Sometimes correction is necessary to get things back on track. Correction is good and helpful, so long as the intended audience has ears to hear and a teachable spirit. There is much needed correction for the church. If it doesn't have those two things, then it will be not be prepared when persecution and tribulations come, and many will fall away from God.
The thought of this is greatly concerning, so I pray that whoever reads this will have ears to hear and a teachable spirit.
--------------------
As we approach Independence Day, as an American citizen, I'm in deep gratitude for living in the most privileged nation in the world. I love seeing the flags, the parades, the barbecues, and the long weekends. I will gladly take a free day off work any day. Not to mention Independence Day is at my favorite time of year.
At the same time, as a follower of Jesus, I'm in deep sorrow for the poor spiritual condition of the American church who prioritizes its freedoms and the United States above the priorities of God and His kingdom.
Reading the Bible the other day, it occurred to me that there is no example in the Bible of Jesus or the apostles ever praying for Jerusalem or the land of Israel, despite the fact that they were under the government authority of the brutal Roman Empire. Of all places on earth, it seems like Jesus and His apostles would have prayed for these places. Not only did they live and conduct ministry there, facing restrictions and persecution from both Jews and Rome, but because Judea was the land where God’s people resided, and Jerusalem was the city where God’s temple was located, and therefore the Jews believed that it was the city of God.
The closest resemblance of prayer for Jerusalem that comes to mind, is when Jesus said,
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ”
Matthew 23:37-39
Jesus is not praying for Jerusalem to be protected from the wickedness of the Roman government or a secular culture, but He is expressing His sorrow regarding His people Israel's rejection of Him and God's soon to be departure from Jerusalem and Israel when the temple will be destroyed in AD 70.
Jesus's concern was not that the secular government was governing in secular ways, or that secular people were practicing secular ways of living, but that His people had turned away from God.
Jesus's concern for them stemmed from the fact that He had come for the "lost sheep of Israel." He came to call them one last time to repentance and to belief because the kingdom of God was near (Mark 1:14, Matthew 4:17, Matthew 21:37).
Though Jesus did not instruct His disciples to pray for their nation, He did provide several things for His disciples to pray for.
Jesus modeled a prayer to His disciples in which He instructed them to request from God, "Your kingdom come." This prayer was for the purpose of asking God for His kingdom to come, not their earthly kingdom.
Jesus also instructed His disciples to love and pray for their enemies. He said,
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect."
Matthew 5:43-48
Another prayer instructed by Jesus:
Jesus also said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”
Matthew 9:37-38
Contrast Jesus's instruction for prayer with Christianity today, in which much of it includes warring against the secular culture, involvement with politics, and support of military & law enforcement agents, politicians, and government personnel.
It doesn't seem like there's much love for our enemies, and I don't know how much prayer for them, for God's kingdom, or for laborers of the harvest actually takes place. I do know that when Christians do gather corporately for prayer at a typical prayer gathering, prayers for our nation and government leadership are lifted up more often than prayers for any of the things that Jesus instructed His disciples to pray for.
It is interesting to me that the American church has one day every year set aside to pray for the nation, called the National Day of Prayer. The U.S. Congress proclaimed a joint resolution for a National Day of Prayer in 1952, which President Harry Truman proclaimed to be observed annually, that same year. Since then, all across the nation, the church hosts annual National Day of Prayer events in which many Christians participate.
What many Christians may not know is that the joint resolution for the National Day of Prayer is not only intended for Christianity, but for all faiths and religions. The point is, the National Day of Prayer is not a day set aside exclusively for Christians, but for all religions. Therefore it is not as special of a day for Christians as many may think, because implementing this day of prayer does not indicate that the nation favors Christianity over other faith groups, but includes all of them. The United States Constitution requires freedom of religion for all faiths. The United States was never intended by its founders to be exclusively Christian, and the National Day of Prayer is a good example of that fact.
However, the church celebrates the fact that the government HAS authorized this special day and participates annually BECAUSE the government has authorized it.
It seems that the church thinks they could not set aside a day or time themselves to pray for the nation, but that they need authorization from the government to do so. It seems that the American church has the American government as its head, instead of Christ.
