We use the word Christian
And the word America
But I do not think we really understand
What these things mean from the outside
It is not even about politics
Even as just an intellectual discussion
What does it mean to be Christian?
Who did Jesus really criticize?
Why is it so hard to understand
How we should relate to government and society?
God is not a fan of human government
God did not want Israel to have a king or a democracy
Christ’s approach is not to have a more local government
He does not want us to sacrifice all our values
If they are merely economically inconvenient
He doesn’t want us to compromise on moral issues
But He does want us to get along
God is a romantic
He cares about the individual person
What would you say to God
If He asked you why you love America?
What do you say to the majority of Christians in the world today
Who do not live in America
Or those in the past who did not
Or future who will not as well?
An eternal problem of the Church
Is that it gets involved in politics
And then the government ends up controlling the Church
Not the other way around
Whenever Christianity gets traction in a society
The Church then tries to make itself socially acceptable
And in doing so alienates the people it is meant to serve
Politics is a social issue not a religious one
What if we let our hearts bleed a little
And we start to make social changes
To include people of other social groups?
We need to show Christianity is truly universal
By showing that all society can be part of it
Even the marginalized and those who utterly failed to adapt
Not just to technology or reason
We hear a lot about issues in people’s personal lives
Championed in the American Church today
But little about what is right or wrong for a nation
When we think we are good citizens
Do good citizens accept the suffering we bring to the world?
Does God want our country rich and others poor?
For those who want to implement laws
That come from the Old Testament
Be sure to include things like the years of jubilee
Where we forgive those of debts and crimes
Why do we not celebrate the feasts of Israel?
How can we just ignore all the social justice issues
That God talks about in the Prophets
Repeating the same ideas over and over
Where are our prophets that lead the country
Not by majority vote or legal action
But by talking directly with God?
Who is it in government that we can elect
Who wants to rid America of sin?
If we can all agree Hollywood is a problem
Will we give up all the money we get from it
Or at least stop spending our money on its products?
If we believe we are in the world but not of it
Why do we champion the ideas of the world?
Our nation has a long list of national sins
One of which the Church has denounced recently
But there are so many they do not want to believe
We are so loyal to our system
Unless we have to pay more money or sacrifice anything
Or God forbid we fight in one of the wars we vote for
How is being cheap a Christian value?
If we want to save money on clothing and food
So we wear used clothing and eat used food
This is probably ok with God
But why are we unwilling
To pay more money to reduce trash
Or to reduce the torture of animals?
Why do we not dispose of our own waste
In our own country?
Why do we hide the cost to God’s creation
On the other side of the world
This is because we do not want to admit
How toxic our modern society is
And what are the most controversial issues ever?
Anything that requires everyone to do something
That we don’t want to believe is a problem
Even when required by law
Just like the Protestant view where
Every believer can just spin their own theology to suit them
So we think we can do so with government
Just vote out the inconvenient ideas
It is easy to follow the laws you voted for
As they fit your personal worldview
That you think everyone else should believe
It is not just unbelievers who create their own religions
We cannot just choose certain human laws
To follow and not others
Just as we cannot choose just certain laws
From the Bible to follow
Human laws are not ever going to be
The same as God’s laws
But we need to follow both
And a moral stance on a particular issue
Cannot just be abandoned
Because we want to save money
Or we think it inconvenient
This is not a legitimate reason not to stand for them
And it is not a persecution of any kind
When we are called out being mean to others
Saying inappropriate things in public
And people ask us to leave their property
When we think of not following a country’s laws
Because we think they are not moral
Remember the apostles told us to serve our masters
Even when we were sold into slavery
And Rome was so evil at the time
That is was the evolution of Babylon
And the home of the anti Christ
What was the Christian response then?
And the word America
But I do not think we really understand
What these things mean from the outside
It is not even about politics
Even as just an intellectual discussion
What does it mean to be Christian?
Who did Jesus really criticize?
Why is it so hard to understand
How we should relate to government and society?
God is not a fan of human government
God did not want Israel to have a king or a democracy
Christ’s approach is not to have a more local government
He does not want us to sacrifice all our values
If they are merely economically inconvenient
He doesn’t want us to compromise on moral issues
But He does want us to get along
God is a romantic
He cares about the individual person
What would you say to God
If He asked you why you love America?
What do you say to the majority of Christians in the world today
Who do not live in America
Or those in the past who did not
Or future who will not as well?
An eternal problem of the Church
Is that it gets involved in politics
And then the government ends up controlling the Church
Not the other way around
Whenever Christianity gets traction in a society
The Church then tries to make itself socially acceptable
And in doing so alienates the people it is meant to serve
Politics is a social issue not a religious one
What if we let our hearts bleed a little
And we start to make social changes
To include people of other social groups?
We need to show Christianity is truly universal
By showing that all society can be part of it
Even the marginalized and those who utterly failed to adapt
Not just to technology or reason
We hear a lot about issues in people’s personal lives
Championed in the American Church today
But little about what is right or wrong for a nation
When we think we are good citizens
Do good citizens accept the suffering we bring to the world?
Does God want our country rich and others poor?
For those who want to implement laws
That come from the Old Testament
Be sure to include things like the years of jubilee
Where we forgive those of debts and crimes
Why do we not celebrate the feasts of Israel?
How can we just ignore all the social justice issues
That God talks about in the Prophets
Repeating the same ideas over and over
Where are our prophets that lead the country
Not by majority vote or legal action
But by talking directly with God?
Who is it in government that we can elect
Who wants to rid America of sin?
If we can all agree Hollywood is a problem
Will we give up all the money we get from it
Or at least stop spending our money on its products?
If we believe we are in the world but not of it
Why do we champion the ideas of the world?
Our nation has a long list of national sins
One of which the Church has denounced recently
But there are so many they do not want to believe
We are so loyal to our system
Unless we have to pay more money or sacrifice anything
Or God forbid we fight in one of the wars we vote for
How is being cheap a Christian value?
If we want to save money on clothing and food
So we wear used clothing and eat used food
This is probably ok with God
But why are we unwilling
To pay more money to reduce trash
Or to reduce the torture of animals?
Why do we not dispose of our own waste
In our own country?
Why do we hide the cost to God’s creation
On the other side of the world
This is because we do not want to admit
How toxic our modern society is
And what are the most controversial issues ever?
Anything that requires everyone to do something
That we don’t want to believe is a problem
Even when required by law
Just like the Protestant view where
Every believer can just spin their own theology to suit them
So we think we can do so with government
Just vote out the inconvenient ideas
It is easy to follow the laws you voted for
As they fit your personal worldview
That you think everyone else should believe
It is not just unbelievers who create their own religions
We cannot just choose certain human laws
To follow and not others
Just as we cannot choose just certain laws
From the Bible to follow
Human laws are not ever going to be
The same as God’s laws
But we need to follow both
And a moral stance on a particular issue
Cannot just be abandoned
Because we want to save money
Or we think it inconvenient
This is not a legitimate reason not to stand for them
And it is not a persecution of any kind
When we are called out being mean to others
Saying inappropriate things in public
And people ask us to leave their property
When we think of not following a country’s laws
Because we think they are not moral
Remember the apostles told us to serve our masters
Even when we were sold into slavery
And Rome was so evil at the time
That is was the evolution of Babylon
And the home of the anti Christ
What was the Christian response then?