The Right Perspective

'The World is a tragedy to those who feel, but a comedy to those who think.'

                                                                                             ~ Horace Walpole

With this being a Presidential election year, which may turn out to be the most bloody, mud-slinging election in my lifetime, there are some things which need to be mentioned.

First, God is on His throne.
This will be true regardless of who becomes the next President of the United States.

Secondly, for the Christian, we serve a Risen King; His name is Jesus.
We owe only to Caesar what is his; but to Christ, we owe our very lives and eternity.

Having said that, let's put a few things in perspective; most importantly is the role of the Christian and our belief in the world today and how we should act.

You know, I doubt any liberal in the 1960's would have pulled Martin Luther King, Jr. aside and said, 'Dr. King, the South has a different culture and way about it; you have no right to impose your values or Northern customs on them. You need to leave them alone.'

Now, I'm sure thousands of people said something similar, but I doubt any liberal from that era would have uttered those words.
The truth of the matter is that within us, we know from birth there is a 'right' and a 'wrong.'
Yet, one of our troubling features is that sometimes we are too weak to stand for that which we know is right; at other times, we become more concerned with politics, with our own comfort or with peer pressure than we are on doing that which is 'right.'

Few would disagree that slavery is wrong; child abuse is wrong; as is pedophilia, to prey on the poor or to violently discriminate against those of a different color or sexual orientation.
But how do we know these things are wrong?

One might think it is instinct; perhaps, but then where does that 'instinct' originate?

Interestingly enough, the slave trade ended among Western nations because of Christian activism.
Child abandonment and infanticide has nearly disappeared mostly due to orphanages in the past era (before government & Masonic homes) because Christians knew there was a need and they acted on it as they were moved to do so. As I type these words, there are literally millions of children being protected, fed, educated and cared for by Christians in orphanages all around the globe.

The poor were taken care of by the Church as well, and this continues today through soup kitchens, expected work responsibilities and temporary places to live.
And who led the way in the Civil Rights movement of the 1960's? 
It was Christians who could no longer abide with the fierce hatred of racism.

Today, some believe that the Judeo-Christian Ethic should no longer influence society; an archaic ethic from a by-gone era.
Right and wrong should therefore be based on how an individual feels.

Really? 
Sounds good, but read the above paragraph concerning a liberal and Dr. King.

You see, if human beings were only products of our genetic makeup and our environments, there would be no absolute morality.
Nothing would be or even could be determined as right or wrong because the decision would be reliant upon the subjectivity of the individual.

By caring for the sick, the elderly, the poor, the weak → in compassion a human being has decided to forgo the idea of eliminating them from society, thereby strengthening humanity's gene pool.
Therefore, if the disciples of Darwin are correct and we are descendants of evolution, we are damaging our own species survival because we have had compassion and empathy for another member of the species.

Yet, instead of being prompted for species survival, we are moved in compassion to help.
If we are products of nature, where did that compassion originate?

One called this, 'Darwin's Dilemma' because it makes no sense in a practical, evolutionary theory kind of way.
Darwinists often argue that humans have a 'selfish gene,' so that everything we do is done out of pure selfishness.

But then the question would be, 'If that is true, why then do humans so often choose to behave unselfishly?'

In our time, feminists and now our legal system in America defends the act of abortion.
Historically, society dealt with unwanted children through abandonment in the streets or forests, which basically led to infanticide (which is why Christians began to build and staff orphanages).
But today, if a teen abandons a newborn in a trash can, as we have heard in news stories, we are appalled and demand prosecution.

But why?
What right to we have to expect punishment for something that has historically taken place?
What is the difference between then and now?

We become indignant at the mistreatment of the elderly, or when we hear a toddler was pushed out an apartment window, or if we learn that a child was kidnapped and sodomized.
Twenty years ago, many of us sat horrified in front of our televisions as we learned of a woman named Susan Smith who drown her own children.

But, on what grounds are we indignant and appalled?

If we are products of nature alone, if morality and truth are self-determined or a by-product of the evolutionary scheme - why does any of it matter?

In other words, what made Nazi Germany evil and the American invasion right?

What is it within us that tells us these things are wrong?
What is it that allows us to become emotionally repelled by these acts?
If it was only a by-product of nature, then every person's idea of wrong would be different; yet, we know there are standards built within us from birth - rape, murder, theft - we know these are wrong.
But how and why?

