Friends of Faith,
The Spirit continues to prompt me to write and what I realized
this morning is that some of the reason I haven’t is that I didn’t want this blog
(my thoughts) to become just another political point of view on our culture.
And yet, I also realize/d that my faith both challenges and
forms my political view and is forming each of many very divided cultural and
political views, both in this nation and worldwide.
Recently I read an article entitled: “Why Catholics ‘should’
talk about Religion and Politics.” And I realized before I began, that
unfortunately, and sadly, a Christian denomination doesn’t necessarily bring
unity to our political viewpoints or necessarily even reflect what we claim as
our faith, or our faith’s values and/or beliefs.
And while the culture of society has always been influenced
by varying beliefs and “religions”, God’s intention has always been that HE
would form, convert and transform our beliefs into what is known as the “common
good” and unification -- peace and holiness, ONE HOLY BODY of all.
Instead, the devil (and sin) have been allowed a cultural
influence in thousands of Christian denominations and religions (instead of
one) and viewpoints so grievously wrong but far spread that they are attempting
to overtake God’s very plan for life and holiness. The devil is attempting (and
I believe in many ways succeeding) to divide our culture into a war; maybe not
the typical war, but a war spiritual in nature. This is not a recent thing as
St Paul warned us of it in Eph 6:12: “For our
struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the
powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits
in the heavens.”
Let me get back to the beginning.
When Jesus came into this world 2020 years ago, he came to
fulfill God’s promise and covenant with Abraham. Genesis 15: 1-6, 21:1-3
God had one purpose in mind for giving us His son, Jesus: to
undo the original sin of Adam and Eve. (Jesus paid a debt HE didn’t owe because
WE owed a debt WE couldn’t pay.) God was keeping a promise he had made centuries
before to His chosen people – to save us – to allow us to be able to choose
heaven, to become holy; something that Adam and Eve’s original sin had put into
jeopardy.
God’s goal for us was for us to become holy: to join Him in
heaven! Nothing more, nothing less – not wealth, power, material possessions or
even time for ourselves – “just” holiness – to avoid the sin that separates us
from him, shown by our love for Him and love for each other.
And God knew that only by the incarnation (“He Became man”
Jn 1:1-5, 9-14) would that promise be fulfilled. He joined us in our humanity
so that we might join him in his divinity. His son, Jesus, would (and was) needed
to lead us on the path to holiness.
But Jesus’ nature is opposite of what our culture today
thinks of as both leader and King. He was not handsome, or wealthy, or powerful
as we know it today. And His message, the respect He and His followers were
given, and even His death on the cross (as a common thief) was not what would
be expected of someone who was sent here to save us.
Likewise, much of our culture today shows no respect for
faith, or for a belief in God and Jesus. In fact, our faith is challenged by
our culture and belief in Jesus is still quite often mocked, usually when we
least expect it; by those we sometimes think or thought we should respect; many
times by those within our own churches and families; and especially by those
who “claim” or profess to be in charge.
The division that is apparent in our culture is a call to
Spiritual Warfare. And the cause of division is the same today as it was in all
of the yesterday’s past – the devil, SIN.
When we allow culture to justify sin (ie: that we can choose
life, our sex, power and feeling good) over God’s intentions for holiness and the
very nature by which He formed us, then we have allowed the devil and SIN to
transform us instead of Jesus to convert us. And faith, culture, religion, and
politics have converged to where my conversation began – awareness of a deep
divide that we are failing to talk about for fear of offending each other.
And yet the “person” we are most offending is God himself.
Think about this in the next conversation you partake in. Are
your words kind? Do they speak the truth – God’s truth with honesty, or do they
circle around the truth so that they don’t offend? Are we speaking to manipulate
or justify our actions or inaction? Or are we speaking to bring awareness and
understanding that will lead not only ourselves but others to holiness? Maybe
we need to bring that cliché WWJD (what would Jesus Do) more into our daily actions,
prayer and decision making.
And politics and religion: If the truth of our faith doesn’t
influence our culture – then remember the opposite is true: Our culture AND
politics will influence and lead us astray in our faith. And if the Christian faith
and truth proclaimed by Jesus doesn’t influence our decisions, who or what is?
WHO are we listening to? And WWJD?
May our conversations be blessed by our faith and God’s
truth, rather than avoiding His presence. And may you be blessed by God’s
influence in your life, a search for His truth, and His desire for your
holiness.
Blessings,
Charlotte
