Food for thought for Evangelicals
Thanks to batesline.com, I was pointed to a compelling piece written by contemporary Christian musician Steve Camp. It's an interesting look at the current political activity of some evangelical leaders.
Read the whole post.In John 18:36 our Lord says these surprising words in answer to an inquisition by Pontius Pilate, “…If my kingdom were of this world, my disciples would be fighting…” These words cut straight to the heart of the matter before us today. Clearly, the Lord’s kingdom is not of this world. Jesus did not come as a social revolutionary to clean up the culture from lascivious delinquents; or as a religious zealot to overthrow the Sanhedrin; or even as a political agitator to dethrone the Emperor. His kingdom is eternal; it is not of this world. What we do here on earth now, we will do in glory in unbroken fellowship for all eternity—give Him unceasing praise and adoration as King of kings and Lord of lords. As the great Pauline doxology says:“Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen” (1 Timothy 1:17).
His Disciples are Fighting
But why then is it today, beloved, that we do see His disciples fighting? –and fighting not for eternal things, but for the temporal things of this earth. Fighting for religious rights; fighting against unregenerate people for acting like unregenerate people; fighting against the secularization of public policy; fighting for a social moral imperative; fighting against senate filibusters; fighting for family values, etc. And yet, with an eerie wholesale silence we don’t see them contending for the faith, boasting in the cross, heralding the good news of the gospel of grace through faith in Christ alone, and proclaiming Jesus Christ and Him crucified as the answer for the social ills plaguing our society today. Why is it that some of His disciples are striving for political influence and unity on community causes rather than laboring exhaustively for that which is eternal only with believers in Jesus Christ?
It may seem strong to suggest, but I believe that Christianity is under siege today. Not by liberal academics or atheistic adherents. But by much-loved evangelical leaders who have unwittingly marginalized the faith, redefined the church, gagged the gospel and made all but insignificant the Word of God by legitimizing a strategery to recover the moral fiber of this nation through the political process promoting cultural unity with anyone who agrees with “societies scarlet letters” as defined by ECB (Evangelical Co-Belligerence). In this politically charged environment they are holding Christianity hostage. It is the New Moralism – where postmodernism, faith-based values and cultural conscientious objectors intersect. This is ECB. Are they ashamed of the gospel? Have they let the flag wave higher than the cross? Has the concern for Christian influence in public law eclipsed the gospel’s transforming power in the lives of the citizenry? I hope the following will in part address some of these important questions.
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