Dear America,
I have been pondering for almost a week now about what I wanted to say, or if I wanted to say anything at all, in response to the events that have occurred in our country over the past couple of weeks. After much prayer and consideration, I have come to the conclusion that I cannot remain silent when so many of my brothers and sisters in Christ are suffering, while also considering the general suffering of my fellow Americans.
It is with a heavy heart that I type these words, debating over which issues to address and which to not address. I could write about the suffering in our country for days on end without covering everything that has gone on and is going on. Therefore, please do not take this simple letter to show the full extent of my thoughts and struggles on these issues that we currently face.
The first thing that comes to my mind is suffering. Our country is suffering deeply and in many different ways. We have millions of fellow citizens who are living displaced lives, currently not having a single thing left from what their lives were about a month ago. Their homes have been destroyed and their belongings ruined by flooding and the destruction of property. Texas, Florida, Georgia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands (speaking only towards those areas that are American) among others have been ravaged by three significant hurricanes one after the other, seemingly with little respite between storms. Families have been torn from their homes, left with nothing.
The Bible calls Christians to love others, and yet instead of love, I have seen indifference and in some cases a hatred toward these people who one day were living their lives and the next had absolutely nothing left to live with. Now, many of the responses of hate have I am sure come from those who do not believe in Jesus as Lord, and yet there have also been many who would claim to trust in God that have made statements that show everything but that.
As I look at the amount of people who have been displaced (over 5 million), either temporarily or permanently due to the destruction of their homes my heart breaks. Instead of striving to figure out how to honor an egotistical degenerate who lived and, by all reports, died in his sin, we should be striving to bring comfort and rest for those who are living with nothing. We should be reaching out and doing everything that we can to help these people. Not only because they are our fellow Americans, but because many of them belong to the body of Christ and therefore are our brothers and sisters (those who believe that Jesus is Lord are brothers and sisters). Not only do we need to help those in need physically, but also spiritually. There are so many who are full of despair and see nothing left for themselves. So instead of celebrating a degenerate, let us bring them the news of Christ crucified!
During this horrible crisis in which so many have lost their lives and others everything that they own, our country has become even more of a powder keg surrounding issues of racial hate and misunderstanding. Major cities have erupted in riots and we have seen those who are suffering take the brunt of the demonstrations.
This past weekend our president and the NFL (as well as other athletes from other sports) came to a tipping point. The president said things that should never be said by the president who is supposed to care for and look after the well-being of all his citizens. The NFL responded, for the most part, as a unified front. Proclaiming that they (as individuals) have the right to actions that are peaceful in protest to many of the racial tensions and sufferings that are occurring within the United States.
As I watched these events unfold, I was deeply saddened by the reactions that I saw from friends as well as strangers. Men who play a game for the entertainment of many spoke out in order to make a statement that shows their viewpoint on an issue that can only be resolved through the love that Christ brings. Instead of having people come together to try to understand these men, to understand why they felt the need to make a demonstration in the manner that they did, people attacked the NFL and its players. Instead of seeking to understand the viewpoints of those who feel oppressed in this country, they were admonished by people based on the opinion of what their stance meant to those admonishing them, rather than upon the viewpoints of those making the demonstration.
So many of the conversations that I hear and the comments that I saw turned the conversation into whether or not these men were patriotic or not. Meanwhile, there were statements from numerable people on each team that protested stating why they did what they did, none of which were for unpatriotic reasons. People want to claim that these men hate their country, simply because they have not conformed to the status quo.
Yet, so many have simply forgotten that these same men and organizations quickly gave of their own time and money to support those affected by the hurricanes. These same men that have been villainized for taking a knee are ignored when they donated their paychecks to help ease the pain of those trying to bring their lives back together. They are called horrific names, that I will not repeat, just because they took a stand for what they believed was right, just shortly after raising millions of dollars in a very short amount of time in order to give it all towards the rebuilding of homes for those who cannot afford to, the provision of food and water for areas that no longer have enough. This same organization and the men that work for it gave freely of the wealth that so many hold against them, even amidst the strife that they felt going on in their communities and the nation as a whole.
