The Church is the reason that the Democratic fiscal policies are the way to go in our current time. It is funny to me that 85% of ‘Christians’ are Republicans when the Republicans have been the ones who have ignored the oppressed, the poor, and the less fortunate. They think that wealth will trickle down to those that don’t have money from the wealthy. How is that possible with them pursuing the American Dream? If the American Dream is about individual prosperity then how does wealth trickle when we are being selfish? Acts 2:45 says, “They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.” If this was an example set for us by the early church are we doing it? 50% of our population in America is Protestant. 35% of the population in America is Evangelical. More than 100 million Americans are in the evangelical church. What would America look like if the church lived like the church? Would we ever go into recession?
God does not have a political party. God is about the oppressed. God is about justice. God is love. God pursues us. God wants the church to be like Him. God is about sacrifice. God is about giving.
I really dislike the fact that it seems God has been tagged as in full support for the Republican party. Every year the ‘Christians’ are manipulated to think that the Republican party is the Christian party. This is simply not true. It is unfortunate that the Republican party manipulates us into thinking that if you vote for them you are voting for life. So, obviously as a Christian I do not want to see abortion. Abortion is not of God. So, we get on the very righteous horse to save lives and in so doing we think we need to fall in line with every Republican practice. So, essentially you become non-Christian in your thinking if you disagree with any Republican policy. What the heck is that? I am tired of this. I am tired of being manipulated. I want to be seen as an independent thinker. I want to be true to Christ. Here is what politicians have really manipulated us into believing as Christians: That the American Dream is righteous. They take an obvious moral stand in abortion and manipulate us into buying into the idea that the American Dream is of God or something. WHAT? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? It is time to stop buying into the immorality of the American Dream. The most dangerous part is it is so subtle. This is the one issue that both political parties want us to buy into and it is one issue that everyone in America wants. Why don’t the Christ followers make a stand against this? To me abortion and same sex marriage are only moral symptoms of a larger problem that we Christians have helped to fuel.
The American Dream is defined as a “dream of social order in which each man and woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are regardless of birth” by James Truslow Adams in his book Epic of America. The American Dream began as an opportunity to achieve great material prosperity. The context that the American Dream is referred to is always material wealth. Even in Adams’ definition which does not directly address material wealth but later he says that material wealth has counted plenty for those in pursuit of the American Dream. Material wealth is the end goal for those in pursuit of the American Dream. We hear all the time let’s return to prosperity, let’s improve our prosperity, and let me see how I can help myself and see myself attain the fullest stature. Is this the dream God has for us?
John 10:10 says, “I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.” This passage would lead one to think that Jesus wants us to have a full life in how we define it. But, Jesus addresses the American Dream as defined above in Matthew 6:19-21, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” In fact, the story of the Rich Young Ruler says it all when Jesus asks him to sell everything and come follow him. Have you sacrificed anything lately? We just want Jesus so we can get to heaven and have him when times are tough but we also want all the immorality that this world offers in a full life. We want the best of both worlds. If we haven’t sacrificed to follow Jesus are we even a follower of Him? By our fruits they will know that we are a follower of Jesus. Does your fruit prove you to be a follower of Jesus? Or does your life look just like those of this world?
Hope. That is what people want. Hope for a better future. Hope for life to the full. Jesus is the one that truly gives life to the fullest. The church has not done its job of showing people the hope that is found in Jesus Christ. So, now the government is trying to provide that hope. All Barack Obama shows is that the church is not being the church. It is sobering. I voted for Barack because I feel his policies are more closely in line with the ways of Jesus. It is sad because we should not be forced by the government to give to the poor and oppressed. I used to vote Republican because I thought less taxes meant more money in the pocket and more opportunity for the Church to be the Church. But that is failed because the church is not the church. My heart is to see the broken, the oppressed, and the poor find hope. As the government implements solid policies to help them we as the church should be the church. If the church becomes what God intended then many of the political debates go away because the issues begin to diminish.
Acts 2:42-47 has many things to say about politics. What if 100 million people lived this way? What if we had everything in common and sold possessions so that everyone was without need? What would this mean for healthcare? for Abortion? for same sex marriage? Financially?
