I did not know or perhaps at a certain
age chose not to know that my faith community was seduced by the
Southern culture of slavery. By that I mean, they willingly chose to
put their culture over God and allow the pulpits of our faith
community and teaching to support the institution of slavery.
In these days of unrest and racial
strife, I cannot help but look back and see how my whole faith roots
were nurtured and blossomed in the toxic soil of slavery. The Bible
was used to support the unsupportable, to defend the undefendable, to
proclaim with pride what should have been whispered in shame. That is
the legacy of my faith family. The Southern Baptist Convention over
the last twenty years has made some weak efforts to repent of that
ancient sin, but it has not either been enough or has informed
leadership today.
The Christian faith is first and
foremost about the Kingdom of God. It has always been about the
Kingdom of God. From the beginning of God showing Himself and making
a covenant with His people He has revealed Himself as Holy and
Righteous. It was true for Israel and it is true for the Church.
However, in countries like the United States, where freedom allows us
to speak freely, worship freely, and participate in government, it is
difficult for the Church to remain prophetic and independent
listening only to God, obeying only God, and living out the character
and fruits of the Spirit of God.
It is too easy to get entangled and
become an advocate for what on the surface appears to be a noble
thing. So, once again, the evangelical church has been snared by the
culture and become a mouthpiece for the blaring racism, hatred,
divisiveness of this current president all for considerations related
to evangelical causes(more conservative judges, more legislation
against abortion, more restrictions on LGBT persons, more visibility
of extreme hate groups)
Some weeks ago in my journal entry for
the day I mentioned the “despair” and “desperation” that has
fueled faith leaders during this time. It is these two elements which
drive this race to unholy alliances. Conservative religious leaders
are afraid of losing the “blessing of God on America,” because of
social sin/sins. However, this despair is focused on the wrong
institution. Conservative religious leaders feel like godlessness has
crept into the culture while God is more concerned about the
godlessness that has crept into the churches who confess the Lordship
of Christ. It is that age old issue Jesus spoke about when He(Matthew
7:3) spoke about removing the speck from from the eye of another but
ignoring the beam in our own eye. Conservative religious leaders
wring their hands about the state of the culture but are without
tears for the condition of the Bride of Christ. The desperation then
is using the tools of the world to somehow correct the morals of the
nation. It has never worked, and will not work now. How many times
must we go back and relearn this lesson? There has never been, nor
will there ever be a ruler, a nation, a kingdom, a dominion which can
legislate morals and character. It is folly to attempt it, and folly
upon folly not to have learned this lesson. Law does not touch the
heart of a person. It does not convince one of the right way and
provide motivation to walk in it. The Conservative religious leaders
should know this if they have read Romans at all. The law is
powerless to change the hearts of people and turn people into
citizens of character and compassion. Still we try, foolishly we try.
The end result is always failure.
So one again, the stubborn heart, the
frightened heart, the despairing heart, the desperate heart attempts
to do what can only be done in crying out to God long enough for God
to open the heavens and unleash the Holy Spirit in might and power.
In my 70 years of life, I had heard the frustration of many people
who were chaffing under some law they thought discriminatory.
However, I have yet to hear any person complain when they have been
captured by the grace of the Living Christ. It is like that!
Wash your hands, wear you masks for
others, mind the gap, and be kind.
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