As Christians we can decry the encroaching darkness all we want. We can even believe that the hostile climate to Christianity is evidence of End Times nearing. However, as it is so well expressed in 2 Kings 7:3, in the midst of a community under siege, “Why do we sit here until we die?” Those with a pro-God worldview must become reengaged in society. They must not only vocally and politically reassert their support and approval for the public religious liberties and expressions that Americans have enjoyed and cherished for four centuries, but they must also denounce those who attack and seek to abolish those liberties and expressions. If we do not, we will continue to loose by default…by silence and inactivity. God told his people that He had given them the Promised Land, but they still had to keep fighting the giants. The lesson of the children of Israel clearly demonstrates that if you don’t like fighting, get used to living in the wilderness. If you want to enjoy the richness of what God has promised, learn to battle hostile forces. We must stand up and do all we can to preserve the national treasures that God has placed in our hands. Matthew 11:12 declares, “From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force”. This does not mean that we grab our guns and hit the street. “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God” [2 Corinthians 10:3-5]. We are meant to be engaged and not sitting on the sidelines. It is wisdom to know that “a gentle word turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger” [Proverbs 15:1]. As was true of Paul, our prayer should be that of asking for boldness that we might declare the mystery of the Gospel “as we ought to speak” [Ephesians 6:20]. What do we do, when in the midst of our “going forth and proclaiming this good news”, we are met with the tyrannical, hostile resistance? We are given a Biblical example of just this very thing. Acts 4:1-31 and 5:12-42 provide us with a situation remarkably similar to the increasing hostility we are witnessing today. Having been jailed, interrogated, threatened, and commanded not to speak or teach in the name of Jesus, Peter and John answered, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to give head to you rather than to God, you be the judge; for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard” [Acts 4:19-20]. May this be the same position that we take today. The disciples could not and would not be silent. An unmotivated, loveless church is perhaps the single greatest reason for the advancement of the liberal agenda. Have you ever considered how 80% + of parents would like to have prayer in school and at athletic events, yet one person can get it all removed? That person stepped out of his/her comfort zone, while Christians sat back thinking some politician/court was going to protect them. At times, we are our own worst enemy!
Next week we will go back to exploring the ‘shoal waters’ we have found our ‘ship of state’ getting deeper and deeper into. The subject will be national defense and preserving peace. Hopefully we have seen that going down an ‘estuary’ is not the answer,
– Bob Munsey
Geezer Politics 