The world’s problems cannot be debated, examined, or solved with a hard-hitting one liner or a well-timed meme. And that is coming from someone who loves both. But let’s be honest, the issues we are facing in this world today are far from simple, and they are not nearly as black and white as we would all like to make them. Every social movement in the last few decades has had a catchy one-liner that was supposed to allow everyone to show their support quickly, and let others know right away which side someone stood on. Because obviously, everything has two sides and we are all either completely on one side or completely on the other, right? Me too. Black lives matter. My body, my choice. Pro-life. Pro-choice. I could go on and on, but that’s enough to start the conversation.
Now, please know that I am not making light of any of the issues that the above phrases stand for. On the contrary, I am suggesting that by reducing them to a tagline, we have in fact taken away the very serious nature of all of them. And make no mistake, the problems we face today are life-altering. Eternity-altering. You see, at the very heart of all of it is the fact that we live in a broken world. God created this beautiful place, and created man and woman to live in perfect harmony with him and each other. We were not created to have to deal with anything that we are facing today, because in that perfect garden none of it existed. And that was what God wanted for us all.
After sin entered the picture, and we were separated from God and the garden, everything began to change. Flash forward thousands of years, and evil continues to run rampant here on earth. Our relationship with God has been under attack from the beginning, and the damage to that relationship has opened the door for so much that God never wanted us to face. And the farther we have strayed from our relationship with Him, the farther everything on earth has gotten from His perfect design.
Let’s start with the relationship between man and woman, husband and wife. This was meant to be the foundation on which every family was built. Children were raised. Parents were cared for. Communities were cultivated. As that began to break down, what happened? Domestic violence. Child abuse. Going one step further, sex was a gift from God, given to men and women in marriage. In marriage, two become one. There is a spiritual connection beyond anything we can see, and that act is a physical expression of that spiritual connection. It is meant to be an out of this world experience. But we’ve taken this sacred act out of marriage, labeled it the sexual revolution, and called it good. Look at the results. Incest. Rape. Infidelity. Rampant divorce. Porn addiction. Sex addiction. Unwanted pregnancies. Abortion.
Our relationship with God has been shattered, the foundational unit of our society has been destroyed, and what has followed? Enter the isms…racism, sexism, agism, etc. Human trafficking. Drug addiction. Alcoholism. Evil continues to come in and divide us from within. We have nothing stable to come from or build on, and the hits keep coming. Now, one side says you should not focus on being a Christian, just a good human being, which means you love everyone (which means that you accept everything they say and do without reproach no matter what), vote liberal, are a socialist, pro-choice, anti-all the isms, globalist who doesn’t own a gun. The other side says to be a good Christian and a good human being, you have to make your judgements about the sins of others public, vote conservative, are a capitalist, pro-life, the isms don’t even exist, nationalist who has a small arsenal of semi-automatic weapons and handguns hidden under your mattress or in your underground bunker.
This gross oversimplification is exemplified in the following post that is circulating around social media again. I have seen it in various forms over the last few years, and it never ceases to both amaze and sadden me. I am going to take it line by line…
“What hurts the most is the realization that all of the adults in my life when I was a child were lying to me.” I doubt that is the case. Some maybe, but not all.
“They said to be a good Christian you had to follow the teachings of Jesus.” That is true, we are called to follow Christ’s perfect example as well as we can in our imperfection.
“Love your neighbor.” I wrote an entire blog about this (click here to read it), and Jesus certainly offered the perfect example of unconditional love. However, loving them did not mean he accepted their sinful ways or told them they could behave however they wanted as long as they loved each other.
“Feed the hungry.” This is true and can happen in so many different ways. Certainly government programs to help support those who cannot afford food are a part of that picture. Also, local food pantries and shelters, churches and social service organizations that provide assistance, individuals who see someone in need and stop to buy food or offer to take them somewhere where additional help can be provided. I see support for this regularly from all kinds of people, and it does not matter who they voted for.
“Comfort the hurting.” Again yes, and again one’s ability to provide comfort to the hurting is not dependent on who you voted for. I have witnessed incredible comfort and support from so many people from all walks of life.
“Welcome the stranger.” Also a resounding yes, and I know this could have a variety of implications. However, welcoming the stranger does not mean the same as opening our borders to anyone and everyone who wants to enter with no concern for anyone’s safety. If a stranger knocked on your door in the middle of the night and asked you to let them in, would you automatically open your door and potentially put the lives of you and your family at risk? Probably not, and I don’t believe that makes you a bad Christian, or a bad person. If you turned the light off and went to bed, maybe. But if you called law enforcement and said that someone appears to need assistance, or got in touch with a couple of neighbors so that you all could go out and speak with him together? That is reasonable. And loving. And perfectly acceptable to God.
“They said God is love. And Jesus loves all the little children of the world.” He is and does, but it is also so much more than that. And how we define love certainly changes what that means. God’s love is unconditional, sacrificial, never-ending. It also includes correction, patience, and at times anger.
“They lied.” No, they didn’t. At least not all of them. As Christians, we are called to look at these concepts through a Biblical worldview and lens. We cannot define them as society defines them. If you are going to hold Christians to a standard, the Bible has to be the foundation.
