I'm taking a break from my chronological Bible study to post some of my feelings and processes of thoughts over the past week. A lot has happened in my country this past week. While the violence in the world seems to be at an all-time high, and so much more graphic and torturous and inhumane, our government at home can't even call it what it is, can't seem to get a handle on how to handle it (if it even wants to), and seems to shun our allies who want to help fight it, and enables and emboldens our enemies. While Rome burns, we celebrate with rainbow lights the fact that our "Supreme" court has found and/or invented rights that obviously don't exist, and has again taken away the right of the people to govern themselves. One war we do take seriously and do pinpoint and name is that important war against trans-fats! I can no longer buy a Confederate flag to honor my Confederate States of America Civil War veteran ancestors (and I do have many as found in my genealogical research), but I'm free to buy a Hamas or Hezbollah flag if I want! Countries' debt crises are on the rise and I feel we are closer to that brink than anyone in our government will admit. There was the recent black church massacre and the escape of the murderous fugitives in New York. So many things were happening every day, as well as many personal things, that my head and heart just swirled, and I just wanted to crawl in a hole and escape!
I didn't know how to respond to it all. My activist side wanted to scream at the top of my lungs how our country is on the brink of destruction on so many fronts. My love for God makes me so terribly sorry to Him for our outright sins against Him, and I want everyone to understand that. Then again for quite awhile now I have felt that even well-meaning Bible-loving Christians are a huge part of the strife going on right now. After all, isn't the real simple answer that we all just need Jesus? Then He will take care of the rest. Changed hearts and new creations in Him would correct all the things for which we fight. What if we all spent more time just doing the things Jesus called us to do--preach His good news and serve one another in love? Preach His GOOD NEWS. I honestly can't remember a place where Jesus stood on the square and preached against the sins of the culture. When He did preach like this, it was against the self-righteous legalistic church leaders.
It has been hard for me to let go of the fight for our country. After all, how can good laws come and moral leaders of integrity come in to office if all the godly people do nothing? Obviously our fight has been for the wrong thing. Why do we fight for our country? Well, I for one, am truly sorry to God that our country has turned away from Him, and I don't want to be a part of it! But I'm not really part of this world; I'm part of a kingdom not of this world. However, I currently have to live in this world, and I am called to live as peaceably as possible with ALL men. Romans 12:18 didn't say to live peaceably with only other Christians who believe like I do. I've often felt and said that I had no problem dealing lovingly with sinners, but I fought the agenda, not the individual people, but the sinful movement taking over our country. However, it obviously has not been viewed that way. It has been viewed as hatred. I'm sure a liberal anti-Christian media has had much to do with making something appear as hatred which was never meant that way. However, once again, we are to live as peaceably as we can with ALL men, and to live good lives among all and to do good deeds so that it silences ignorant talk of people who don't know the word of God (1 Peter 2:12 and 2:15). Hidden between those two verses are two that say we must also:
"Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well." - 1 Peter 2:13-14
I personally know how hard that is when our leaders are so corrupt and ungodly, but if the word of God tells us to do that, then we are being obedient to God and not to ungodly man's ungodly laws. However, it was Peter himself who said at one point in Acts, "We ought to obey God rather than men." There will come a time when we may be asked to do something directly against God, and that is when we must take a stand. A doctor should take a stand against killing an unborn baby. A pastor perhaps should take a stand against marrying a same-sex couple giving God's blessing on it, but I don't see how a county clerk can do that. After all, all marriage licenses are about civil unions observed by the state; they have nothing to do with marriages blessed by God. Baking a cake for a homosexual wedding doesn't mean you endorse and give God's blessing on that wedding, but what you may have done is to keep your conduct honorable and your deeds good among non-believers so that although they may not agree with your beliefs, it silences them and it brings honor to God's name rather than disdain. When we Christians do some of the things we do supposedly in God's name, do we not sometimes bring disdain and hatred? We may also be perceived as picking what sins we will tolerate and which ones we won't. Will the same baker bake a cake for a divorce party? Will he or she bake it for a corrupt wealthy businessman? It's sometimes hard to know exactly what to do in all these cases, but I believe if we are to err, we should err on the side of love. That is what will silence the ignorance of foolish men who do not know God (1 Peter 2:12). Our self-righteous judgmental words have certainly not done it!
This has been a process for me. I am sure I have been viewed as self-righteous and judgmental. I certainly have not meant to be. I honestly study the word of God and want to know what He says about everything. In His word is life and wisdom. Without it is death and chaos. I see the chaos and deadly ways and I know where the answer lies. But I can't force that answer; preaching and attacking people only makes them defensive. Keeping silent sometimes feels like compromising, and I don't want to compromise God's word. However, I have compromised His command to love my neighbor as I love myself. Do I not want to justify my actions that might seem as intolerant? I want people to understand that I am not wrong and to understand my point of view. I want my feelings to be validated. Isn't that what my non-Christian neighbor wants? He wants to be validated; he wants to be accepted; he wants to be loved. Jesus told us to love him. He didn't say love only your neighbors who do right. Think of this--Jesus said if someone took your coat, you were to give him your shirt, as well. Someone steals your coat; he did wrong! Yet you are to willingly give him your shirt, also. You're to turn the other cheek. These are the ways we are to act when others are doing wrong. We aren't to stand in judgment preaching to them.
There is something I have had to come to terms with about myself. Is it pride within myself that I know what God says about some of these abominations that people are celebrating? Do I want to quote scriptures to prove I am right, and to show that I know the truth? What does God say about pride? Jesus had the harshest words for the prideful and self-righteous. He had mercy on the lowly sinners. He didn't even condemn the woman caught in the act of adultery. He pointed out that we all have sinned, so what right do we have to condemn others for their sins? It's not up to us to judge the sinners. God will do that. I am also learning that I cannot know the hearts of people. Only God knows the heart. Just as my heart can be perceived as being wrong, so might I judge the heart of someone else as being wrong. Love and doing good is what I can do best to show God in the best light. Not that God really needs my help, but I do see how Christians can give Christ a bad name in our self-righteous judgment. Sometimes it does feel like giving up and compromising when things get tough, not standing for what we believe...but how hard have we really worked at loving and serving? I think there are far many more scriptures that tell us we are to love and serve even our enemies than there are ones that might suggest to us we are to stand in judgment against sinful people. The references I can think of were directed against the church, not non-believers. I welcome comments to the contrary, but for now, if I err, I hope to err on the side of love in this cultural battle.
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