No Surprise to Me
It never ceases to amaze and disappoint me just how easily Christians in America can ignore the divine wisdom of the Holy Bible - the supposed source of their core values and beliefs - especially as it concerns the important decisions of our nation.
This is a problem, and if we don’t repent we’re going to be in serious trouble. Perhaps we already are.
Many evangelicals in America are convinced that fragmenting our faith from our politics (the science of ordering our lives) is threatening the very soul of our nation and plunging us rapidly down the slippery slope of moral relativism that will cause America to become unrecognizable and indistinguishable from any other nation. Turning our backs to our faith, some would contend, will without question signal the end of American exceptional-ism in the world.
Christian philosopher and author Francis Schaeffer spoke to this well in his 1981 Christian Manifesto when he stated; “the basic problem of the Christians in this country in the last eighty years or so, in regard to society and in regard to government, is that they have seen things in bits and pieces instead of totals.”
I cannot think of a more vivid example of this than what manifested itself during the mass hysteria that passed for a presidential campaign in 2008.
It was during that populist political uprising in America that millions of people decided that they could be Christians in the church without necessarily being so in the voting booth. All over the nation Christians packed into churches each Sunday to enthusiastically pledge their allegiance to Jesus and His values; but then almost immediately dismissed those values from being important in determining who we should empowered to be our leaders.
This has placed their credibility and claims of being transformed and enlightened people in serious jeopardy and has caused them to become unrecognizable as Christians and indistinguishable from any other segment of our society.
Allow me to use a scripture to explain where I’m coming from.
The Bible instructs Christians to “Test everything. Hold on to the good.” 1 Thess. 5:21
This isn’t deep Bible doctrine and shouldn’t require any significant expositional commentary; but allow me to offer one, nevertheless.
This is a warning for Christians to be wise and requires that we not buy into anyone or anything based exclusively on the way it appears on the surface. The Bible is saying that it is essential that we examine everything and everyone against some objective measure to ensure that things line up with our core values and beliefs before we lay claim to them and endorse them for others. The objective measure for us would be the Bible. Would you agree?
Assuming that Christians would reject that which is evil and embrace that which is good according to our values; wisdom requires that we dig deeply to examine exactly where a person is coming from in their prophetic proclamations and promises to us before we offer them our allegiance and authority to lead and or influence us.
Unfortunately, millions of Christians did not exercise Biblical wisdom during the epic swoon over the darling Barack Obama and his family, and were no different than all the others who made him their choice while under his charismatic influence. Most of us simply bought into the inspirational sell pitches - hook, line, and sinker - and were completely satisfied to ignore all of the tell tale signs that indicated him to be exactly what many people suspected him to be – antithetical to Christian values.
President Obama, without question is a Pro-abortion president. He is not pro-choice; he is pro-abortion and has never tried to hide that fact. For those to whom this was important during the campaign, it comes as no surprise that one of his very first acts in office as our president was to repeal the ban on federal funds being used for foreign abortions. Simply put, American tax dollars will now be used to pay for women in Mexico, Somalia, and other nations to have abortions against the ethical opposition of millions of taxpayers who find that morally objectionable.
He is also repealing President Bush’s courageous policy of prohibiting federal funds from scientific research that employs the use of embryonic stem cells; a practice that bio-ethicists insist is both immoral and unnecessary.
President Obama is also fulfilling the promises made to the gay and lesbian interest groups that supported him, beginning with the repeal of President Bill Clintons “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’ policy. This will kick the door wide open for Gays and Lesbians to enlist in the armed forces of the United States and openly practice their lifestyle, an act that many military experts believes will negatively affect the morale of our fighting forces.
This is only the beginning, I’m sure; but it’s no surprise to me.
Fortunately, it also won’t surprise me when people who claim to be Christians will continue to either ignore or try to justify what potentially could become the greatest assault on main stream values ever launched from Washington D.C.
I did not run into or read people that ignored the Biblical standards for morality. When confronted they used the lame excuse ‘well abortion (same-sex issues, etc.) did not change under the Bush administration. I thought ‘Since when was that the standard for following the Bible for a Christian???’ This is when I started literally crying over this election. I cried because I realized that we had turncoats in the body of Christ. They would participate in my persecution if their lives were on the line. That was a frightening thought to me for only a moment. I think the real questions should be ‘What is the Bible definition of a Christian?, ‘What does the BIble say the fruit of a Christian should be?’ and the most brutal question of all, ‘Who do we know that say they are Christian that are really Christians?’. This is all throughout the Bible. Sad to say many Christians out and out rejected God’s word when it was presented to them.
