The political arena, though we should not abandon it, will never be a source of salvation. Nor will we ever make a Christian nation by means of politics. Christianity will influence America only when we make Christ first, and never when we seek to advance His goals by political, rather than spiritual, means.
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If the goal of Christians active in the political arena is to prevent Christians in America from suffering persecution, then, in the inimitable words of internet slang: "Ur doin it wrong." We are not to run from persecution, ever, and while we are not to seek it, either, we ought to gladly embrace the opportunity to suffer for the cause of Christ. He promised that if we follow Him, we will have persecution; the apostles made it very clear that opposition and persecution are normal and indeed normative parts of the Christian life. So if we are striving to avoid persecution, we are striving away from what Christ has promised.
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On the note of suffering, if Christ said that those who suffer for His name's sake are blessed, why be so bothered by it? And why reject something so fundamental to our growth, our sanctification, our ultimate glorification. Anyone who has lived any length of time knows it to be true that our greatest growth is nearly always in our deepest valleys, and that God is most readily apparent in our lives when we are most dependent on Him - typically when things are at their worst.
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We do not value all labor as we ought. We think things are beneath us. And that's sad. The fact that we would elevate the work of the academician over the work of the carpenter is a tragedy. The fact that we have culturally come to believe that people without a college education are somehow less worthy is a horrifying state of affairs. How many parents have said - either directly or implicitly - to their children that the career choice they have in mind "just isn't good enough"?
And why have we embraced this mentality? Because our culture places a higher value on intellectual work than on physical labor. Personally, I think that's folly. I understand that many people's decisions now come out of the simple economics of the situation - but those economics are themselves only a reflection of cultural mentalities: that working with one's hands is somehow less than working with one's mind.
Jesus was a carpenter by vocation, not a philosopher or even a priest. Chew on that for a minute, and maybe rethink the way you see the world.
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Racism goes all ways, and all its ways are ugly. It's a vile sin, a stain and a blight on humanity, and I wish it were gone. I wish Americans as a whole were not so xenophobic - and that many of the ones who aren't would exercise some common sense.
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Why is it that we think things are one-or-the-other in every circumstance: the rule of law or mercy, for example? Why not both?
---
Humility is a misunderstood and highly lacking virtue in our society. Misunderstood, because most people don't think it's a virtue and the few who do tend to think it's nothing but constant self-abasement, rather than quiet and simple recognition of who one actually is, and who God actually is. The talented think themselves greater than they are. The untalented do the same. And the ones who think humility important pretend they do not think themselves greater than they are - but they think it all the same.
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Sanctification isn't something you or I can manage. All our effort will take us precisely as far in growing in holiness as it will in bringing us salvation: namely, not at all. The only effective agent of setting apart for God in our lives is the grace of God.
---
We ought to be sanctifying our minds, not just our deeds. That's more than just not watching bad movies: it's watching good ones. It's more than not just reading bad novels: it's reading good ones. It is more than merely the rejection of bad ideas in culture: it is creating good ideas in culture. It is more than simply decrying the woes of politics: it is to work toward just laws.
It is more than seeing a fallen world. It is seeing the King and Savior who is making it more than not-fallen: good.
---
Grace and peace be with you. Worship God!
- Chris
---
If the goal of Christians active in the political arena is to prevent Christians in America from suffering persecution, then, in the inimitable words of internet slang: "Ur doin it wrong." We are not to run from persecution, ever, and while we are not to seek it, either, we ought to gladly embrace the opportunity to suffer for the cause of Christ. He promised that if we follow Him, we will have persecution; the apostles made it very clear that opposition and persecution are normal and indeed normative parts of the Christian life. So if we are striving to avoid persecution, we are striving away from what Christ has promised.
---
On the note of suffering, if Christ said that those who suffer for His name's sake are blessed, why be so bothered by it? And why reject something so fundamental to our growth, our sanctification, our ultimate glorification. Anyone who has lived any length of time knows it to be true that our greatest growth is nearly always in our deepest valleys, and that God is most readily apparent in our lives when we are most dependent on Him - typically when things are at their worst.
---
We do not value all labor as we ought. We think things are beneath us. And that's sad. The fact that we would elevate the work of the academician over the work of the carpenter is a tragedy. The fact that we have culturally come to believe that people without a college education are somehow less worthy is a horrifying state of affairs. How many parents have said - either directly or implicitly - to their children that the career choice they have in mind "just isn't good enough"?
And why have we embraced this mentality? Because our culture places a higher value on intellectual work than on physical labor. Personally, I think that's folly. I understand that many people's decisions now come out of the simple economics of the situation - but those economics are themselves only a reflection of cultural mentalities: that working with one's hands is somehow less than working with one's mind.
Jesus was a carpenter by vocation, not a philosopher or even a priest. Chew on that for a minute, and maybe rethink the way you see the world.
---
Racism goes all ways, and all its ways are ugly. It's a vile sin, a stain and a blight on humanity, and I wish it were gone. I wish Americans as a whole were not so xenophobic - and that many of the ones who aren't would exercise some common sense.
---
Why is it that we think things are one-or-the-other in every circumstance: the rule of law or mercy, for example? Why not both?
---
Humility is a misunderstood and highly lacking virtue in our society. Misunderstood, because most people don't think it's a virtue and the few who do tend to think it's nothing but constant self-abasement, rather than quiet and simple recognition of who one actually is, and who God actually is. The talented think themselves greater than they are. The untalented do the same. And the ones who think humility important pretend they do not think themselves greater than they are - but they think it all the same.
---
Sanctification isn't something you or I can manage. All our effort will take us precisely as far in growing in holiness as it will in bringing us salvation: namely, not at all. The only effective agent of setting apart for God in our lives is the grace of God.
---
We ought to be sanctifying our minds, not just our deeds. That's more than just not watching bad movies: it's watching good ones. It's more than not just reading bad novels: it's reading good ones. It is more than merely the rejection of bad ideas in culture: it is creating good ideas in culture. It is more than simply decrying the woes of politics: it is to work toward just laws.
It is more than seeing a fallen world. It is seeing the King and Savior who is making it more than not-fallen: good.
---
Grace and peace be with you. Worship God!
- Chris
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