Civil War (of Words) and Peace Speech

I had a few thoughts percolating through my brain today somewhat related to freedom and Independence Day and all like that but also relating to other important issues. I really hate that it seems like it's almost impossible to have a civil discussion anymore- at least online, where you have people that don't all believe the exact same things as you. I saw a post online on a page I follow and its message seemed to be a bit ambiguous so I did what I often do on such posts- I asked a question for clarification. (I learned on Sesame Street that that's the best way to find out stuff.) Unfortunately, because social media seems to bring out the absolute worst in us people- and perhaps the feeling of relative safety of exchanges that are not in person adds to this- everyone tends to naturally assume that a sincere question is really just someone looking to upset others and pick a fight, hence earning them the title of "troll". And then it is assumed that the post in question should and must be blindingly obvious to everyone. Thus, if you must ask such questions, you are deemed to evidently be "part of the problem". (Never mind that "the problem" can never seem to be pinpointed or explained.) And such responses shut down conversation and thus disallow further understanding to occur. The nicer shutdown of conversation is the explanation that social media is generally not the best place for delicate conversations. This is essentially a reiteration of the old adage about not talking about religion or politics in mixed company. The problem with this notion is that this means serious conversations that need to happen can never happen because we can't seem to lovingly and respectfully talk about potentially controversial topics without attacking each other for daring to think differently than we do on something. That is very sad when meaningful discussion and debate can't be conducted. In contrast, I had a nice conversation with a gentleman today who was exercising his First Amendment free speech rights by holding up a sign on the sidewalk where passing motorists and pedestrians could see his campaign to boycott some companies with whom he had grievances. (I don't want to get into specifics because that is besides the point of this post much like the ending parantheses bracket is to this point.) I am not sure if I totally agreed with his cause but I could agree that he had a valid point. I wished him well in his cause and rejoiced that he was a fellow believer in Christ, even if we hold to some different denominational views. This is not to say that I am the best at having civil discussions, particularly those with whom I disagree. This is to say that it is possible and it's what the right to free speech should entail. We don't have to hold all the same views in order for me to respect and love you and respect your right to your views. I have a number of friends who hold very different views from me. Some are on different ends of political views and religious stances. Some claim no faith and some claim a different one. It is okay for them to have their views and I respect their right to hold them. And I try to be respectful to listen to them. It is a great exercise to try at times. Read something from a totally opposite point of view. See what you can learn from it. Even if you wind up discarding all of it wholesale, at least you are now better informed so as to understand the way others view things. As Jesus said, "Blessed are the peacemakers." Let's make peace instead of grief when we disagree. My personal guide is of course The Bible, which is God's Word. And He commands us to make a righteous judgment in John 7:24. In 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22, we find my guiding verses for discerning truth as I assess various sources of information. "Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid all appearances of evil." In doing this, I also make a point to point out to the person I'm speaking with the points I can heartily agree with them on first. I try to compliment them on the good things I see in their speech. And then I gently but firmly point out where I differ and that is where we have to agree to disagree agreeably, as my dad would say. Another wise thing he often said when we were overseas on the mission field often comes to mind for me too. "Different is not necessarily wrong- it's just different." To bring this back to the theme of Independence Day, I will say this specifically about the United States of America. As one who was not "Born in the U.S.A." (which is why my mom says I can't sing the Bruce Springsteen song of the same name ;-)), I have a bit of a different view of America as a foreign country that I also regard as home to some degree. To some degree, I will always regard Trinidad & Tobago as home as well since I still am at least partly a Trini at heart. (Trini 2 De Bone! :-)) To a smaller degree, I feel some loyalty to Spain as the land of my birth. (This is why it's really hard for me to say where I'm from. ;-)) And having lived in different cultures, I can see things that these countries do and believe that I can hold to and agree with, while there are other things I would have to discard. (Just like 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 ;-)) And I'm glad for and proud of my Spanish, Trini and American heritage. I praise God for the Blessings of Liberty in all three homes. God shed His grace on all three- just as He did on the whole world when He sent Christ to die and rise to pay for our sins. (Titus 3:4-7) May God mend thine every flaw for the whole world. That's the process He is doing as His Spirit moves in us who are Christ followers to share The Gospel around the world and live out the kingdom of God so that His will is done here as it is in Heaven. We are God's agents of change spreading the sweet aroma of Christ that overpowers people like bees overcome with the allure of nectar or cats with catnip. We do that best when we love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength- giving Him all the glory rightfully due His Name alone- and when we love our neighbour as ourselves. That is what I want to be about as I seek to speak The Truth in Love. (Matthew 22:34-40 and Ephesians 4:15) And as Ephesians 4:29-32 talks about, I want to be kind to others, tenderhearted, forgiving as Christ forgave me- giving grace to all who hear me so that others are built up with my words and never torn down. Every single human being is made in God's image and is worthy of love and respect. They are infinitely important and valuable and eternally loved! Please forgive me for any time I have ever said or done anything to make anyone feel any less. I dare not say anything to besmirch or belittle His creation! The grace and love of Jesus compels me to show His love to others in extravagance, as He has done for me and all of us. (John 3:16 and Romans 5:8) Thank You, Father God, for freedom of speech, assembly, peacefully petitioning of the government for a redress of grievances, the press and religion. I am glad to live in a country that recognizes those rights and acknowledges that all men and women are created equal and endowed by You with these rights- along with the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I am also thankful to You eternally that I have found my happiness in You because You are the source of all joy! Your love pardons and forgives all sin for all who come in faith and repentance to You. And I thank and praise You that my ultimate Home is with You in Heaven because You have saved me from the Hell I deserve for my sins and instead given me the Heaven I don't deserve. Your grace and mercy are amazing and overwhelming! May Your graciousness overflow in me to all I meet in pointing them to You. I thank You for making me a citizen of Heaven. (Philippians 3:20) Whatever gain I had, I count it all as loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord and Saviour. (Philippians 3:7-14) Help me to keep pressing on beyond the past to what You have lying in wait for me in the future, doing all You have called me to do in the present. And may all I do be done in Love. In Your Holy Name, Amen.

