Can We Please Get the Christian Community to Sing, "Peace on Earth, Good Will Toward Men?"

It’s Christmas week and I will be nice and peaceful with my comments on the insanity of Christians and their response to the world around them. That doesn’t mean I won’t tell the truth but just that I will strive for a peaceful attitude while I do. After all, what is peace on earth really about?

The United States is at war, again. In the book 1984, Oceania, of which the Unites States is part, is at war, a perpetual war that has lasted for thirty years and in which the players keep changing sides just to keep perpetual wars going on. There is nothing inherently wrong with America being at war. We have enemies that hate us and as a nation we have every right to preserve our national safety. We are not a Christian nation, no nation is, so we are not under any obligation to turn the other cheek to our enemies. God never calls for any nation to do that.

But there are too many people in our nation who call themselves Christians who have taken on a national attitude instead of a Biblical attitude. Nations can declare others to be their enemies. That is a national position. Christians are not to name others as their enemies. That is a Biblical position. Jesus said to His followers, “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.”

Whipping ourselves into a frenzy of hatred toward other people is the exact opposite of what Jesus called us to do. He also said, “Blessed be the peacemakers”. Politicians are not God, thank goodness, and Christians should not let political leaders, or wanna’ be political leaders, incite them to act or think contrary to what Jesus said. The Christmas angels sang, “Peace on earth, good will toward men.” The Christian community should try it. Merry Christmas. 

For more thoughts on Christian ethics read my book, "The Christian Citizen in Modern America" available at www.davidccraig.net  

What About Us?

Let’s start with what we know about certain people in the political realm. We know that the current administration is the worst to ever rule in American history. They have absolutely no ethical principles. They have no moral fiber, but have a considerable immoral appetite. They have brought deceit into a new and higher art form. The current president proclaimed, “I am a Christian” without having an iota of an idea what the word even means. That’s what we know about them. But what about the loyal opposition?

This year’s election cycle is revealing some equally sad facts about the opposing team. Compassion is a word nearly unheard of from the competing candidates. Kick out those who we don’t like. Don’t let in the ones who are fleeing for their lives. Break up families in the name of our God! What kind of God do we serve?

We offer the pretense of moral indignation. It is like the Pharisee praying in the street. Look at me for I am better than thee. We call for prayer to raise up righteous rulers and then cheer those with the most unrighteous causes. Isaiah 58 reveals what God thinks about this kind of prayer and assumptions on His response to our cry.

“This is what I want,” He says. “Let the oppressed go free.” Is there any freedom for those who dwell in the constant shadow of death from too many warring factions to keep track of? “I want you to share your bread with the hungry,” He says. We are the most agriculturally developed country in the world and we could feed tens of thousands more hungry stomachs. “I want you to bring the oppressed and poor into your houses,” He says. We say that we don’t want them closer than 3,000 miles from our borders let alone welcome in our houses. “I want you to satisfy the afflicted soul,” He says. We want to watch them cry for help and ignore their pleas for safety and hope.

God says that if we want Him to recognize our prayers that He has an agenda for us to follow. Be compassionate. Be loving. Embrace the stranger. Care for the stricken, not from a distance but from your own home.

“Then,” He says, “Your light shall dawn in the darkness. Your healing shall spring forth speedily.” Do we really want healing for America or is it just a platitude? Are we willing to exchange one unethical and immoral government for a different unethical and immoral one? What about us? 

Adultery

Most of us would feel quite displeased if we saw our spouse cozying up on the couch with a complete stranger. Our emotional reaction would be even worse if they began to hold hands. How much further would we want the situation to go? A little kissing maybe? I doubt it. Our spouse’s behavior might be construed as adultery. What began so simply as a little smile had blown up into behavior unbecoming to our marital partner.

Unpleased with the sorry direction that America was heading, the Christian community began to get politically active in the 1970’s. By the 1980’s the Christian voting bloc had helped to elect a number of people to high offices in the United States government. What the Christian community failed to notice was that a lot of promises were made to secure their vote but almost nothing was done to justify their confidence.

This election cycle has exposed the great flaw in the alliance between Christians and a political party. The world is being racked by wars and terrorism. Millions of people are fleeing for their lives. Hundreds of thousands more have already died in the conflicts. In the face of this overwhelming tragedy the Christian community has become strangely aligned with those who present the most ungodly positions concerning this crisis.

“Keep those refugees away from us!” is the urgent cry. “We don’t want them here!” This kind of speech has become epidemic within those who are most likely to court the vote of the Christian right. But their call to ostracism of the needy is in total conflict with the Word of God. We are supposed to married to Christ, but we have jumped into bed with the devil. The devil hates people. Jesus said of Him, “The thief comes not but to steal and to steal and to destroy.” The devil wants people to be the victims of terror and war. Christ came to call the weary to Himself. As Christians we need to follow the pattern of Christ.

In Deuteronomy 10:18-19 we are told that the righteous would “administer justice to the stranger, giving him food and clothing. Therefore love the stranger for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” The Christian community must abandon their cozy behavior with those who reject God’s Word and begin to act like our espoused Husband, Jesus Christ. 

Learn more about Christian ethics in our modern age. Get Dr. Craig's book, "The Christian Citizen in Modern America", available at davidccraig.net  

Have We All Gone Crazy

     What happens when rhetoric makes the foolish attempt to become reality? What happens when paranoia begins to even trump rhetoric? What happens when both insane rhetoric and insane paranoia start kissing each other passionately in the most public arena of all -- an election campaign season?

      What happens is what we currently see in this insane circus of finger pointing, name calling, and completely anti-Christian not to mention anti-American grandstanding currently dominating the news. Close our borders! Don't let them in! Kick them out! Hate and fear have taken the place of reason and caring. 

      First from the Christian perspective each hateful invective from presidential candidates should be met with a solid wall of vocal rejection not with cheering audiences. It is a complete shame to the name of Jesus that anyone would stand up and agree with those who deliberately and purposefully demean other people. Jesus said something like, "Judge not that ye be not judged". Are all Latin American immigrants criminals or lazy lay-abouts? No! Are most of them that way? No! Do the vast majority of them want what my own ancestors wanted when they left poverty and persecution in their old homes and came to America to find a better life? Yes!  

      So where does the community of Christians come into this harsh rhetoric of perverse judgment? It should come into it with condemnation not applause. It should come into it with quick and firm rejection and not cheering crowds. It should come into it with the critical eye of Scripture that says test the spirits to see if they are true and reject those who are false. 

      So, have we all gone crazy? Has the Church abandoned the call of Scripture to listen to the pied piper of the anti-christ? Yes, the anti-christ. He isn't just an evil person to come sometime in the future, he is the present reality of all that stands against the principles that Jesus laid down in our Holy Bible. We need to pick up our Bibles and read them and from the prism of its truth alone should be judge the hate mongering rhetoric that currently spews from the mouth of too many candidates today.