biblical Christianity. The sad reality is that there is a growing hostility toward believers.

There was a time when the title Christian was noble and respected. But today, in the upside-down morality of 2025, professing a belief in biblical Christianity is now the new hate speech. We are seeing increasing reports of open hostility to those who stand by the truth of the Bible.

Charlie Kirk was shot in what Steve Deace rightly called the most-viewed martyrdom in world history. In New York City, there are signs on the street that call conservative Christians trash. The image is a person with a cross or a Bible, wearing a MAGA Hat. Where did this disdain for Christianity come from?

In a viral video from the University of North Georgia, a student exposed that her public relations textbook equated “Christian” with “a U.S.-based white supremacist group.” In college classrooms, students and/or their parents are paying thousands to be told that faith in Christ belongs in the same category as hate organizations. The university responded, “It’s referring to the Christian Identity Movement,” which is a fringe cult that twists Scripture to justify racism. However, the textbook simply listed “Christian” alongside other identity categories and slapped “white supremacist group” in parentheses.

This kind of ideological sleight-of-hand conveniently ignores other faiths. The culture tolerates Buddhists, Muslims, Wiccans, and even New Age. But if you are Christian (or Jewish), you are a threat.

The growing persecution is the result of an intentional takeover of higher education. Charlie Kirk targeted the false ideologies being taught on campuses. Colleges and universities foment this persecution by being the high temple of secular religion, where the only heresy is biblical truth, and the only sin is believing that God’s Word is true. This results from a slow but intentional takeover of young people during their susceptible years.

Abraham Lincoln said, “The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next.” He recognized that if you want to fundamentally transform a nation, you begin in the classroom. These lessons then go on to shape the political and moral character of society.

The public relations textbook has been quietly circulating for two decades, seeding the next generation with the lie that biblical Christians are dangerous. This is an indisputable example of higher education used to indoctrinate our young adults. This also helps to explain why many in this age group have left the church.

The problem is not confined to public universities but is also prevalent in our seminaries. In many schools, biblical inerrancy is optional, and eschatology is ignored. Instead of teaching the next generation of pastors to preach the Word with conviction, they are trained to market a brand and build social platforms. Church growth strategies have replaced sound doctrine, and consumeristic ideals teach the new pastor how to be a CEO of their church. The result is a generation of pastors and leaders who can fill an auditorium but not feed the sheep.

Unsurprisingly, pastors are weak on the tenets of Christianity. From the decline of the Southern Baptists, once the bastion of Christian conservatism, to the now ultra-liberal Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the American church is compromising by preaching a culturally acceptable message. Fewer and fewer churches preach the unpopular truth as defined in the Bible.

In a recent ELCA video, a denominational representative claimed that multiple Bible passages (specifically Genesis 3, Ephesians 5, 1 Timothy 2, and 1 Peter 3) are “harmful” to women and girls and then proudly declared that “we don’t have to take Scripture literally.” Then, she symbolically handed the Bible off-screen. The message is clear: if you don’t agree with God’s Word, you can set it aside.

The problem of weak Christianity is not necessarily a worldwide phenomenon. African churches are rapidly growing. In Guinea-Bissau, 34 new pastors were commissioned to plant new churches. They have virtually no resources, yet they are seeing incredible results. Nigeria is home to one of the largest churches in the world, yet it is the epicenter of persecution on the African Continent. In China, the church has been forced underground, yet it is thriving.

The Western Church is not immune to the persecution that places like China and Nigeria are experiencing. God uses trials to refine Christians. Jesus told the church of Ephesus to repent and hold fast to what they had, or He would remove their candlestick (Revelation 2:4-5). Will we heed this warning?

Paul told Timothy, “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions” (2 Timothy 4:3). When the church treats the Word of God like an optional accessory, it stops being the pillar and buttress of truth. This is why the doctrine of biblical inerrancy is not a theological side issue but the foundation for our faith.

If Scripture is wrong, then who decides what is right? If God’s Word is false, then the message of a professor, politician, or even a pastor can replace it. But God makes it clear that His Word is unfailing. The Apostle Paul taught young Timothy how seminaries should be teaching their students. By the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he wrote, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). The “all” of this passage includes the verses our culture finds inconvenient or offensive.

Our youth are subtly, and not so subtly, taught the narrative that Christians who take the Bible literally are dangerous. The next steps are predictable: censorship, social exclusion, and legal retribution against anyone who refuses to bow to cultural orthodoxy, affirm gay marriage, and reject pagan ideals. After that, there will be a full rejection of those who refuse to take a mark or bow to a world king. If this sounds overly dramatic, tell it to the believers in Canada or the UK who are being fined or jailed for sharing what the Bible says about marriage and gender.

The West is not post-Christian; it’s anti-Christian, and most churches are only concerned about how they are going to fill their large auditoriums. Paul wrote that in the last days, “lawlessness” would increase and that a great “falling away” would precede the rise of the man of lawlessness (2 Thessalonians 2). When people reject God’s truth long enough, God gives them over to their dishonorable passions (Romans 1:26).

So, what do we do? We stand firm in the truth, speak the truth in love, and look up as we await our Lord. The stage is set, lawlessness is rising, and biblical truth is deemed dangerous. And as trials and persecution come, stand steadfastly, knowing that one day, we will give an account for what we have done with our lives.

I pray that the increasing persecution emboldens your faith. Do not be surprised by the deterioration of our society and the world. Do not fear. Instead, be confident that God’s plans are coming together and our Lord will return soon. Maranatha!