I have been very careful to avoid addressing political issues in this blog. This blog's focus has been on bivocational and small church ministry, and I did not want to distract from that emphasis. However, there continues to be an assault on Christianity in this country that must be recognized due to the threat it presents to churches of every size. I read a recent story of a pastor in North Carolina who was removed from being the honorary chaplain of the state house of representatives for ending his prayer with the name of Jesus. He is a Christian pastor! How did they think he was going to close his prayer...by calling on the name of some other diety? The reason given is that by invoking the name of Jesus some in the chamber would be offended. So what? I am regularly offended by some of the religious statements of various religious leaders who serve on the far fringe of their religions, and this includes some supposedly Christian leaders. This is still America, a land in which there is supposed to be free speech. Free speech may make people uncomfortable, and may offend some people, but it is still free. I seriously doubt that many people in North Carolina would be offended by a minister praying and ending his prayer in Jesus' name which means that we have given a small minority of people veto power over the right of a religious leader to pray as his conscience dictates. It is just one more sign that Christianity is under attack in this country, and our religious freedoms are being stripped from us little by little.
Churches are finding it difficult to get zoning approval in some counties to build new facilities. In some communities home Bible studies are being banned. The ACLU seems to be on the constant lookout for any public practice of Christianity such as having a prayer before a sporting event or at a high school commencement. The list goes on and on and every item is just one more effort to remove Christianity from public life.
Can our leaders not see the correlation between this continual attack against Christian values, principles, and morals and the continued decline of our society? The more we remove Christianity from the public square the more we see the spread of all forms of evil in our culture. As a nation we need to hear again the words of George Washington in his farewell address as president:
…Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, Religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of Patriotism, who should labour to subvert these great Pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of Men and citizens. The mere Politician, equally with the pious man ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connections with private and public felicity. Let it simply be asked where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths, which are the instruments of investigation in Courts of Justice? And let us with caution indulge the supposition, that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that National morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.
Washington understood that this nation would prosper only as it was supported by religion and morality, and he further understood that there could be no morality without religion. Friends, these props have long been under attack, and we are now paying the price as a nation. As a church we need to repent of our own sins in allowing this to happen. We need to pray that God would once again pour out his Spirit upon our nation. We need to work to elect men and women to office who share our faith and our values and who will not be silenced by those who want to destroy the Christian faith. We can no longer be silent.
No comments:
Post a Comment