Fifteen years ago
last Sunday we were not only reminded that there is great evil in this world as
we lost almost 3,000 of our fellow citizens to a heinous terrorist attack, but
at the same time, as police and fire fighters rushed into the burning Twin Towers and as fellow employees came to the rescue of the injured at the Pentagon,
and as passengers rushed hijackers on Flight 93 over Pennsylvania, we also
learned that there are heroes among us.
And every hero that
puts their life on the line or gives up their life that others have life ultimately
point us to the foremost hero, the divine one who took on flesh, lived,
suffered, and died in the place of sinners that we might live.
Now, one and a half
decades later we are in need of heroes once again. It seems as if we live in a
country that has come to believe, “Let’s just pretend things are going well,
that we can all just get along, and that there really is no enemy we fight.”
Our unwillingness to go against the current flow has not only led us to
substitute the idea of acceptance (“You must accept my beliefs”) for that of
genuine tolerance (I will bear your view and stand for your right to express it, even
though I disagree with it), it also has brought us to a place where expressed
disagreement is taken as hatred.
Yet, this is not
consistent with truly Christian thinking. After all, “love
is not happy with evil, but is happy with the truth” (1 Cor.
13:6, GNT). And so, people who love speak “the
truth in a spirit of love” (Ephesians 4:15). They understand, “Faithful
are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy” (Prov. 27:6,
ESV) and “better is a rebuke that is revealed than love that is concealed”
(Prov. 27:4, author’s own translation). In other words, there is nothing loving
about remaining quiet and “out of the fray,” when our friends, family,
neighbors, and co-workers need to hear the truth!
Now, given our
current climate in which people have a hard time hearing that with which they
might disagree, there may be some or even many who react negatively to our
truth telling. But, we should not be surprised. After all, Jesus said (John
15:18-21, NLT): “If the world hates you,
remember that it hated me first…. Since
they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you…. They will do all this to you because of me, for they have
rejected the one who sent me.”
And he is not calling us to do anything that he himself was not willing
to do. In Mark 6:34 (ESV) we read of Jesus, after a large crowd of people came
to him: “…and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a
shepherd. And he began to teach them many things.” Jesus’ compassion for the
masses led him to teach them, so they could have direction to the true
Shepherd.
So it should be with us, as we seek to
impact the public square. There are several areas in our country in which we
must speak truth, motivated by love, going forth in love, and yet also
courageously.[1] In other words, we must advocate for the following:
·
*The sanctity of human
life, which means we will oppose abortion, euthanasia, and the commodification
of humans (e.g. the harvesting and selling of baby body parts).
·
*That marriage is between a
man and a woman only, that such marriage is best for children and for society, and
that marriage should not be taken lightly.
·
*That one’s biological sex
with which they are born is their gender, and to be confused about this and/or to
seek to live like the opposite sex is not healthy, nor should it be condoned. To
do so is ultimately detrimental to individuals
and to society.
·
*That the poor are not ultimately
helped when we only throw money and programs at them—treating them as a cause to
be upheld and a problem to be solved, rather than as humans created in the image
of God who, through the dignity of employment, hard work, and creativity can be part of the solution
to their own poverty.
·
*That a country is not ultimately
helped by the redistribution of wealth and/or the devaluation of responsibility
that comes through socialism.
·
*That religious liberty is
not to be subordinated to the supposed civil rights that include same sex marriage
and the causes behind the LGBT movement.
·
*That the constitution is to
be approached by justices who seek its original intent, rather than treating it
as a living and breathing document that can support just about any view or law.
·
*That Islamic terrorism, involved
in such groups as ISIS, is at war with the rest of the world in general and the
United Stated in particular and must be stopped through a strong and decisive military.
Such a just war theory has a long tradition in the Church and eventually will lead
to more peace than avoidance will.
This is only a start,
but it does state some of the key truths we must advocate out of love for those
around us. May God give us the courage and strength to be heroic in our word, our
actions, our policies, and in our love! And may he give us heroes who will ignore
those who make fun of and denigrate us for advocating these positions or voting
for candidates who will support them.
[1] There is a strong thread of
truth emphasized throughout the Bible that reminds us, if we are to “man up,” we
must be strong, courageous, and do the hard things (Joshua 1:9 [in the Greek
version]; 1 Kings 2:2; Isaiah 46:8; 1 Corinthians 16:13), which includes doing
all things in love (1 Corinthians 16:14).
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