I know of one that stated that she planned to vote for Obama. She did a post recently on her blog basically stating her concerns about her rights, abortion and the like. I posted a long reply stating that Obama’s views on these issues were out there for years and repeated during his campaign. I also stated that these were the very issues AND MANY MORE why I just could not vote for the man. I believe I also stated that I was preparing myself for persecution. With the people that believe that the Constitution is a living document, persecution of Christians is a real possibility in America without heart changes (which of course I am sincerely praying for).
This post was awesome. I couldn’t agree more and hope that more and more of us, particularly of our own people, will be speaking out for Biblical truth.
And Pamela–God bless you. I don’t know who you are, but you have words coming from someone of likemind and it’s so refreshing to hear. Let’s keep lovingly trying to be a voice to our Christian brethren. One thing I ‘ve been doing is to try, every opportunity I can, to send them to this site where they can find a Christian, conservative voice coming from people of our race, and may I add , a voice of sound reasoning.
My only hope is that God has a purpose in all this–I just pray it’s not judgment. But if it is, He’ll uphold His own.
Both of your posts brings refreshing and renewing spirit for me. knowing their are like minded people like me in this world, may God bless both of you.
Pamela is absolutely correct in warning us that real persecution (and sometimes prosecution) may be coming for Christians in here the near future. The Bible tells us that anyone who will live Godly (in increasing ungodly times) is going to suffer persecution.
The question that we must ask ourselves is whether or not we are willing to withstand that persecution (especially Black Christians) that will certainly come with being an opposition voice in the Obama era firmly committed to standing on Biblical principles. I know that I am.
I just want to say after reading Ceasar’s article and reading the three responses, I feel a sense of hope for a situation I admit normally brings me great sadness and heaviness of heart. That is the ability of the great many who call on the Name of Christ, who when leaving their place of worship, act as if there were a time-clock at the exit that they “punched out” before they left, and “can now get-on with their real lives” they live outside the church walls. Lord, forgive the tattered condition of your church, the shallowness of our faith and poor testimony we exhibit to others. Lord please help us.
The US is not a Theocracy, it’s a democracy! The President is obligated to uphold Constitutional Rights of every citizen (homosexuals, abortionists, lesbians, unbelievers etc., etc.), not just Christians!
Presidents don’t create and make laws——–citizens make the laws, majority rules, remember?
God doesn’t force anyone to obey His laws. He gives us a choice! Even Israel (who was a Theocracy), after she stray away from God, was called together by God to choose whom she would obey. Even the gospel teaches, “Whosoever will, let him come.”
I don’t agree with abortions, same sex marriages, or any other ungodly and immoral vices WE (Christians gone asleep at the wheel) have allowed to become law. But rather than attack and accuse our president of a mess I helped to create by being silent; in repentance, I will use my Constitutional Right of free speech and choice of religion to rewrite the law of man’s heart by applying the gospel message (in the Spirit of Christ) to each soul I encounter who is contemplating abortion or same sex marriage or any of the other laws that violate God’s laws. I will pray, asking God to put me in places where He can use me to present Christ to those whose hearts have been prep to receive Him.
Also, in addition to what I previously posted, are we as Christians praying for President Obama—-that he be sensitive to the prompting of the Spirit of God? Scripture does tell us to pray for kings (in our case president) and government officials.
I don’t recall the scriptures ever telling of Jesus or any of the apostles verbally condemning government officials. Throughout their time on the earth, they were about the Father’s Business.
God placed Paul in the midst of government—-and while there—-he didn’t attack government officials, he proclaimed the gospel—-the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. When the gospel is received, change occurs and the Kingdom of God advances on earth.
Politics can’t change a man’s heart—-but the gospel can.
Anna,
Tell me what democracy did Paul or Jesus have to influence? Because we live in a democracy we an opportunity, to influence our government and even run for office, which the early church never had.
But don’t forget that the prophets challenged the King of Israel and Judah as well as surrounding nations. In the gospels John the Baptist challenged King Herod.
So there is a biblical precedent for criticizing the leaders of our government and calling them back to righteousness