In addition to the National Day of Prayer, the church has adopted national holidays such as Independence Day, Memorial Day and Veterans Day as days to celebrate the nation's freedom and to honor men and women who have fought wars for the United States.
The thing that bothers me the most about this is that the global church organizes various days each year to pray for persecuted Christians, unreached peoples, and laborers of the harvest - kingdom of God things - yet very few Christians and churches participate.
Basically, the church participates in prayer for things which Jesus never instructed them to pray for, while neglecting to pray for the things which He did. This is an indication of where the church's heart is at and who its head is.
I'm not saying that Christians shouldn't pray for the country, but if you are going to pray for the country, then pray even more so for the Kingdom of God!
Somehow nationalism became intertwined with Christianity. I don't know how this happened, but factors such as belief that the United States was founded as a Christian nation, and support of Christian morals and beliefs from members of the U.S. government, have contributed tremendously.
So called Christian leaders and then Christians throughout the U.S. (myself included) rallied in support of President Trump in 2016, despite the fact that he is not a Christian or a man of high moral integrity or ethical standards. Even though President Trump is not a Christian, he did many things during his time as President that Christians support, including fighting for the thing that American Christians hold dearest: their freedoms.
Because of President Trump's conservative views, many Christians throughout the country seemed to view him as the savior of the United States, and engaged in the attacks against Him, oftentimes by attacking those who attacked him. Trump's presidency seemed to provoke many Christians to vehemently get involved in the war for their nation and their freedom.
I'll occasionally listen to the Christian radio station when I go to Traverse City, and there is no doubt in my mind that loss of freedoms is the highest concern for American Christians. All throughout the day, the primary topic of Christian radio programs, next to topics about family, pertains to national politics and fighting for American freedoms. The "ministries" of the men and women who host these programs are political in nature and are geared towards fighting against "the Left" because of their threat to take away our freedoms.
Conservative Christians have aligned themselves with conservative politicians because conservatives are fighting for freedom and they oftentimes support Christian morals and ethics. It seems as if many conservative Christians equate conservatism with Christianity. Conservatism may be equated to modern day American Christianity, but neither conservativism nor American Christianity are the same thing as following Jesus or Biblical Christianity.
All of these things mentioned above are connected with one another and are included in what modern American Christianity has become. The problem is that none of it is Biblical. None of it has anything to do with following Jesus or building God's kingdom. It has everything to do with America and fighting to keep our freedom. This is not Christianity but nationalism, and the American church is investing all of its time and efforts to it.
The problem that I see with this is that Christians are fighting the wrong war. They are not fighting for the souls of man, but for the earthly kingdom of America and for their own freedoms. Furthermore, the freedoms that they are concerned about losing are not being used for God's kingdom, thereby making it a personal concern that they have for themselves. What I mean is, they are not concerned about losing their freedom because they will no longer be able to freely share the gospel, but because they will be instructed by the government what they can and cannot do.
American Christians have all the freedom in the world to share the gospel, but they don't do it! But when they are told by the government that they have to bake a cake for a gay marriage, they get angry and fight against it. The concern is not Christ focused, but self focused. They don't want to be told what they can and cannot do. Maybe if they are told that they cannot share the gospel, they will do it !
In nations where people have no rights or freedoms, such as Iran, North Korea, and China, the good news of Jesus is being shared and God's kingdom is growing quickly and tremendously. Christians in these nations are concerned for their country, yet their focus and efforts are not on the nation, but on God and His kingdom.
Contrast them with the United States, the freest nation in the world, where Christianity is dying and people having no belief in a higher power is increasing, and where Christians focus on their nation and freedom rather than on God and His kingdom.
The United States is a secular nation and its governing authorities are going to run it as such. It is not the Christian's job to fight the wars of the nation or to fight against the government. God requires His people to do righteousness and justice, and to fight the war for God's kingdom by making disciples of all nations.
Godless people are going to do Godless things. Because they are Godless, they do not know God's way of life, nor do they care. They will have Pride Month, kill babies, produce pornograhy, and traffic boys and girls. And the United States government will support and take part in all of it.
