For the past couple of days, I have contemplated even writing a post about some of my feelings. I have posted on Facebook some very frustrated feelings, but I mostly get ignored. And honestly, there is a good chance this blog post will also be ignored. But I hope not. I feel led to share....
This message is for Christian Americans. No one else. The reason being is I am disappointed in the American Christian. We live in a country where freedom is one of the most priceless things we have. Other Christians in other nations would do anything to have that freedom to practice our faith as freely as we can. And while many of those freedoms are being challenged, the Constitution protects those freedoms. Our founders viewed faith to be just as essential as freedom. And we are fortunate that we can do that. Not everyone is free. In fact, I don't actually think Christian Americans really appreciate their freedom. It is way too easy to take it for granted. I say the same thing to myself. I don't think I have really appreciated what I can do as a Christian that I definitely cannot do in other countries. Just look at the Christians in other countries who are being slaughtered by ISIS. There are underground Christians all over the world. There are people starving for Christ...longing for truth and to hear this truth, while American Christians are stagnant. We like to pat ourselves on our back for putting quotes or verses on our wall as a way of saying "see, I'm a Christian." I in no way think those things are bad. They are good. But that doesn't mean we know what it means to suffer for Christ. I don't even think I really know what it means to suffer for Christ. But you ask those people in Iran, China, Iraq, etc who are literally laying their lives on the line for Jesus Christ, and they don't flinch in their faith. They will do whatever it takes to save their family members, save their friends to know Jesus. Even if it is illegal to do so. But here in America, we have "tolerant" Christians, we have people who flip flop on their beliefs, we have "Christians" that go to church on a weekly or almost daily basis, and yet they live the same lives as people who are not. This isn't what the Christian faith is about. Again, I point the same fingers at myself. I am incredibly flawed and fall short every single day.
But I think American Christians need to get out of their apathy, stop being complacent, and actually take their faith seriously. It's time. Our future as a nation is very questionable right now. When more than 50% of people claiming Christianity voted for a man who claims he is a Christian, but can't even tell us what he values, what his favorite verse is, when he jokes about how he would date his daughter because she is hot, where he brags about the number of women he has slept with, where he claims that his sex life is his own personal Vietnam, where he calls people nasty names and lies soo frequently that it has become a joke, and where a man who flip flops on his views almost on a daily basis - we have a problem.
If we are so passive and say "Well, I don't want a pastor-in-chief" or "I just want someone to win for the Republican party," then i would say we are compromising our values as Christians just to "win." I never claimed any man was perfect or that any man is a savior other than the only Savior we have - Jesus. But, we aren't supposed to compromise our values either.
Let's look at what happened last year with the videos that showed that Planned Parenthood was selling aborted baby parts, and where was the outrage? Do you realize, that maybe 5% of my Christian friends even expressed outrage on that? Or the numerous times in the past year that religious freedom has been on attack. Or how many even mentioned the be-headings of Christians in Egypt, etc.How many of your Christian friends and family did? Did your church say anything? Did your pastor? If they did, then you are in the minority. Why are we staying silent? Is it because we don't want to be attacked? Labeled?
I hate to remind you - but staying silent isn't something Jesus wanted for his disciples. We were told to spread the gospel. We were told to speak out against injustices. We were told and shown how to live by Christ himself. He laid His very own life down. I think of this verse: "Do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God." ~ Micah 6:8
Again, I am pointing the finger at myself on this too. I have failed on this. And while God gives us much love and grace, he doesn't want us to be passive. He demands we stand for something. I am reminded of Revelation 3:15-16 - " I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth."
I don't want to be lukewarm. I want to stand for something. And when there is injustice, when there is violence, when there is evil occurring, we should be standing up and speaking out. We should be paying attention to what is going on and knowing what is going on in our country and in other countries. And we should know more about that than what Beyonce's newest song is about. We should be using our rights to vote (how many Christians are NOT voting and should?). Our pastors and clergy should be doing more. We have the right to peacefully protest against injustices as well, and we should. I just think it is way too easy in America to be passive and to be complacent. And we should be uncomfortable with what we are seeing. We should be looking for ways to volunteer and help organizations that fight against abortion, help in ways to protect children from sex-trafficking, stand in the gap for our fellow Christians in other countries and speak out for them. We should be on our knees praying for forgiveness for our apathy as a nation. We should be praying and seeking God in all we do. We can do more. I can do more.
And part of that is in our lifestyle and how we speak about others. How we work. How we treat others. How we show compassion. We are supposed to vote differently. We are supposed to BE DIFFERENT.
This isn't a tirade full of anger. I promise. But I am frustrated. And I am even frustrated with myself. I know I could have said more and done more. But I don't want to live my life with regrets. I don't want to just go through the motions anymore. And Matthew West's song "Motions" really hits home with me on this:
"I don't wanna go through the motions
I don't wanna go one more day
Without Your all consuming passion inside of me
I don't wanna spend my whole life asking
What if I had given everything
Instead of going through the motions?"
We can do it. We can be strong. With Jesus, anything is possible. Anything!
Don't compromise who God made you to be and trust in Him to do this. Are you with me?
Very meaningful !! I liked it...
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