What Would You Do? (In Responding to LGBTQ)

 (Note: This is written in response to a question from a LGBTQ study regarding the benefits and harms of conversion therapy which asked the question, "What would you do if someone you knew came out to you as LGBTQ?")

To answer the question posed here, I will tell you what I have done with those I know who have announced their LGBT inclinations- Love my neighbour as myself and speak the Truth in Love to them. (Matthew 22:34-40 and Ephesians 4:15)

    I would first want to ask what exactly is meant when they identify with any of the terms encompassed in that acronym. (i.e. I want to hear their story first of all- truly listen and try to understand.)

     I would assure them that they are loved no matter what- every person is made in God's image and eternally loved by Him- and they are infinitely important and eternally valuable and worthy of love and respect. Because of my faith in Christ and the love and forgiveness I have experienced from Him, I also love all people and seek to extend His grace to them. 

     I would also want to understand what their spiritual beliefs are regarding Jesus. If the person is not a Christ follower, I would tell them about the love God has for all of us and the sin in our lives that have separated us from Him. Adam and Eve sinned in the beginning and brought the curse of sin upon the planet and people. The wages of sin is death- spiritual death eternally separated from The Lord in Hell. God doesn't desire any to perish but for all to come to repentance. He loves us all so much He sent His Son to take the punishment we deserve by dying on the cross in our place. Jesus then rose again to prove He's God. If we will turn to Him in faith and trust Him for forgiveness of all our sins and follow Him in repentance, He will save us from the penalty of Hell we deserve and receive us into eternal joy in His presence in Heaven instead.

      And if the person already is a Christian or if not, the message is still the same. The Gospel is our greatest need and that's what we need to focus on first. No matter gay, straight or bi, lesbian or transgendered- all bow to Christ on the last day so let's make Him Lord while there's time. (Philippians 2:9-11) 

    Yes, we all have our struggles in this life and we all deal with temptations to sin. And I do believe the question is not about what orientation one feels drawn towards- it's about what one does with it.