As yet another political year begins to ramp up in full force, the United States has many, many issues; but at the root of them all is the issue of what right and wrong actually means.
Truthfully, the American society is sinking over the issue of right and wrong; which has to be the most basic issue of any society of any era.

Honestly, this is nothing less than a moral crisis.

In the past, it was the Church, the Christian body in the United States, who gave the nation its national conscience.
Quite possibly, the nation could be faltering on this one, most basic issue because we as the Church have stumbled ourselves and failed in actually living what we believe. 
When the Body of Christ lacks moral clarity, we also lack moral authority; without both, the Church has no right to guide the conscience of others for ours is conflicted.

In the old days of the Church, back before there were mega-church conferences, electronic ministries, comparing numbers in the pews or distributing funds based on 'investment return' rather than prayerful determination - in those days, Christians were known for the 'Good News'.

As you began this reading, it may have surprised you to learn that it was Christians, who not by fighting a bloody revolution or through violence, ended slavery among Western nations. 
Men such as William Wilberforce in Britain was just one who gave his life in a dedication to ending that horrid practice.
It may have intrigued you to learn of the orphanages, or the outreach to the poor with shelter and food and clothes; and there is even more that the Body of Christ did for those rejected or forgotten by society - think of homosexuals, prisoners and widows.

Have you ever wondered why so many people see Christians as barriers instead of the people who share to others the 'Good News' of God?
There was a time when people had a favorable view of Christians; not so much today, if George Barna's statistics are to be believed.

There may be many, but I know one reason is because we as Christians have gotten into the habit of ignoring important issues of the people and of faith, while focusing on things that will never matter in eternity.
Like politics.  Like the size of my congregation. Like who is doing what next door. 
And the list could go on and on and on...

Unfortunately, this has led to Christians being labeled as anti-EVERYTHING, intolerant and against the world, instead of being viewed as people who can bring God's grace to the world.

Just think, imagine how differently the world would view Christians if we had and would now focus on our own failings.

You know, ministers DO NOT have everything figured out.
We struggle with the same temptations and desires as everybody else.
Like all Christians, if we would speak of our own failings and our own need of forgiveness, mercy and grace instead of society's - I truly believe a time of true revival would break forth.

When Jesus was on Earth, He gave little attention to the faults and failures of the surrounding culture; and it abounded.
In the first century, there were vicious Gladiator Games, common infanticide, the sanctity of marriage was a joke and government approval of pedophilia and slavery from Rome was the norm.

Interestingly enough, Jesus said nothing of these things.
Later, when the Apostles lived in the same society and was charged with bringing forth the message of God, they did not say much concerning the culture either.
When the Corinthian Church was reported to have accepted an incestuous relationship within their midst, the Apostle Paul went berserk; yet, he made it clear that the Christian was not to judge society by the standards given to us by Christ.

You see, as Christians, if you truly want to reform society - then focus on the log in your own eye. 
Our energy for keeping standards of morality is to be kept in house; we are to correct ourselves and give to one another the grace which God has given to us through His Son.
And it is that grace which will win the world.

Today, there are huge debates raging over homosexuality, transgender issues, sex-change operations being thrust to the forefront by Bruce Jenner and company, and a host of other issues revolving around once-taboo subjects within human sexuality.
Among Christians and society as a whole, these issues are hard to navigate.

Please don't misunderstand, I know what Scripture says concerning these issues; without question, Scripture is a 'Lamp unto my feet and a Light unto my Path,' which I trust on every issue as the inerrant, infallible Word of God.
But what I don't understand is how these issues of sexuality have become 'the sin' Christians seek to focus upon and condemn with the greatest fervency.

I'm not sure how it has happened, but I do know that focusing on these issues of sexuality, which are complicated and difficult and easily misunderstood, have allowed many Christians to ignore their own need for grace.
And trust me, I know a lot of Christians; every one of them needs God's grace every day of their lives - including myself at the forefront. 

Another thing I have learned about human sexuality and Christians is this, high-toned pronouncements against same-sex lovers may help fundraising, but it truly undermines the Gospel of Grace and destroys the very nature of the love by which Jesus said His people would be known by others in the world.

No Christian should ever be thought of as 'self-righteous;' for, we are the exact opposite.

Yet, not one person falls below God's high standard so far as to be totally beyond His reach; the reason is because we are caught with His safety net of grace.

Until next time, win one for the good guys.