I think that the financial benefits for people are obvious. But what about healthcare, if we were living like Acts 2 then healthcare for everyone would be provided for by each other. If we lived in a community like this we would have the best healthcare ever and everyone would have it. This would happen because we would be living selflessly not selfishly. If everyone felt loved and accepted there would not be as high a need for abortion. Abortions happen just as frequently in the church as outside. This is because people feel shame, guilty, and don’t feel they can be honest with the church because they will be looked down upon. If we had a Church of love, grace, and forgiveness the need for Abortion would greatly diminish. The same thing goes for same sex marriage. Many of the people who are drawn to homosexuality are drawn to it because of the lack of love in their life. A community like Acts 2 would greatly diminish the need for same sex marriage. I understand that because of ‘The Fall’ and the sinful world we have from Adam that some people might be born a homosexual. I also understand that this is a controversial stance to take but even if you are born gay and the Church is being the Church then it will be a lot easier to deal with that as well as any other addiction that isn’t as overt.
It is our job as one who is in the church to be in the world but not of the world, we are to create culture not succumb to the culture, and we are to lead a revolutionary movement. The early church was a revolutionary movement. It was a lot harder to be a Christian then than it is now and yet how come it seems we have a lot harder time actually being what God called us to?
Greed has set in on the Church. It is obvious with this recession. Because the Church has not been the Church for so long the government is stepping up. It is my hope that the steps taken by the government will help the church to see their flaws and step up to the plate and change this culture. Jesus is definitely not a Republican because I think that over the last 20 years Republican policies have just shown greed and selfishness. Jesus is definitely not a Democrat either as hope is ultimately found in Jesus not the almighty dollar. But right now the Democrats seem to be the party that most addresses issues Jesus addresses. Some may not like that last statement and if you didn’t then ask yourself this question: What are you doing to address the issues Jesus addresses?
It is my desire that this be said of me, “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me…” (Matthew 25:34-36)
…Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me. (Matthew 25:40)
What are you doing for the least of these?
Let’s become the revolutionary movement Jesus intended.
Let’s change the world.
Let’s be the Church.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
Way too much to respond to here by Fisking, so let me respond to what I think is your central thesis: that if the Church in America became true Christ-followers, then everything would fall into place with respect to the moral fabric of society and the economy.
So, because people will not spontaneously become the Christ-followers that God wants them to be, it justifies using the coercive power of government to force them to behave in a Christlike manner?
That's just as bad as the sin of omission ascribed to the "selfish" church of today. Put it this way: a man is starving on the side of the road. You don't have the means to feed him, but you see a man who does and is committing the sin of omission by just walking past. Is it justified to pull a gun on the second man in order to save the starving man's life? What if he fights back? Is it justified to pull the trigger? What if 51% of the population had passed a law saying it was ok? It it wasn't morally defensible before, is it ok now?
Why don't we let God work on men's hearts individually without being the self-appointed intermediary? I agree with you - the Church is not what it should be, and if it were, the world would be a better place. But Heaven will not be established on Earth until Jesus does it - not Obama, not Bush, not MLK, not Gandhi, not any man. If you operate from the fundamental premise that human nature evolves or can be shaped by the actions of other men - essentially, that human nature is malleable - then the Leftist position is tenable, because presumably the ones making all the decisions will be more advanced in ability and morality. To me - someone who believes that men are fundamentally limited - that sounds like a Tower of Babel-ish recipe for failure.
I am not saying that the Government coercing Christlikeness is the way to go. My point was it is sad when the government is our example. Men are limited as you say but come on man we can do a lot better job. I for one can do a better job. To me to make the excuse that we are limited is to limit the power of Jesus. Didn't Jesus say we would do greater things than him. I just don't see it. I am not saying the government should be the coercive power and if you heard that then I didn't communicate properly.As far as your gun illustration that is reading into my point because obviously all truth must stand against the word of God not what man thinks. To me your illustration is irrelevant to my argument. My point was I want a government that is more in line with Christlikeness and the fact that the government is saying and trying to do the things we as a church should have been doing is sad and very telling to how far the sin of this world has set in even in the church. The point is we have the means to feed others and we should be doing that because that is of God. NO CHRISTIAN should be forced to do so and it is sad that is beginning to take place.
You can nit pick my individual points but you hit my thesis pretty good and it seems to me you have no disagreement there.
By the way is this Tim Kong? If so, I love you:)
Also, I love this.
