“The world is going to hell in a handbasket!”
Thus runs the statement uttered by Christians across the country over grandma’s Sunday fried chicken. (And yes, I chose to believe everyone has fried chicken at grandma’s house after church on Sunday.)
Such statements aren’t only made over the Sunday dinner table, though. We pontificate day after day on the injustices of the world, the bad actions of government entities, the persecution of Christians in the United States, and the evil agendas forced upon our children.
We complain and complain. But we do not act.
Worse than that, we condemn those who do act, or at best, we just shake our heads and distance ourselves from them. We pretend to hold some unbiblical high ground because we aren’t getting involved but are instead focusing on just being nice.
“We’re just focusing on loving others,” we say. But our definition of love is so deeply flawed that we believe it means not ruffling feathers and just being nice to all.
What is this infection that is weakening American Christians? I believe it can all be boiled down to a certain frame of mind regarding our values.
Think of American values as a two-story house. Our everyday values reside on the first story, while our personal values reside on the top. Religion rooms on that top floor alongside personal values. Thus, religion is all fine and good, as long as it’s kept upstairs. It’s for you, but not to be put upon anyone else.
But for Christians, our faith is the whole house. It is the framework that houses both stories.
One of the commands of Christ is to preach the Gospel to the whole world. The Gospel is good news. But to have good news you must first have bad news. The bad news is that we are all sinners. Without a savior, we have no hope of eternal life, but will only be resigned to eternal punishment.
The good news is that we have a Savior! Christ died for us so that whosoever shall believe in Him shall have eternal life (John 3:16). This is the whole definition of love, the good and the bad.
Knowing this, how can a Christian fail to allow their Christian beliefs to seep into every thought and action? When God calls something sin, how can we fail to call it out and then beg the sinner to repent? How can we fail to do all we can to keep children from being persuaded to sin? Knowing what we know, how can we fail to act?
We know what is causing the problems of the world and how to help them. We know mankind’s problem is sin and that their best hope is Christ. Yet we refuse to do anything about it because we don’t want to be divisive. We claim we are focusing on Christ’s Kingdom, but we really aren’t.
So instead of facing our error, we make fake boogeymen, such as “Christian Nationalism.” We act like we are refraining from doing our duty because we are trying not to be Christian Nationalists. After all, forced Christians are not true Christians.
I agree!! But there is a way to push for the good of society (which is the real definition of love), while not forcing society to be Christians. We can fight to keep sinful agendas out of children’s education and activities because we know that it is better for a millstone to be hung around a person’s neck and drowned than to cause a child to stumble into sin (Luke 17:2). We can even support those who are fighting to do protect those children instead of publicly disavowing them.
We are Christians. Our lives, our values, our speech, our politics, and our world belong to God. It’s high time we act like it.
Laura Clark is a wife, mother, and community activist. She currently serves as the interim president of Alabama Center for Law and Liberty, a conservative nonprofit law firm that fights for limited government, free markets, and strong families in the courts.
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. To comment, please send an email with your name and contact information to Commentary@1819News.com.
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