November 2019
A Question of Faith
05 November 2019 @ 16:37
I am posting this for those of us who call ourselves Christian. We truly have not given the world much in the way of light or anything that embraces a hope that others would want to cling to. Someone asked me the other day how I am able to hang onto my faith In light of all that is happening around us and with all of the suffering, loss and sorrow that I have seen. My reply was that I have no trouble in standing on my faith in God, but my faith in people and especially in the church, being those who profess to be Christians, not the institution itself, has definitely been dealt a blow.
I want to start by saying that I believe we can never be a ‘Christian nation’. We can be a nation that is inhabited by Christians and in that we can choose to follow a path which aligns with our beliefs or we can choose evil. We can do this in the way we vote and in those we support. It will be evident in the way we love and in the way we bless others. I am more and more astounded by our choices; by a political system where one side claims to be more or less the Christian party, the righteous party, while condemning the other side. I have said more than once that if what I am seeing is Christianity then please do not call me a Christian - I prefer simply to be seen as a follower of Christ. I do not say this in order to appear more righteous, but I truly believe that to follow Christ means that we have to accept our own sinfulness. We read in Scripture that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. That’s me; that you!
In my own journey, as a young registered voter and with my faith being what it was at the time I, too, found myself voting for the party that labeled itself pro life. As my faith grew I came to see that morality is something that can never be legislated. It seems we are at a place in this country where we want to give to Caesar that which is God’s. We are either a moral people or we are not. I believe that means that life is precious period. It can’t simply be important for the unborn. That choice for life needs to extend to ALL of God’s creation. We need to give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s. They were two different things in Jesus’ time and He wasn’t about changing them. He was about changing hearts. I will always choose life but I have come to know a God who places the choice before us. Though another may choose differently or believe other than I, Jesus shows me that I am not called to be their judge but I AM called to love them without condition for this is the example I was given in the one I profess to follow. As British writer G. K. Chesterton once wrote, “Christianity has not been tried and found wanting. Christianity has been found difficult and left untried.”
The gist of it is that none of us are as we should be but the good news is that God loves us nonetheless. With that in mind I simply ask that we might all take the time to look at the fruit that is produced by those we have raised up and ask ourselves if it is good. We must ask ourselves if it aligns itself with the teachings of the one that we say we follow. Scripture encourages us to produce fruit in keeping with repentance. We are told not to swear on anything but to simply let our yes be yes and our no be no. We are told that anything other than this comes from the evil one. We are told to let our light shine before men so that they may see your good deeds and praise our father in heaven.
So I will choose to look at the current every day happenings through the filter of what I read in Scripture. This doesn’t make me any less a hypocrite, it’s simply my way of trying to more faithfully align myself with the teachings I profess to believe.
Some of my thoughts that come out of that are:
Am I being faithful if I rejoice in tax cuts and greater refunds while at the same time watching those programs which helped the least of these be cut? I am encouraged to tithe within the church which I always thought was to be about the work of the church yet more and more it seems it is becoming simply about the sustenance of the institution itself. We are told that ‘we cannot serve two masters. Either we will hate the one and love the other or we will be devoted to one and despise the other. We cannot serve both God and money. I feel it is it is becoming more and more obvious as a people and as a nation what we have chosen to serve.
Am I being faithful if I choose to turn my back on the widows and the orphans; on the sick, the refugees and the divided families while Jesus says that he seeks mercy for the same. Jesus himself was condemned for hanging out with, and loving, the riff raff. I think I will choose to try and be more like Jesus.
Here’s a big one! We are told ‘do not judge, or you too will be judged. For the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.’ where in big trouble here folks! We truly look at the speck of sawdust in our brother's eye while paying no attention to the plank in our own eye. Ouch! Judgment divides and Jesus taught that “every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.” Jesus says that “men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted and by your word you will be condemned.” The bottom line is that we are called to individual accountability. That is what we should find in our church and in our faith journey - a call to accountability that aligns with the teachings of Jesus.
