Of God and Country

It may just be that I'm not exactly the most nationalistic person in the world, but for the longest time, I've been wrestling with a strange attitude creeping into my thinking... something that feels foreign, not only to my past way of thinking, but to the thinking of those around me now.

What do you think about the importance of politics... of the government... of America?

By that, I don't mean "What's you're opinion of politics?" or "Are you liberal or conservative?" No, I'm asking about something more meaningful than that. What I'm really asking is, "How important is it?" And before you label me as an anarchist or even worse, a college student that doesn't vote... let me explain.

I grew up like every average American kid, and was born and raised in the south. As a result, my education taught me that there was glory in the American Revolution and every war since, that democracy is king (pun anyone?), and that freedom, justice, and the American dream are what we as Americans should strive for above all. While I understand how an American education leads to an American glorification, that's not even what I want to address. What I have really come to realize now is that... the church does it too.

What do I mean, you ask? Let me put forward a couple of examples. Growing up, I remember several points of debate within the Christian community concerned with faith and country. The highlights include the possibility of removing "In God We Trust" from currency, removing "Under God" from the pledge of alegiance, teaching evolution in schools, and just about every election featuring the godly conservative against the atheist democrat (during a debate in 2004, my siblings and i threw easter eggs at the TV when John Kerry showed up on the screen). Now it's true that these issues contain aspects of our faith and citizenship and must therefore be recognized. However, when the church gets up in arms while claiming that "God is being taken out of America," I believe we have crossed a line.

I spent the 2 weeks studying Acts 10 as a part of my Greek Exegesis course last fall. This chapter marks the beginning of the Gospel being preached to the Gentiles. Take a minute to realize what that means.Throughout the Old Testament period, God communicated with, protected, and disciplined the nation of Israel. He commanded his people to keep away from the other "Canaanite nations" so that the idol worship and immorality of the culture would not pull them away from the true God. In Acts 10, Peter shares the Gospel with these pagan "outsiders," and they come to belief in Christ. What a glorious turn-around this was, not only for the Gentiles, but for the apostles to realize that the whole WORLD could come to Christ!

While the apostles realized the glory of God's plan, some of the Jewish people were less understanding. Many held tight to their identity as a nation set apart, and reacted violently and maliciously towards any who thought otherwise. They saw God and Nation as one inseparable concept, and saw any change in that as heresy. Could it be that the American church does the same?

When we shake our heads in shame because the government wants to take God out of the pledge, are we doing so because less people will come to Christ, or because our country won't take up our Christian identity? When we groan as states legalize same-sex marriage (the number is constantly growing), are we saddened that so many in our country are caught in such a painful, entrapping sin that misses God's best for us, or are we simply upset that others are allowed to sin... even others that don't even know Christ?

When we hold America to a Christian standard, we tell hundreds of thousands of people that they have to obey a God that they don't believe in. We shove aside the Gospel and God's grace, and instead place commandments of God on those who don't even know Him. In fact, how contradictory to the gospel is that? So often we get frustrated and angry with those who don't abide by God's standards when we know they haven't even experienced his grace. In this we reflect our desire for moral conformity rather than the salvation of our countrymen.

America is indeed a blessing from God, a place to live and interact in great freedom, and for that I am thankful. But what if America wasn't the most important identity we hold? What if it were simply the context in which God has placed us to reach the world? Can we see the presence of sin as a need for God's grace and forgiveness? Can we pray for all the canidates, see votes as opportunities and not duties, and the increase in godlessness as an opportunity for revival?

Let freedom ring in the hearts of the redeemed, let liberty come to free slaves of sin, and let the justice of God come with His kingdom.

Brian

Usurping God's Throne

Sorry about the long drought, but life gets busy.  Here are some thoughts that I think will be healthy for you to hear...

I have been reading a book for a Theology class by A.W. Tozer entitled, “The Knowledge of the Holy.”  I would highly suggest this book for all of you who desire to think rightly, and therefore act rightly before the God of the Universe.  I realized as I was reading that my thinking about God directly affects my actions in daily life, and that my thinking concerning God’s nature was severely distorted.  Prepare yourself to be humbled because nobody leaves a time of deep thinking about God in a spirit of arrogance, rather it always leads to humility and worship.

