To some degree, this is a continuation of the previous post, but I think it deserves a post of its own. Somehow, the church has exchanged its role as prophet for attempting to use political power to legislate changes that only love can accomplish.
Honestly I'm fit to be tied about this. Where does the church get off judging the world for sin where there is no tangible signs of love? You who vote pro-life, do you love teenage girls? You who hate drug abuse, do you love drug addicts? You who hate gay marraige, do you love homosexuals? What on earth is going on here? How did we get this way? Where is the love?
I'm sorry, but this personally offends me. The church, when seen as a legislative force instead of a grace force, comes off as a bunch of control freaks, trying to impose their own morality on others instead of a force of lovingkindness, showing the nature of God for what it is. How did we get this way? How did we buy into the lie that the will of God was to be accomplished primarily through political means? I don't know how this happened, but I pray that you, the reader, would choose love. Choose to care about people more than just trying to control them. Ultimately, only the love of Christ can affect the change in our society that needs to happen. The world needs to see that we love them, and that ultimately the only way that the changes we see that need to happen are going to happen. They know we are Christians by our love, not by our lobbying efforts.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
The Land of Responsibility Versus a Culture of Victimhood
I see a great tragedy taking place within the faith today. In essence, the church is coming to believe a great lie of the enemy, that somehow outside circumstances and other's decisions are the problem, both on a personal and on a corporate level. Let me explain what I mean.
Let us say that you have problem with how you use the Internet. Say you use the Internet for sexual uses that falls outside of what God asks of us. Some say the problem is that the Internet is unfiltered or unregulated like television is regulated. This thinking states that we are sexual creatures who just can't help ourselves. This is wrong! As believers, we are called to a place of supernatural strength, such that we love God to the point of honoring him in all our ways. How is it then that the Internet is responsible for your sin? No, the Internet reveals what is in your heart. I understand that software like Covenant Eyes is a good idea, and for a season it may be the best starting point for rebuilding the walls between us and sin. Nevertheless, God never intended that we would let software assume the responsibility for us living right before God! Who you are when you are alone on the Internet with no one monitoring or filtering your behavior and no apparent immediate consequences for your decisions is who you really are and where you are really at. Blaming the Internet or the government or anyone else for your choice to engage in behaviors that fall outside of your faith is just a scapegoat.
On a larger scale, much of what is called the Religious Right has convinced us that laws are what are needed to keep the country from sin, such as abortion. Never has a more victim-oriented claim ever been made! If anything, it is the role of the church to love this country, to meet the needs of expectant mothers so that abortion isn't the apparent best option. If we take responsibility for this issue by ministering to the poor and oppressed, reaching out to families and helping to mentor the world in a way that reveals what love looks like, no abortion law would ever be needed. You cannot regulate or law-enforce the human heart in a way that works. We are not victims of the Supreme Court or Hollywood. The problems we see in the culture are evidence that we have stopped being salt and light, deciding instead to be victims, blaming others for our own issues. If we as the body of Christ would step up and love the people of the world the way Christ did, many of the issues that concern the church would go away for good or become substantially less significant.
In short, God has asked that we would be his bride. There may be seasons where we must distance ourselves to some degree from the temptations we face, but this should not replace us deciding to grow into the maturity that God demands of us. We must not blame the culture or the devil for our decisions- what we choose is the barometer of where we are at, and although there may be bondage that needs repentance and deliverance from, that is no excuse for sinning where you are now. The first step is acknowledging that both corporately and individually, we as God's bride are responsible for what is wrong in ourselves and in the world. Don't blame the world for sin- the world is a mirror of how well the church is salt and light. Let us pursue God with abandon and not excuse our sin but be liberated from it!
Let us say that you have problem with how you use the Internet. Say you use the Internet for sexual uses that falls outside of what God asks of us. Some say the problem is that the Internet is unfiltered or unregulated like television is regulated. This thinking states that we are sexual creatures who just can't help ourselves. This is wrong! As believers, we are called to a place of supernatural strength, such that we love God to the point of honoring him in all our ways. How is it then that the Internet is responsible for your sin? No, the Internet reveals what is in your heart. I understand that software like Covenant Eyes is a good idea, and for a season it may be the best starting point for rebuilding the walls between us and sin. Nevertheless, God never intended that we would let software assume the responsibility for us living right before God! Who you are when you are alone on the Internet with no one monitoring or filtering your behavior and no apparent immediate consequences for your decisions is who you really are and where you are really at. Blaming the Internet or the government or anyone else for your choice to engage in behaviors that fall outside of your faith is just a scapegoat.
On a larger scale, much of what is called the Religious Right has convinced us that laws are what are needed to keep the country from sin, such as abortion. Never has a more victim-oriented claim ever been made! If anything, it is the role of the church to love this country, to meet the needs of expectant mothers so that abortion isn't the apparent best option. If we take responsibility for this issue by ministering to the poor and oppressed, reaching out to families and helping to mentor the world in a way that reveals what love looks like, no abortion law would ever be needed. You cannot regulate or law-enforce the human heart in a way that works. We are not victims of the Supreme Court or Hollywood. The problems we see in the culture are evidence that we have stopped being salt and light, deciding instead to be victims, blaming others for our own issues. If we as the body of Christ would step up and love the people of the world the way Christ did, many of the issues that concern the church would go away for good or become substantially less significant.
In short, God has asked that we would be his bride. There may be seasons where we must distance ourselves to some degree from the temptations we face, but this should not replace us deciding to grow into the maturity that God demands of us. We must not blame the culture or the devil for our decisions- what we choose is the barometer of where we are at, and although there may be bondage that needs repentance and deliverance from, that is no excuse for sinning where you are now. The first step is acknowledging that both corporately and individually, we as God's bride are responsible for what is wrong in ourselves and in the world. Don't blame the world for sin- the world is a mirror of how well the church is salt and light. Let us pursue God with abandon and not excuse our sin but be liberated from it!
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