Why are these men responding this way?!?! Because, they are Americans. Many of the men within the NFL and its organizations have responded to the natural tragedies that have occurred with swift action, ready to sacrifice what they have for those in need.
Instead of an outcry of hatred towards them, projecting reasons for their actions on them that they themselves have denied and have provided clear reasoning to the contrary, maybe we should begin to try to understand where they are coming from. To stand with them against injustice, for are these not the same men that less than a week ago we were praising for their efforts in assisting their fellow Americans? Can we not begin to understand that every person in this country sees situations differently? How many of those who poured their hate onto social media after Sunday's demonstration donated their time and money to helping their fellow Americans who are suffering? How many have taken the time to break bread with those they don't understand or disagree with in an effort to learn about their struggles and convictions?
Brothers and sisters; we serve a righteous God whose name is Jesus. It is through His blood and work on the cross that we can hope to gain any ground in this struggle that has a strangle hold on our country. Jesus didn't just stay with the Jews that he grew up with. No, He went to Samaria, spoke with the Romans, and interacted with all sorts of different kinds of people throughout His time on earth. This is how He showed God's love to others, He laid down His life for all those who would believe in Him, not just certain people groups.
Instead of breathing hatred towards one another, I pray that we would enter into deep conversations about the love of God and try to understand the viewpoints of those who have felt oppression for far too many years in a country that claims to have freedom for all. Instead of taking offense when someone feels mistreated, may we yearn to learn why and how we have mistreated them in order to correct the grievance.
May the love of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you,
Steve
Thursday, September 28, 2017
Friday, September 1, 2017
The Nashville Statement
This week as I have seen and heard many different responses to the Nashville Statement, I feel compelled to write about the document that was released earlier this week. The responses have been wide and varying, seeming to come from every part of "Christianity" and the secular. There have been those who have praised the statement, and those who have denounced it. In reading these responses and seeing the ways that people are responding to the statement, you can see two paths being taken.
The first path, which is the loudest - due mainly to their methodology and manner, is that taken by those who are opposed to the statement. These range from those who don't like the name, because they do not understand the historical traditions of the church - whereby creeds and statements have been named after the place they were written for thousands of years, all the way to people who hate God to begin with and therefore are understandably opposed to the document.
In this first path there seems to be an immense amount of hate and malice towards anyone who supports the document and it's theological statements. All while not understanding that the document reflects the beliefs and doctrines of the Church since the beginning, namely since creation. They refuse to take passages of Scripture for what they are, namely, the very Word of God. (Examples include: Hebrews 13, Romans 1, Jude 1, I Timothy 1, Genesis 1, Mark 10, I Corinthians 7, I Corinthians 6, Leviticus 18, Leviticus 20, etc.)
Because the people taking the first path refuse to acknowledge the design that God put in place for men and women, they are refusing to acknowledge Him as creator. This is very dangerous ground, especially for those who claim to know Him. By refusing to acknowledge Him as creator they are in fact declaring that they do not know Him, or at the very least they are extremely confused as to who God is.
The people on the second path, those who have affirmed/signed the statement, have for the most part done nothing to specifically target individuals, but having simply attached their name to beliefs that have been held by the church since its very foundation. For their efforts they have been maligned and hated by many of their fellow community members. For affirming statements that are by-in-large found directly within the pages of Scripture, they have been called horrible things and have had to deal with the hate, disrespect, and slander of those taking the first path.
When a doctor calls to tell a patient that they have received the results of their cancer screening and lets them know that they do or do not have cancer, this is loving. So, in the same way, if Scripture tells us that something is sin or that someone is living in sin, we must relay that message to them. This is loving. To remain silent on this issue, or on an issue that deals with another sin, would be to disregard the direct commands of God, namely to spread the Gospel throughout the entire earth.
