After the (bi-annual) highly charged political season, I always take a break from any talk radio. I have begun to listen again sparingly. The host was speaking about all the changes the new regime will be making, and again I felt my blood pressure rise. After what seemed to be an eternal litany of changes coming our way, the presenter said that we need to find a way to come together. I have to admit, I was having many thoughts, but “coming together” was not one of them!
I was immediately convicted of how mad I was because of the financial difficulty that I fear is to come, and then to a lesser extent because of the lack of ethical and moral concern the ruling party has. I was very concerned that I might find myself destitute, and then, oh yes there are the moral travesties happening.
I love how God comes in that small voice. While stepping through all my angry thoughts, God put the image of Jesus in my mind. Jesus, walking through a world where the Jews had gone far astray, and taken with them the majority of the chosen of Israel. Jesus could have, with just a word, toppled the Roman Empire, Herod with it, and set up His empire, putting the heretics to death and making certain that those with opinions other than God’s would stay in line and have no avenue to making those wrong ideas reality. But He didn’t.
What did He do? He went about the hard task of changing people’s hearts to the Gospel. He was mocked, ridiculed, and yes eventually beaten and nailed to a cross for an excruciating death. Why would He do this? How could He keep His righteous anger at bay and simply take all this abuse? He did it for each and every soul that would say “yes” to God. A brutal take over of the empire would have meant sending many souls to the devil, as they would have been killed with their mortal sins. (A man named Saul would have been one of them). But winning hearts to God meant that many would turn and repent; not to mention the salvation of mankind through His death.
We have been shown recently how easy it is to squelch speech and action; how easy it is for free people to become subjects of an oligarchy. It’s easy! Wheel and deal yourself to power, and then do all in your new power to kill the minority that you have at a disadvantage. But the fact of the matter is that you have won nobody to your cause. Certainly there are many that go along to get along, but they are not “sold” on your ideology, they simply don’t want to get hurt. You rule by force, and heaven help you when that force runs dry.
Jesus showed us the way. We must turn hearts. This is not easy. The history of Christianity is strewn with martyrs. We have been very blessed for many generations with the fact that we in the United States have not had to die to protect (from within) our freedom, but God’s blessings have run their course in this battle, it is time to stand up and be counted for Christ.
First order of business. We cannot worry about money. Political parties run off of promises. One side raises taxes, the other side lowers them. Both parties say their way is THE way to prosperity. As Christians, we are told not to worry about what we will wear or what we will eat, God will provide. As Christians, we need to focus on moral and ethical issues only. Does this mean we should not vote our mind in elections? No. We can vote for who we think will lead the American people well, but when it comes to the true fight, it’s God law we should be concerned with.
Protection for the unborn, the elderly, and the weak should be our first priority. When is the last time you had a friendly conversation about the wrongs of abortion? When is the last time you had a friendly conversation about poverty, about education, about euthanasia, about the evils of the transgender movement? What about the parts of the world that are starving to death? What about the oppression of churches throughout the world? When is the last time you looked on your proposed purchase to see if it was made by a regime that participates in oppression? What about our own government using its power wrongfully in other parts of the globe?
These (and many others) are issues that we can and will turn hearts on. Why? Because these are the issues that God is concerned with. Well isn’t God concerned with our prosperity? To an extent yes, but I assure you He is not concerned with how your portfolio is doing, only that you have basic shelter, food and transportation. For Christians to argue these (financial) points is a fools errand, as God will not be with us. To argue for the poor, the oppressed and the weak is an argument God will get behind. Indeed He will be with us and give us both opportunity and words. He will win the hearts of many through each of us that are willing to take the chance.
Let us seek peace, let us change hearts, just as Jesus did; but let us do so preaching and teaching the Gospel.
Seeking the Truth 