What does unfounded fear cause? It causes you to think that a president who opts not to say "endowed by their Creator" in his quotation of the Declaration of Independence is a good reason to go ballistic. The fact is that "by their Creator" is a statement of faith, and evidently, our President either doesn't believe that statements of faith should be included in government documents or he doesn't believe that these rights are actually endowed by our Creator. Either way, he should probably not quote the document accurately. He would be hypocritical to do so. "Hypocrisy: the act of pretending to have beliefs, opinions, virtues, feelings, qualities, or standards that one does not actually have. Hypocrisy involves the deception of others and is thus a kind of lie."1
The prophets in the Old Testament would agree. They were constantly warning Israel that God could care less about outward demonstrations coming from unbelieving hearts. He accepts only those demonstrations that flow from a heart of love and commitment toward Him. We waste valuable time and emotional energy when we try to force people to say what they don't mean. When we insist on this, we create a nation of hypocrites(non-believers who go ahead and say it) and rebels(non-believers who refuse to say it). We do this based on the fear that we are losing something great. But when you think about it, we've already lost "it" if "it" must be forced. Yes, I think a President should have some buy-in on our foundational documents and fearlessly quote them accurately. More importantly, though, I want to know where the man stands, so, keep on being real, Mr. Obama.
Americans who love their Creator need not be afraid. Even in light of the wild, unrelenting changes overtaking American society, changes like re-worded foundational documents, we should never be afraid of letting people speak honestly from their heart. At least we know where we stand. Americans who love their Creator need to take a step back, relax a little, in light of our status as God's family. We already know the end of the story. America and our President are not the answer for humanity. Our purupose is to patiently bring Truth to every person we can. Not political or social truth. The Truth person, Jesus Christ, our Creator. Bringing another heart to Him will bring shalom (~peace) to another life and could potentially turn the tide for generations to come.
1 Wikipedia ;-)
Great thoughts, Lori, and they are true. I may have a different perspective on your prescription, though - that we can relax a bit because we already know the end of the story.
ReplyDeleteI was really struck by one of Kenneth's comments in the current series on spiritual warfare... I took away from one of his sermons (and I hope that I am not butchering the thought) that yes, we know the outcome - more than that, we know that the war is *already* won.. and we're not fighting that war. We're fighting for territory, for ground. The examples that Kenneth gave were things like a battle for clean water is a battle for territory, ground that Satan wants and we can take for Christ.
I think that we could make the same argument about politics. So many folks say, "I don't want to get involved in politics because it is too dirty, too ugly, too crooked... and I'm not a citizen of this world, I'm a citizen of heaven". Those things are true, but to me that's a reason to be involved - each battle against dishonesty, crookedness, tyranny, etc. is a battle for ground that Satan wants us to concede. Each political battle about abortion, homosexuality, etc. is especially a battle for territory that Satan wants us to concede...
My thoughts. I appreciate you sharing yours with us above.
John Scott
I agree...but when we freak out, overreact and point accusing fingers, we lose our credibility in the political realm. "In humility consider others better than yourselves"needs to be the hallmark of Christians so people can get a glimpse of Jesus. The way people engage with each other these days is sad, so little respect for the other person. I have been part of this so I'm not judging, just trying to look anew at these developments in light of how Jesus operated.
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