I can empathize with friends who have unwanted same sex attractions who also strive to serve and obey The Lord Jesus with everything, including their sexuality. I can empathize as a heterosexual single man who is celibate just like them because I know sex outside of marriage is a sin and God has defined marriage as the union of one man to one woman for life. (Genesis 2:24, Matthew 19, Hebrews 13:4)

    And I know the community of those who hold to faith in Christ and also identify as LGBTQ+ veer to different paths on this issue. I have friends who affirm faith in Jesus yet some choose to engage in homosexual relations and others choose to be celibate in keeping with their convictions. For the former, I have had to gently and respectfully explain why I cannot agree with them that God permits homosexual relationships or lust. This doesn't mean I don't love them or respect them. I am still happy to do anything I can to help them but I can't enable them in perpetuating sin. I would not want them to do that for me, so this is just what Matthew 7:12 commands me to do in the Golden Rule.

   For the latter, I commiserate with them and try to encourage them in their walk with Christ and commitment to celibacy. And I pray for those in both camps. 

     Above all, I want to remind them that Love doesn't rejoice with evil but it rejoices with the Truth. And the Truth is Jesus- He's the Way, Truth and Life. And Jesus is better than sin. Jesus is better than lust. Jesus is better than sex. Jesus is better than any human relationship. Jesus is better than anything else I desire.  

I want to want Him and want nothing else. I confess I am certainly not all I should be but by the grace of God, I am not who I once was either. I am a sinner saved by God's grace and because I have been set free by His forgiveness and love, I can do no less than to love others and extend the same grace I have received. 

    And regardless of one's choice about Jesus, the love remains and the respect remains and the prayers remain. 

   I look forward to the day when Jesus will return and set everything wrong right again and all our desires will be rightly oriented for Him and His kingdom. He is our ultimate Hope as we look forward to Heaven where everything sad will come untrue and all the light and momentary troubles we go through here will not even compare to the glory to be revealed.

(Note: Here are a few articles that offer Christian perspectives on these ideas.

https://www.equip.org/article/whats-the-problem-with-conversion-therapy/

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/the-lgbt-movements-dangerous-hypocrisy-on-conversion-therapy/?amp

The Spiritual Friendship Web site is another great resource too. https://www.spiritualfriendship.org)

Racism, Hatred, Multiculturalism and God's Love

(Note: This is a collection of three pieces I wrote in response to the tragic murder of Ahmaud Arbery, which happened in February 2020 but was not widely reported to the public until May 2020. I have included links in some places where I was writing in direct response to that. These are my observations on the racism still rampant in the world since sin is still rampant in the world and a Biblical response to it.)


   I have been at least an occasional runner since first competing in cross country and track and field in high school. I have been running again more regularly lately since the weather got warmer. Thus, I would likely have gone for a run or walk today anyway.
  In light of Ahmaud Arbery's birthday today (May 8), I thought it was only fitting to go for a run/walk in his honour and memory today. (As you can see in the link below, a lot of folks have also done just that.) I have read so many stories like his in recent years that have come to light (I'm sure there are many more that don't) and it is incredibly sad and disgusting and infuriating all at once. It reviled me to see the evil that sin brings about.
     I find it crazy to think that while I as a white man have not ever had a random person stop me while I'm about and confront me with a gun because they suspected me of burglary- African-American citizens have had similar experiences far too often. (And once is one too many.) As I've said before, leave the law to law officers. If you have credible suspicions, report them. Don't make baseless accusations and don't confront and retain people against their will because you have no authority to do so. It's one thing to risk your life in trying to stop a crime or stop the perpetrators when you have concrete proof of both the crime and the lawbreakers. There is something to be said for selflessness and trying to help those in need- but that also constitutes vigilantism and one must be aware of the horrible consequences it can bring- which is why it's best to leave such matters to the police when it's a legitimate matter worthy of their attention. (Note: Running, playing golf, waiting for friends at a coffee shop, walking home at night, selling water as a fundraiser, falling asleep in your own commons room, babysitting kids, selling houses as a realtor, having a barbecue at a park, mowing lawns, and just going about daily life in general are not matters that need police intervention.) Take the time to lovingly and kindly talk with people and assume the best about them rather than assuming the worst. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
      While I was out and about in the neighbourhood, I took time to pray for Mr. Arbery's family and for the McMichaels as well, that God would bring justice and comfort for the former and repentance for the latter. I also prayed that God would open our eyes to acknowledge the sin of hatred that continues to rear its ugly head so often in the form of racism- and to help us repent of it and truly show Jesus' love to all.
This is a Gospel issue. Jesus died and rose to pay for all our sins- and we are all equally guilty before Him. His intervention on our behalf is the grace and mercy of God that longs to not see us punished and eternally separated from Him, but forgiven and eternally reconciled to Him.
    1 John 4:20 says we cannot love God Whom we haven't seen when we hate our brother whom we have seen. When we see injustice in the world, we are called to speak out against it. (Isaiah 1:17, Amos 5:24, Micah 6:8) Jesus' mission statement in Luke 4:16-21 speaks to this as well. He came to free the oppressed spiritually- and He uses us to help do that physically as well. The world will know we are Christians by our love. (John 13:35)