This one quote really grabbed my attention...

“Sin has many manifestations but its essence is one.  A moral being created to worship before the throne of God, sits on the throne of his own selfhood and from that elevated position declares, ‘I AM.’” – A.W. Tozer

What is your reaction to this statement?  Read it again.

Tozer claims that every time you and I choose to sin this is what we say: “God you have no place to rule in my life!  I’m calling the shots! I am hitting the “ejection button” so that you are catapulted off of your throne and now I will run my life.”

How does that sound? Stupid? Arrogant? Like suicide?

Yet we do this multiple times every single day!

I don’t know about you, but I know that I “sugar-coat” my sin.  After all, I look around me and see all those around me doing much “worse” things than I am doing. 

You see, the point is not what “kind” of sin we are committing; it is against WHOM we are committing it.  We have to understand that God, who created us and sustains every minute detail of His creation at this very moment, is an infinite, holy, righteous, self-sufficient Being.  He was perfectly happy in Himself before He created you. 

So when you sin you say to this gracious, majestic God: “Though I am finite, dependent, and have a desperately wicked heart, I will rule my life!”

Is this starting to sink in?  I hope you see how this is absurd on every level!

God’s Commands Are Good

What makes this even more absurd is that He is not asking us to obey Him for no reason.  We don’t obey God’s commands because we do not believe that He is Good.  Let me explain why I believe this to be true.

As Creator, God created the world to function in specific way; therefore He knows how to live life here on earth to its fullest.  The commands that we are given in Scripture are NOT restrictive! We hear this taught and preached constantly, but we still don’t get it.  God is not trying to limit our lives or our pleasure.  Matt Chandler, Lead Pastor of The Village Church, states it this way, “God’s commands align us with how He created the universe to function.”

When God tells us to do sex inside certain guidelines, He is not restricting our pleasure, but teaching us how to experience sex to its fullest – the way He created it to work.  Any other way is a perversion of sex, and is only a partial experience of the fullness of it.

When God tells us to do family roles this way, He is not limiting our freedom (male or female), but instructing us on how we can experience the fullness of joy in our family relationships.

These are just two examples, but the principle can be applied across the board.

The question is, do we believe this?

I think that this is how David could write how much he loves God’s law in Psalm 119; he understood that God gave His commands to show His children how to live in the world that He created.

1 John 5:3 states, “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.” 

Obeying God should not be “burdensome,” but should be joyous as we deny our fleshly desires, obey God’s commands, and therefore align ourselves with how He created the world to work.

The Gospel

Too often we talk about sin without talking about the Savior.  Because of Jesus’ death on the cross, we have access to the Father through repentance and faith in the blood of Jesus.  When we truly repent and believe, Biblically we receive a new heart and new nature that desires to follow after the commands of God. 

However, on the “dirt path” called sanctification, we all choose to usurp the throne like we discussed earlier.  Because the blood of Jesus has forgiven us from all sin, when we realize that we have sinned against God and elevated ourselves rather than God, we can run TO Him because our righteousness is based on what Jesus DID, not what I DO!  Too often when we sin we run away from God instead of running to Him.  This is a sign of Spiritual immaturity, and exposes an incorrect understanding of the Gospel.

Instead of usurping God’s throne, we desire to “promote the honor of God and the good of our fellow men.”  Commit, along with me, to magnify and bring glory to God’s throne and rule in my life rather than constantly ruling my own life.

So in closing, I want you to realize the gravity and disgusting nature of your sin before a Holy God, while remembering that we do not get better by “trying harder” not to sin, but by focusing on the Savior and what He has purchased for us.  That is the glorious Gospel.

I hope this makes sense. I could have developed some of the ideas more fully, but ran out of time, and it was already getting lengthy.  May God bless His words and my humble thoughts.

Scott