The church's job is to pray about these things, to do righteousness and justice regarding these issues, and to make disciples of the people involved. The church is its own entity separate from the United States and its government so it should not rely or depend on the government for legislating laws or for any reason for that matter, because Christ is the head of the church, not the government. He is the one who has all authority in heaven and on earth.
The church should support politicians and government leaders who are seeking righteousness and justice in the nation, but the church's dependence cannot be on politicians or the government, but only on God. The church is required by God to do righteousness and justice regardless of whether or not the nation does it.
When the nation does not practice righteousness and justice, and threatens our freedoms, the church needs to remain focused on doing righteousness and justice, rather than getting involved with fighting against the government and fighting for their freedom. If we lose our freedom, who cares? If we truly trust God then we must trust that it is His will, we must know that Jesus has all authority and we must understand that it is our duty to follow Him regardless of the outcome.
People whose kingdom is of this world can fight for their earthly nations, but the church needs to pray for and begin putting all their efforts towards God's kingdom, not the kingdom of America.
Christians are unique in that they are subjects of both the heavenly kingdom and an earthly nation. Because they are God’s children, they are naturally concerned when evil begins to corrupt the nation they live in, especially when its citizens vote for government leaders who legislate laws that starkly contrast God and His values.
A Christian citizen of the United States is rightly concerned about the nation when bad things are happening. A concerned citizen can get involved as a civilian, but being concerned about the nation is not an identifying factor of being a Christian. Concern for the nation and following Jesus are two different things. Defending the nation is not listed among the things that Christ commanded His disciples to do, but "Seek first the kingdom of God" is.
I said that a concerned citizen can get involved as a civilian, but the Bible says,
"No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier."
II Timothy 2:4
If the church is engaged in the spiritual warfare of man's soul, then it will not be entangled with the affairs of this life. It will be too focused on the war at hand to be concerned about earthly things.
But obviously when it seems like evil is triumphing over good, it is natural for Christians to want to fight to keep God and His values within the nation and world, with hopes to prevail over evil.
Therefore Christians get involved in politics and government in order to attempt to maintain God's righteousness and justice.
This is not a bad thing. After all, God expects His people to be a people of righteousness and justice. We cannot just sit back and allow evil to have its way.
Therefore, if a Christian does get involved in politics, then this must be his motivation and he must remain focused on it. Politics and government are corrupt regardless of the party, therefore the Christian needs to remain faithful and pure, keeping his focus and goals on God and His kingdom. He cannot allow the nation to come before God and His kingdom, or His motivation to be for his own personal benefit or agenda. His purpose and motivation must always, always, always be to glorify God and to overcome evil with good through righteousness and justice for Christ and for God's kingdom.
But even if the nation succumbs to evil and falls, the Christian should not be too concerned because his ultimate citizenship is in heaven.
The Biblical model by Jesus and the apostles was preaching the good news, healing, and setting people free from demonic possession and sin, in a less than ideal culture, where they were persecuted by Jews and then later Rome. Most of them were killed for Christ.
We see no where in the Bible where Jesus or the apostles were concerned for the sins or the fall of their nation. In fact the nation in which they lived did fall when it was conquered by another nation, and neither of those nations exist today.
We should know by Constantine's Rome that a "Christian" nation does not work, nor is it what God intends for the kingdoms of the earth. His will is that the gospel of the kingdom would be preached in all the world, and that those who receive Him will enter into God's kingdom.
There is no promise that the United States or the American Constitution are going to last forever. In fact we know that they won't. Only God's eternal word and kingdom will endure forever. On the new earth, there will be only one nation and kingdom under God, comprised entirely of God's children. That is the nation that I want to encourage Christians to fight for.
Jesus's sentiments concerning Jerusalem could be applied to the American church. In a sense, it kills and stones the prophets by ignoring them when they call for repentance and its return to God. He wants to gather them together and turn to Him, but they are not willing for many reasons, including the fact that they are too preoccupied with their earthly kingdom and the things of this world.
God wants the church to turn to Him and He wants to gather them together to labor for His kingdom - "Your kingdom come, your will be done..."
No comments:
Post a Comment