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2020/05/08/world/ahmaud-arbery-support-run-trnd/index.html

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https://www.augustachronicle.com/opinion/20200511/letter-black-racism-murdered-arbery?fbclid=IwAR1vkdUg1eCkX3XvET39sK1J9uxovZbKHJ150Ty5AHjYbv1rYj8RNxWWjvk


This letter was quite disturbing to read as well as very saddening. :-(
  The takeaway I got from this is that, in the writer's point of view, apparently Mr. Arbery was "asking for it" because he and other African-Americans were getting too "uppity".
   I'm glad he at least noted that it's unfortunate when any American citizen, whether white or black (by the way, there are more than two races in the US and the world but the distinction is understandable for the context of this letter), is murdered unnecessarily. (Evidently, there are times he deems murder to be necessary. Perhaps he meant to say "killed unnecessarily" here.)
    It's ironic he mentions the existence of predominantly black colleges without acknowledging that segregation and racism against African-American people are largely the reasons why they exist.
    Perhaps some overt racism on the part of the government has declined since the 1960s but that does not mean that more subtle systemic forms don't exist. And obviously overt racism on the part of individuals still exists. That was one of the biggest culture shocks for me coming from the country where I grew up as a minority among for the most part very loving and open people to coming to the Southern USA in a small town where I encountered a number of close-minded racist people.(Which is certainly not descriptive of everyone in that town or in the South or USA in general.) Sin still plagues our world and it continues to fill hearts with hate, sadly. That will continue as long as earth endures until Christ's return.
   And I would ask this gentleman what he would do in regards to one of Christ's most famous commands. "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." (Matthew 7:12, Luke 6:31)
   If you and your family were dark-skinned of African descent and you couldn't even trace all your ancestry back past a few generations because your ancestors were not considered to even be full human beings and thus records were not kept for them- and your ancestors had been kidnapped and brutally enslaved in horrific conditions at the hands of white colonialists- and then even after the country your family was brought to nearly split apart fighting a war largely for the right to own your great, great, great grandparents as property- and then after that, your ancestors endured substandard housing and schooling and economic job opportunities, along with a denial by the government of basic rights like voting- and continued to endure numerous taunts and being made to feel as second class citizens and suffered numerous acts of violence and murders at the hands of cowardly bullies who hid their faces behind sheets and twisted The Bible to somehow claim God was on their side- and to this day, you yourself continue to see those deleterious effects of this cumulative history along with the racist attitudes still prevalent in society, often fueled by the President himself, who seems to hold and enable many racist, sexist and xenophobic views and actions- how would you feel if a non-black person, particularly a white one, told you that you should quit whining about it and stop claiming that people are racist when evil acts of cruelty up to and including murder are performed against people of your skin colour, along with other non-white skin tones, still on an all-too-regular basis?
    What would be the most loving thing to do for someone in that position? Instead of denying the reality of racism, we need to repent from it and let God change our hearts. That's precisely why Jesus came to die and rise- so all sins would be paid for and we could be restored by faith in Him to the loving people who He made us to be, who love God with their all and love their neighbours as themselves. You cannot say you love God, Whom you haven't seen, if you hate your brother whom you have seen. (1 John 4:20)
   Remember too, if one is a follower of Christ, that Philippians 2 commands that we think of others before ourselves and as better than ourselves. That is the example Jesus gave when He humbled Himself to the point of death on the cross. That's why God raised Him up and gave Him the Name above all names that at His Name every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
    I have no idea about where this letter writer stands in relation to Christ but I thought it particularly worth noting for one thing because so many have claimed Christ's Name, yet betrayed Him through hateful words and actions that do not reflect His heart in any way at all.
    As Rev. Dr. King, Jr. said, hate cannot drive out hate- only love can do that. I pray God's Love will transform this man's heart and all those in need of His Love that makes enemies to be friends and brothers.
...................................................................................

