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August 6, 2007
America is a
blessed nation. For over 200 years, we have been a Christian nation,
founded on the principles taught by Christ.
At every turn,
America is being challenged. Our laws are being re-evaluated by
people who do not believe in Christ…who, in many cases, do not believe
in God. Our legislation is being crafted by people without a
God-fearing faith…and by people of faith in other gods.
What are
Christians to do? How do we preserve what God has entrusted to us?
Good Christians
have taken up the battle. We fight on many fronts. Our laws must
preserved in the courts. Legislation must be scrutinized for
provisions that violate God’s commands. Media outlets must be
challenged to fully and fairly report the news. And most importantly,
on every front, Christians are fighting to preserve our religious
freedom, our freedom to openly speak and act as Christians.
The battle is
fierce. And therein lays a danger. As we fight to preserve a
Christian nation and the freedoms it gives us, we must keep our focus
on that larger struggle.
Our legal
arguments are needed to preserve our right to pray. Good reporters
are needed to give voice to Christians otherwise silenced by a media
hostile to Christians. Congressional representatives must be free to
speak and work, expressing their beliefs in what they do.
All these things
we must fight for…without neglecting our first duty…our Christian duty
as it was distilled and crystallized by the sacrifice of Christ on the
cross.
The great
commission came to us from Christ…not as a law of government. It is
the personal entreatment from our Lord, tend my sheep. Our
Christian duty is personal. Do we love Him? Yes? Then
shepherd his sheep.
The greatest
battle of all is the battle for the human heart. Christ came down to
us not to rewrite Roman law. He came to write God’s truth in our
hearts through the ultimate miracle of living God’s love in our midst.
Clever legal
arguments came from the Scribes and Pharisees who plotted together
how they might trap Him in what He said. Christ answered not with
citations from the Torah, but by focusing human attention on Godly
matters, rendering to Caesar the things that are Caesar's; and to
God the things that are God’s.
Christ did
not command a separate nation be built to sequester his followers away
from the Samaritans. He waited for the Samaritan woman at the well
and told her all the things that she had done, serving her
living water. He taught that even a Samaritan can feel
compassion and bandage the wounds of a traveler fallen by the side of
the road.
Must we stay
engaged in the culture, fighting to preserve our government founded on
Christian principles? Yes. Most definitely. But Christians are not
won to Christ by writing laws in Congress or by winning battles in the
courts.
Do we know the
saving grace that guides our nation? Yes. But it cannot be shared
with Samaritans by pointing to our Christian heritage and demanding
that they bow to tradition.
Jesus is not
“justified” by the number of people who vote for Him. He was alone on
the cross. God is not more powerful or more loving because he is
encoded in our government. He is. He was. He always has been.
Laws that do not
arise from the human heart will never be able to stand on precedence.
In times of trial, we must be willing to stand alone. It is
imperative that we stand for government under God. But this is never
going to be a convincing argument to convince non-believers of God’s
existence or draw them under His wings.
We win The
Battle, when we lead the way to Christ. And we lead the way by
following Him. Do we love Him? Yes? Then tend his
sheep. All other matters belong to Caesar. And while they may be
matters of importance, we must do these things without neglecting
the first.
Follow Him.
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for past editorials.
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