Answer these questions:
Should we not strive to be more like Christ?
(seems your stance is you just want to throw in the towel because we are messed up)
Why can't we use the power of Christ that lives in us to change our culture?
(seems like you have a limited view of God's power)
To me if our government ever made the decision to coerce us into doing something obviously against God then we don't do it. This is what I am calling people to. Revolt to being like Christ. The government both democrat and republican are being sly in making us fall into the trap of selfish materialism and the American Dream of it's all about me. That is not of God. It is not like when the early church was told they couldn't worship God which is very overt. This is different and probably a much better plan by the enemy that we as the church HAVE to fight against. And if we did then I believe we wouldn't have the huge issues that are in our world today. But to sit back and say well, because we are fundamentally limited and it won't be fixed till Jesus comes back is redonkulous. Jesus is ALIVE TODAY. The same power that rose Christ from the dead lives in the church. We should use it.
I don't think we should be voting for Democrats because the Church fails at so much. If the Church is prone to failure, then you can bet your ass the Democrats will fail.
I don't think we should be turning to the government to pick up the slack for what the Church hasn't been able to accomplish.
I think we should vote for the government that most closely provides for and protects our founding documents: the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. Namely: life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness. All men created equal, so on and so fourth.
The Democrats are not that government in my opinion, and I don't think either party is trying to do what Jesus would want them to do, so that's a mute point.
I will vote for the party that allows America to remain the brightest nation the face of this earth has ever seen. Because of our success we have been able to respond to crises like no other nation (see how much we gave to Tsunami victims for example, and I bet we adopt more children than any other nation on the planet).
All that said, and I agree, Jesus is not a Republican or a Democrat, so vote for you who you think represents your ideals, your priorities, and your way of life. If you can defend that vote and you comfortably feel that it is the vote Jesus himself would have cast, then more power to you.
I love you Matt. My heart pains for the same things yours does. We are capable of so much more (myself included).
Rob, I actually agree with most of what you said. I just disagree with the right party at this time. I don't think we should choose a government party because the church has screwed up. I think we should choose the one that most closely resembles our values. The part where the church comes is we have all these huge issues because the church has failed. That is all. Maybe I should have written two blogs: 1. Why I voted democrat 2. Why the church screwed up
I honestly think the democrats most resemble the original declaration of independence. I think that the republicans have to find their way back to those documents. Just talking straight politics and throwing out the church argument. I really think that the republican way of doing things recently is very wrong and on the verge of leading our country down a path that closely resembles all the things we freak out about when it comes to government controlled societies rather than people controlled. In many ways, the democratic party is giving power to the people or at least desires to. It scares me when republicans make bills and laws that only benefit the rich or large corporations. Those are the kind of policies that led to our American revolution.
There are things that scare me about Obama (God complex but all presidents have it, possibility of making national banks, hindering exporting) but not nearly as dramatic as the other side.
Look. I grew up republican and have been up until this election. I would say in many ways I lean more right than left. The republican party has to catch up to the 21st century. They have to stop playing the political game or it will kill them. They are still blasting the economic stimulus. Why? It is over. People are going to get tired of that. To me they are just crying like little babies. Start creating policies that will actually pass congress. Start making stands that will win elections. If this past election tells us anything there is a large portion of traditional republicans like me who put Obama in the White House who are looking for a new kind of politics.
A lot of rambling I know. I know I am in the minority here. But so be it.
I think Rush's comments that you mentioned to me via text message were taken out of context by the liberal media.
Ask yourself this: Why is everyone attacking Rush all of a sudden? I mean, he's been on the radio, and has been a powerful voice for the conservative movement for some time, but now he's being castigated by the liberal dominated media? Are they scared?
For what it's worth, I think Rush's comment meant this: He hopes Obama fails because he hopes socialism fails. Any good Conservative would make the same statement. If Obama's Socialism fails, then the American people will see it for what it is, and the Conservative movement will regain control, which is ultimately what Rush wants, and what Conservatives think is better for America.
Hopefully America is learning something from this costly (thus far) mistake. Obama's campaign promises are in shambles, our deficit is skyrocketing, and our economy continues to spiral out of control every time Obama's administration says or does anything. This does not bode well for the next 4 years, and we've only had this guy in office for just over 1 month.
My 2 cents.
Post a Comment