I just wanted to offer this bit of insight as a white man who grew up as a minority in a country where the white population was about 0.5% who then came to live in the American South.
    I have never thought of any neighbourhood as "belonging" to a particular race. I grew up in a multi-racial neighbourhood. My next door neighbours were of African descent. The neighbours across the street were of Indian descent. The neighbours down the street were of Chinese descent. I remember regularly going by their houses as a kid. All the neighbourhood kids got together on Saturdays for games of tag and "Police and tief". (The Trinidadian equivalent of "cops and robbers". :-))
   Those adult neighbours were as aunty and uncle to me. In fact, that is what we called them, as that was the social, respectful custom there.
   Imagine the culture shock of coming from growing up 10 years there to living in a largely white neighborhood in a small Southern town that unfortunately harbored a lot of racist, redneck attitudes. (No, that's not to say everyone was like that, of course. However, the grand dragon of the KKK did live in that town, so there's that.)
   I have seen and heard a lot of racist attitudes and actions even from and sometimes especially from people in the church who claimed to love The Lord Jesus Whom they haven't seen yet hated their brother whom they have seen. (Check 1 John 4:20. That just doesn't work.)
   I have seen NUMEROUS comments from people online who hold some very racist and xenophobic ideas about non-white people who are not from America originally.
   I am so glad to have been able to serve in rural school districts serving some of the poorer people of the state, with a mixture of racial demographics. I have worked at a predominantly African-American populated school, both in students and faculty and staff. I have a similar balance at my current work place. I live in an apartment complex with many African-American and Indian neighbours, which feels like home to me. (Especially as I can often smell curry in the air in my building! :-))
   Of course there are people who hold hateful views of others based on race, nationality, religion, sex and so forth. It sickens me to see it in the church as that flies in the face of The Gospel! The Bible says that God made all people in His image! Male and female He created them. (Genesis 1:27)
   Philippians 2 says I am to follow the example of Jesus Who humbled Himself to the point of death on the cross to pay for our sins and then rose again. That passage says I am to think of others as better than myself and to be concerned about their needs above my own!
   I am to love God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength and love my neighbour as myself. I am to do unto others as I would have them do unto me.
   The church should be doing all these things and reaching out in love to all people. The church should also be standing against injustice! That's what Love does and it's what we are commanded to do too. (1 Corinthians 13:6, John 13:35, Isaiah 1:17, Micah 6:8, Amos 5:24)
   In doing these things, we must also recognize the history of racism and pride and hatred and greed that has shaped America's history, along with so many other countries affected by colonialism. To point out the ways racism sure seems to be ingrained in the system of doing things is an acknowledgement of history and the sins of our forefathers.
We can't change what has been done but we can repent of any sin we have done and any sin of racist attitudes that still linger and lament over them.
   If we as Christians are not loving all people of all races, we are not comporting to God's Word. It's fitting that I am scheduled to read Numbers 12 today in my daily quiet time with God, a passage where God punished Miriam and Aaron for defying Moses' authority and particularly for decrying his Cushite wife (i.e. darker skinned)
  We better learn to love seeing a variety of skin colours because Revelation 5:9 says there will be some from every tribe, tongue and nation in Heaven all praising Jesus as one. Racial unity in the body of Christ is the model of Heaven. In fact, as Galatians 3:28 and Colossians 3:11 tell us, there's no Jew or Greek, slave or free, nor male or female- we're all one in Christ Jesus.
   May God truly help us live out that truth.

