Posted by Gary on May 10, 2010
1 Chronicles 29:11-12 “Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Yours is the dominion, O Lord, and You exalt Yourself as head over all. Both riches and honor come from You, and You rule over all, and in Your hand is power and might; and it lies in Your hand to make great and to strengthen everyone.”
Last week I joined my daughter and her grade school class on a trip to Washington D.C. to tour the Capitol and visit the Smithsonian. As we walked about I saw what was the appearance of power everywhere. Dark suits, attaches, sunglasses back on the head, clusters of people outside of meeting rooms, names of influential people on office doors, to those whose hearts and lives are bound up in this world I am sure it is very impressive.
As I went through my day it was increasingly obvious that this is the place of action and those involved in it think themselves movers and shakers. But in truth, Washington and those in it do not know what power is nor do they possess it. Power belongs to God.
It was striking to me as I looked on the people in the suits with the briefcases that time is rolling over them like it has over every other Washington power broker in the past whose bodies are now being eaten by worms and whose souls have already gone to their place either to heaven by the mercy of the all-powerful God or to hell to receive there forever the justice of God.
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Posted by Gary on February 5, 2010
I find that the concern in me regarding today’s Christians and their political pursuits does not cease. I wrote an initial post entitled, “Trusting in Princes” to express my concern and revisit the topic today.
I understand fully that for now we are creatures of this world and much of our life must be taken up with the things of this world. We have to eat, work, sleep and have obligations that come from living in this world, this is all granted. Yet, the Bible commands the Christian to keep his focus, efforts and affections on the things above as much as possible (Colossians 3:1-2).What we think about, what we become joyful over or unhappy about reveals more than anything where we have placed our affections and trust.
I would ask Christians in our day to examine themselves to find out how much their thoughts, affections and trust are tied to the political happenings of this world compared to the things above and the gospel.
For example, how much do we find ourselves thinking about healthcare reform in comparison to thinking about how many people will die this day and enter eternity separated from Christ? How much time do we spend beefing up on political happenings compared to time beefing up on knowledge of Scripture, Christian living and theology? Are you more angry about the government czars appointed by the President than you are that 45,000,000 million babies have been slaughtered by our nation since the early 1970’s? Are you really angry about abortion? What have you ever done about it? How much do you know about the battle that surrounds abortion in comparison to what you know about the battles being fought in congress?
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Posted by Gary on October 31, 2008
Psalm 146:3 “Do not trust in princes, in mortal man, in whom there is no salvation.”
My question is very simple, “How much control did the believers of the New Testament era have over the government that ruled them?” The answer: virtually none. Here is another question, “What accusation did the non-believing world make against the Christians of the first century?”
Acts 17:6 “These who have turned the world upside down have come here too.”
How could this be? You mean that the Caesars of the first century were not Christians? There was not a Christian/conservative majority in the Roman senate? Believers were not collecting signatures on petitions against ungodly laws? How could they ever have turned the world upside down without any hand on the political steering wheel? Could it be that their faith was in God?
We are well into another election cycle and I grieve. American Christians are blind, blind to the fact that we have reduced the Christian faith down to a political movement. Oh, we are in high places no doubt. We are rubbing shoulders and throwing weight around. Someone please tell me what this has all done to promote and further the gospel.
What does the average unbeliever think of Christianity in our nation today? They believe it is all about political control and power. Who are we winning? I believe with all my heart that what we have done these past few decades is something to be repented of. Our trust is in princes and the power of this world. Who are we kidding? In what way are we turning the world upside down? We are powerless and our political grasping is proof that it is so.
What matters to us is the Supreme Court, control of Congress and the White House. What will we have if we were to have all these? We will still have a nation of people estranged from God but by golly, we’re going to legislate them into the kingdom. We have nearly forfeited our opportunity to share the gospel of Christ, hardly anyone believes that this is what we are after anymore. The unbeliever thinks to himself, “This is about you imposing your way of life on me” and he is right. We are not after heart change and knowledge of Christ, if we were our reliance would be on God not on political power.
I come to my questions again. Someone please tell me how the Christians of the New Testament turned the world upside down without relying on political power? Why are we not seeking the power that they had? How have we come to think that we have found a better way? Thank God that His purposes cannot be thwarted despite how determined His people are to do so.
