Christians, the New Enemy

This past weekend, I got to participate in Providence Church's men's retreat at Camp Amon Carter in northwest Ft. Worth. Aside from tons of junk food, Rock Band on the XBox 360, flag football, chilly weather, goofing off over cups of Starbucks, and typical "camp food" (think 4th grade school lunch, here), our speaker was an incredibly gifted guy named Steve Farrar (www.stevefarrar.com). Mr. Farrar's primary focus when he speaks and writes is leading Christian men to be better husbands, fathers, and overall leaders for Christ. It was so great to hear all that this man challenged us with!

In the second session that Mr. Farrar was speaking, he mentioned something fairly quickly that I had to chew on for some time (in fact, I'm still chewing on it as I write this). It wasn't something that really surprised me or anything like that, since I totally agree with his point on it, but it still just got the gears going. I didn't get a chance to really bring it up with the rest of my Home Group guys, but I plan on it over the next week or so. Anyway, what he said was this:

"In modern America, Christians are the new enemy."

I immediately began to think of the subtle ways in which Christians in our "Christian nation" are beginning to be persecuted, but how many more remain mired in apathy and don't really care. True, passionate and zealous Christianity stands opposed to the way that our nation is going, and that scares a lot of people. Far too many people who claim to follow Christ don't want to rock the boat and remain silent in their lives. We don't want to be seen as going against the flow of everything else that is going on around us, so we masquerade.

Does the statement that we Believers are the new enemy strike fear into our hearts, or does it embolden us and cause us to take strength to press forward? Although it's very subtle, Christianity, I would say, is much more of a threat to people than remote terrorism that we fight in faraway lands. I'm not meaning to sound completely callous towards the tragedies that our nation has faced and the fear that there are terror cells growing from within, even now; but, I would say that most people are more afraid of people with a burning desire to glorify Christ in every area of their lives. The main reason is that this will bring light to the darkness that too many of them are living in, and they're not happy with that.

Are we content with living in darkness, or do we truly desire to be that city on a hill?

Politeness (Ephesians 5v.25)

When we look at the fruits of the Spirit as listed in Galatians, being polite does not get thrown in the mix. In fact, as far as I know, the idea of politeness isn't exactly hit upon too much in the Bible. We see verses such as "Do unto others..." and then the fruits of the Spirit (which would seemingly point to being polite) as well as verses on being meek and being servants to others. All of these would, in my opinion, point to us being polite in our daily lives. It's a whole lot easier to glorify Christ in helping others rather than being a jerk!

One verse that should be focused on, though, when it comes to talking about being polite is Ephesians 5v.25. This verse doesn't just apply to us being polite, but rather to how we, as men, should love our wives and give ourselves up for them. One of the most powerful sermons I ever heard over this text was given by Dr. Ligon Duncan (Head Pastor at First Presbyterian, Jackson, MS) at T4G (Together for the Gospel) this past summer. As men, we are called to love our wives just as Christ loved the Church. When we think about this and the ramifications it has for us... Christ giving Himself completely, wholly, even to the point of death, we can understand a little bit more about giving to our wives (and even others), not just being polite. In light of that scripture, "polite" is a light word when it comes to serving our wives. But, I think that this can bear others in mind, as well. So, if we love others with this kind of power, we are going to just give more and more of ourselves.

When we know how we're supposed to serve, lead, and carry on as Believers and men, we understand that being polite is not just what we're "supposed" to do as Christians. It is an example of how we're to glorify Christ in our day-to-day living.

Saviour of the Nation?

On the way into the office this morning, I was behind one of the erratic Metroplex drivers that I've come to "affectionately" expect. As we fought through early-morning school traffic along the corridor known as Eldorado, I noticed a bumper sticker that said "Obama 08, Save Our Nation!" After having the gasoline-on-an-open-flame effect that my coffee (mud) does from the French Press, I was just looking for something to really think about. Why is it that we put so much faith in a man to be the saviour of our nation? We've always discussed it in the mainstream, but it seems that even more and more churches think that their job is not so much to preach the Gospel as to point out political wrongs in our nation and advise people on what choice Jesus would make if He were a registered American voter.

"But I am the Lord your God from the land of Egypt; you know no God but me and beside me there is no Saviour." (Hosea 13v.4)

I'm really tired of the bickering back and forth between our parties about who's going to be the saviour of American society. If there is no saviour apart from Christ, then why do we enjoy labeling men as such? We need to stop putting so much stock in our flawed political system and be on our knees, praying that the real Saviour would save our nation. We don't need saving from poor economies, tax spending and high fuel prices. We need saving from our sinful nature that leads to greed, unwise stewardship, and the lust for comfort. We need saving from the myriad idols we have in American culture.