God in the Poll Booth

Well, not only am I going to break the old saying about not talking about religion and politics in mixed company (since more than likely there will be disagreements and we can’t seem to amicably handle those situations by agreeing to disagree agreeably), but I’m also going to mix both religion and politics and talk about both here. And yes, with the 2014 U.S. mid-term elections around the corner of the calendar, it seemed appropriate timing.
              Let me point out what I am not going to do here though. I have no intention of ever telling anyone how to vote and who to vote for, as I feel people are capable of making their own minds on that and should, empowered by careful research, follow their own conscience on such matters. I don’t endorse any particular candidate but Jesus Christ and I don’t endorse any particular party except for the one Jesus throws in Heaven with all the angels at just one sinner who repents. :-) I don’t even really endorse any particular ideology other than Christian theology entrusted to and enacted by hearts that have been set free by the crucifixion of Christ on the cross at Calvary and the glorious Resurrection of Christ that brings restoration, redemption and renewal.
                In fact, I will go ahead and lay out my only bit of voting advice. Vote for whoever you think God wants you to vote for. Grammatical issues aside, I think that’s the only issue at hand when it comes to elections. As 1 Corinthians 10:31 tells us, we should do everything for God’s glory and as Colossians 3:23 tells us, we should everything as unto The Lord (that is, with our best effort.) Those two verses speak to two major things that should guide our voting. And to be clear, I do think we should take advantage of the right to vote in countries that afford this privilege. [Sadly, this is something to remember too- voting is a privilege as in many countries it is not an option for the people at all.] If we are doing everything for God’s glory, then this includes our voting at the polls. And that should be the guiding principle for everything in our lives, of course. Now I don’t know what this will translate into for anyone else as far as candidates and such goes, but I do know that we should look for candidates who truly represent the values that God holds dear as much as possible. I know that this is not fully possible as we also must acknowledge that we are all miserable sinners who fall woefully short of God’s glory and ultimately, we can only hope to find someone who labors to uphold God’s standards, though obviously they will not be perfect in those efforts. We must extend grace to our leaders and everyone else, for that matter, just as much as we are so quick to extend to ourselves. If God is willing to be gracious and forgiving, then so must we, as Jesus made very clear in His parable of the unmerciful servant. (See Matthew 18:21-35)
                Ah, but the question is raised then- what of the circumstances when we can’t seem to find any leader that holds to and upholds God’s values? What to do indeed? Well, here is where our other guiding verse comes into play. As Colossians 3:23 says, we should everything as unto The Lord and offer our best to Him. (Many other verses make that principle clear- for instance, one of my favorites, Malachi 1:14, says it quite well. :-)) How can we offer our best to The Lord in the way we vote? I think this calls for discipline on our part to do good research on all of the candidates in the running and make informed decisions. As Hosea 4:6 laments, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge…” How true it is. So let’s make sure to do thorough research to find out, as much as possible, what the candidates really stand for and how it’s been played out in their lives thus far. An important distinction I want to make here is that I personally like to look at candidates and not party affiliations. I do not hold to the Republican party or Democrat party. Or the Green party. Or the Libertarian party. Or the Constitution party. Or the various parties that we tend to forget even exist past the big two. (Again, excuse my grammar there. ;-)) I don’t even hold to the Independent status. I am dependent on Jesus Christ and I hold on to Him above all else- and He is above all else- all political parties, all ideologies and philosophies, all kings and rulers, lords and gods- everything and everyone.
                This leads into one other important point I want to make on politics and leaders and so forth. As much as we should try to think the best of our leaders rather than the worst and give them the benefit of the doubt as much as we give others and ourselves most of all, this doesn’t mean we shouldn’t hold them to standards. As a leader, they are given greater responsibilities and held accountable by God. In fact, Romans 13 specifies that it is God Who sets them in authority. And He’s The One Who takes them down as well. And because God has set them in power, out of reverence for God, we are called to respect and obey the government authorities that God has put in place. We are also called to love our leaders, as Jesus commands us to love everyone (John 13:34-35), and respect them as well and pray for them. (See 1 Peter 2:9-25 and 1 Timothy 2:1-2) And this means adhering to the rules and yes, paying our taxes. (Jesus gave us the example in Matthew 17:24-27 as He paid His taxes. Of course, He had that cool trick where He could tell Peter to go fishing and that he’d find a coin in the mouth of the first fish he caught. :-) But nonetheless, as Christ provided for Peter’s tax and His own, He can certainly provide for us in everything. And we must remember what He taught in the incident in Luke 20:19-26- “Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s [insert the name of your country’s government here ;-)] and to God what is God’s.”