Who and what we choose to follow and pledge our allegiance to tells a lot about us. Jesus says“by this all men will know you are my disciples, if you but love one another.” If we are going to profess to be followers of Christ may our actions convict us!
I want to start by saying that I believe we can never be a ‘Christian nation’. We can be a nation that is inhabited by Christians and in that we can choose to follow a path which aligns with our beliefs or we can choose evil. We can do this in the way we vote and in those we support. It will be evident in the way we love and in the way we bless others. I am more and more astounded by our choices; by a political system where one side claims to be more or less the Christian party, the righteous party, while condemning the other side. I have said more than once that if what I am seeing is Christianity then please do not call me a Christian - I prefer simply to be seen as a follower of Christ. I do not say this in order to appear more righteous, but I truly believe that to follow Christ means that we have to accept our own sinfulness. We read in Scripture that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. That’s me; that you!
In my own journey, as a young registered voter and with my faith being what it was at the time I, too, found myself voting for the party that labeled itself pro life. As my faith grew I came to see that morality is something that can never be legislated. It seems we are at a place in this country where we want to give to Caesar that which is God’s. We are either a moral people or we are not. I believe that means that life is precious period. It can’t simply be important for the unborn. That choice for life needs to extend to ALL of God’s creation. We need to give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s. They were two different things in Jesus’ time and He wasn’t about changing them. He was about changing hearts. I will always choose life but I have come to know a God who places the choice before us. Though another may choose differently or believe other than I, Jesus shows me that I am not called to be their judge but I AM called to love them without condition for this is the example I was given in the one I profess to follow. As British writer G. K. Chesterton once wrote, “Christianity has not been tried and found wanting. Christianity has been found difficult and left untried.”
The gist of it is that none of us are as we should be but the good news is that God loves us nonetheless. With that in mind I simply ask that we might all take the time to look at the fruit that is produced by those we have raised up and ask ourselves if it is good. We must ask ourselves if it aligns itself with the teachings of the one that we say we follow. Scripture encourages us to produce fruit in keeping with repentance. We are told not to swear on anything but to simply let our yes be yes and our no be no. We are told that anything other than this comes from the evil one. We are told to let our light shine before men so that they may see your good deeds and praise our father in heaven.
So I will choose to look at the current every day happenings through the filter of what I read in Scripture. This doesn’t make me any less a hypocrite, it’s simply my way of trying to more faithfully align myself with the teachings I profess to believe.
Some of my thoughts that come out of that are:
Am I being faithful if I rejoice in tax cuts and greater refunds while at the same time watching those programs which helped the least of these be cut? I am encouraged to tithe within the church which I always thought was to be about the work of the church yet more and more it seems it is becoming simply about the sustenance of the institution itself. We are told that ‘we cannot serve two masters. Either we will hate the one and love the other or we will be devoted to one and despise the other. We cannot serve both God and money. I feel it is it is becoming more and more obvious as a people and as a nation what we have chosen to serve.
Am I being faithful if I choose to turn my back on the widows and the orphans; on the sick, the refugees and the divided families while Jesus says that he seeks mercy for the same. Jesus himself was condemned for hanging out with, and loving, the riff raff. I think I will choose to try and be more like Jesus.
Here’s a big one! We are told ‘do not judge, or you too will be judged. For the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.’ where in big trouble here folks! We truly look at the speck of sawdust in our brother's eye while paying no attention to the plank in our own eye. Ouch! Judgment divides and Jesus taught that “every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.” Jesus says that “men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted and by your word you will be condemned.” The bottom line is that we are called to individual accountability. That is what we should find in our church and in our faith journey - a call to accountability that aligns with the teachings of Jesus.
Who and what we choose to follow and pledge our allegiance to tells a lot about us. Jesus says“by this all men will know you are my disciples, if you but love one another.” If we are going to profess to be followers of Christ may our actions convict us!