Those who have chosen to sign/support/affirm the statement have not done so because they hate those involved in sexual sin, but rather they have done so because they love them and desire to see them come to a knowledge of their sin through repentance, thereby turning from their sin to the saving work of Jesus Christ. To support truth cannot be unloving. To remain silent and allow someone to remain in ignorance is neither loving nor caring. When a teacher corrects the work of a student, they do not do so because they hate the student, but rather because they want the student to develop and grow into a well rounded individual who is able to think for themselves in a manner that correctly reflects the situation that they find themselves.
There are so many example that can be drawn from different situations in life that reflect the same thing as the doctor and teacher analogies do. Yet, there are those who will refuse to listen, those who will refuse to acknowledge truth. This is because they refuse to hold to God's Word as the foundation upon which all truth must be built. Scripture must interpret all things that we believe. If what we believe is not based upon what Scripture tells us, then we either are not Christians, or are very confused and need to change what we believe.
May we all interact with those that we come in contact with to discuss this issue, as well as others like it, with love, mercy, and grace. May we refrain from responding to hate with hate or disdain. May we all take the love that we have been shown by Christ and allow it to shine through us to others.
The first path, which is the loudest - due mainly to their methodology and manner, is that taken by those who are opposed to the statement. These range from those who don't like the name, because they do not understand the historical traditions of the church - whereby creeds and statements have been named after the place they were written for thousands of years, all the way to people who hate God to begin with and therefore are understandably opposed to the document.
In this first path there seems to be an immense amount of hate and malice towards anyone who supports the document and it's theological statements. All while not understanding that the document reflects the beliefs and doctrines of the Church since the beginning, namely since creation. They refuse to take passages of Scripture for what they are, namely, the very Word of God. (Examples include: Hebrews 13, Romans 1, Jude 1, I Timothy 1, Genesis 1, Mark 10, I Corinthians 7, I Corinthians 6, Leviticus 18, Leviticus 20, etc.)
Because the people taking the first path refuse to acknowledge the design that God put in place for men and women, they are refusing to acknowledge Him as creator. This is very dangerous ground, especially for those who claim to know Him. By refusing to acknowledge Him as creator they are in fact declaring that they do not know Him, or at the very least they are extremely confused as to who God is.
The people on the second path, those who have affirmed/signed the statement, have for the most part done nothing to specifically target individuals, but having simply attached their name to beliefs that have been held by the church since its very foundation. For their efforts they have been maligned and hated by many of their fellow community members. For affirming statements that are by-in-large found directly within the pages of Scripture, they have been called horrible things and have had to deal with the hate, disrespect, and slander of those taking the first path.
When a doctor calls to tell a patient that they have received the results of their cancer screening and lets them know that they do or do not have cancer, this is loving. So, in the same way, if Scripture tells us that something is sin or that someone is living in sin, we must relay that message to them. This is loving. To remain silent on this issue, or on an issue that deals with another sin, would be to disregard the direct commands of God, namely to spread the Gospel throughout the entire earth.
Those who have chosen to sign/support/affirm the statement have not done so because they hate those involved in sexual sin, but rather they have done so because they love them and desire to see them come to a knowledge of their sin through repentance, thereby turning from their sin to the saving work of Jesus Christ. To support truth cannot be unloving. To remain silent and allow someone to remain in ignorance is neither loving nor caring. When a teacher corrects the work of a student, they do not do so because they hate the student, but rather because they want the student to develop and grow into a well rounded individual who is able to think for themselves in a manner that correctly reflects the situation that they find themselves.
There are so many example that can be drawn from different situations in life that reflect the same thing as the doctor and teacher analogies do. Yet, there are those who will refuse to listen, those who will refuse to acknowledge truth. This is because they refuse to hold to God's Word as the foundation upon which all truth must be built. Scripture must interpret all things that we believe. If what we believe is not based upon what Scripture tells us, then we either are not Christians, or are very confused and need to change what we believe.
May we all interact with those that we come in contact with to discuss this issue, as well as others like it, with love, mercy, and grace. May we refrain from responding to hate with hate or disdain. May we all take the love that we have been shown by Christ and allow it to shine through us to others.
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