The church in the United States has some problems: declining church attendance, severely reduced evangelism efforts, and high divorces rates (though not as high as many think) to name a few. There have been countless articles and blog posts over the last several decades attempting to point at why we have all of these problems, but it seems that all of the logically based analyses have one thing in common, their diagnosis of the church as having misplaced its priorities.
The Bible is clear that the way to grow closer to God and to accomplish His will is through prayer, Bible Study and evangelism. But, so much of the time, money and intellectual effort of Christians in the United States today is spent on advocating for one political candidate or another, it is no wonder that we don't spend the kind of time on prayer, Bible study, and evangelism that the apostles and the early church fathers did. The question then becomes, is there any reason to believe that all of this effort being put into making a more christian-like government will really advance Gods causes?
We have a New Testament full of examples and a nearly 2000 year church history to answer that question with resounding "NO". Notice the Apostle Paul. His interactions with government were always for one or both of two purposes: 1) to try to get the government to leave him alone so he could preach, and 2) to try to evangelize leaders in front of whom he was on trial. That was it. No lobbying for or against gay rights; no lobbying for or against certain governmental spending programs or military campaigns, just the gospel.
A couple of hundred years later, an emperor got saved and a partnership between the church and the government was created. What did this lead to? The Dark Ages. 1000 years of lack of progress in the world both humanly and for the gospel. The problem is, when the church ties itself to human institutions, the human institutions always distract the church from its real purpose toward those of the world. The purpose of any human government is by definition, the earthly kingdom. Human government's priority will always be the here and now, the world and human interest. Spiritual concerns will always take a back seat in an organization whose main purpose is the earth and time.
So, why do Christians become so fascinated and distracted by government? It seems the hope is that the church can use the government to get people to behave the "way they should". But is that what Christ called us to do? “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Yes, we are to teach them to obey the commandments, but our method is through discipleship, not through the government's sword. Jesus said "All authority in heaven and on earth" had been given to Him. We do not need authority from government. We need the blood, the words and the love of Christ. That is all the power we need.
So, how does this play out. First, Christians, stop trying to get the public schools to educate your children in a godly way. That is not what they exist for. State school exist to perpetuate the state's earthly kingdom and its goals. They will never put God first. It is not what they are there for. It is YOUR job to educate your children in a godly manner. For some, this may mean sending their kids to public schools and supplementing that instruction with home and church education. But as our culture deteriorates, it will be necessary for more and more Christian parents to abandon our educational partnership with the state and either place our children in private schools or educate them through a home schooling co-op we can start through our church. Now that the federal government has integrated the gender of locker rooms and bathrooms, this is a safety issue as well as an education issue.
Will it do any good for us to lobby to get the government to change its minds and make our schools more christian-like? perhaps, but how much better spent would that time, effort and money be on prayer, Bible study, evangelism, and the teaching of our own kids.
No comments:
Post a Comment