                Now I must also acknowledge that there are times when the government might require unfair taxes from us and times when we may feel pushed to do things that go against God’s Word. And ultimately, if it comes down to the government vs. God, I’m going to go with God over the government. As Peter said in Acts 5:29, “We must obey God rather than men.” Until it is at that point, I think there are times when we as Christians are called to let ourselves be taken advantage of and remember that God sees all that is done and vengeance is His and He will repay people for their deeds. (Matthew 5:38-48, Job 34:10-11) It may also help us to remember the context of the verses that command us to respect and obey the government authority that God has established. First of all, as I said earlier, we particularly obey the government authority and respect it out of respect for God Himself and in obedience to Him, just as we do with our parents, teachers, pastor and other positions of leadership. But think about the people in Peter’s and Paul’s day. They were under the tyranny of Nero, who used Christians for nightlights! In a time when Christians were being thrown to the lions to be eaten for the Romans to enjoy as sport and when Christians were being burned at the stake- all because of their faith in Christ- this is when they are hearing God’s command to respect and honor the government institution of their day- which mean respecting and obeying Nero and the laws his government had established. (Except, of course, as noted before, when it came to laws that directly went against God’s Word.) If Christians then could obey this command and Christians in communist countries that live in dictatorships instead of democracies can obey this command, then I think American Christians and Christians in democratic countries particularly can obey this command. (And of course, our circumstances don’t really matter- we are still commanded to uphold and obey all of God’s Word whether we like it or not and no matter what the circumstances.) [Note: As a caveat here, I realize this last statement could lead into discussions over upholding the spirit of the law over the letter of the law and honoring the greater moral value (key examples being Rahab and the Israelite spies and the midwives serving Pharaoh at the birth of Moses, etc.), but that’s a discussion for another blog, perhaps.] [Also, please note: I am NOT making any comparisons whatsoever of any leaders to Nero. I am just pointing out different circumstances.] And ultimately, it’s all through Jesus’ power- we rely on His strength and His love to work in us to obey His Word and love, respect and honor others- even leaders that we may not totally agree with all the time.
                I know that some say that respect must be earned rather than given freely. However, I don’t feel that this is a Biblical attitude. Though I agree with the sentiment in some regards and I do think people should make the effort to earn respect through their lives, I also think that their seeming virtue or lack thereof (and by the way, we all have a lack thereof- the only virtue and good any of us have is from Jesus, if we are in Him) has nothing to do with the respect we owe them as people made in the image of God and loved eternally by Him. (Genesis 1:26-27, Jeremiah 31:3, Ezekiel 18:23, 2 Peter 3:8-9, Romans 5:8, John 15:12) We are called to love regardless- and love keeps no record of wrongs. And Jesus loved and gave Himself for us when we were yet sinners- and we can do no less for others. This is what we are called to do.
                And as we ponder all these things at the polls, we also know that ultimately God is in control of all these events and He knows what is to come- He laughs while the nations rage. (Psalms 2) He is in control of all things and He is the One we must trust above all else. Stop putting your trust in man, who has just a breath in his nostrils. [Which God gave him to begin with!] Of what account is he? (My quote/paraphrase of Isaiah 2:22). This is why I’m not really concerned too much with who gets elected and who is in charge. I know my King is always on the throne- and He’s King of Kings and Lord of Lords. (Revelation 19:16) And He reigns forever over all. And He will put all things to rights in His time. So take heart- we’re going to have trials and tribulations and of course, death and taxes, in this world- but Jesus has overcome the world! (John 16:33) So put your hope in Him and praise Him- His will will be done. Jesus rules! (And I mean that literally). :-)