“We’ve got to do something about this – call your Congressman…”
How often have you heard something like that? When did this shift in Western Christianity occur? This thought struck me the other day, that we rightly see things in this fallen world that make our (and God’s) heart sick – abortion, poverty, divorce, sexual deviancy, chemical abuse, etc… - but we have stopped reaching out to help people – instead we have turned to the government to shelter, insulate, and legislate the solution to these problems:
“Abortion is wrong! Call your congressman!”
“Homosexuality is wrong! Call your congressman – defend marriage!”
“Pornography is wrong! Call the FCC – defend our children!”
Are these sentiments wrong? At the root of it – of course not! Let’s think about something though – what does the Law do: heal or condemn? The Israelites were given the law – yet the majority of the time were just as sinful as their pagan neighbors. The law doesn’t do anything except condemn you. I think about Christian talk radio: I never hear things like “wow – isn’t abortion one of the saddest things? Please get out there and show the love of Christ to these women who are thinking about abortion – tell them the good news, tell them about adoption…” Instead I hear the opposite “Abortion should be illegal, shouldn’t it? How can any sane person not think that abortion is murder…” then everyone calls in and agrees with how evil everyone is who agrees with abortion. Nice and Christ-like huh? The first thought seeks to heal the damaged soul that seeks to sin – the other seeks to simply stop the behavior. Hmmm…that would be peachy if good works could bring us into a life changing relationship with God. (Hint: it doesn’t).
It seems to me that the majority of modern Christians (myself included) have lost (or never even had) Christ’s love for sinners. Who did Jesus condemn and get angry with? The fakes. Jesus could not stand to be around those religious guys who acted like they were perfect, had all the answers, and knew how to fix everyone else. They thought everyone should ACT right instead of BEING right. Jesus knew the Jewish Law – He could have rained down a mountain on the adulterous woman the leaders brought before Him. Instead – He condemned them!
Listen, we live in a fallen and Godless world, just like the ancient Hebrews, just like the early Church – no amount of legislation will change people’s wicked hearts. We MUST get back to the Gospel if we want to change our world. The world sees right through hypocrisy and doesn’t care about rules. Why should they? We have something so much better than legislation and legalism to offer:
We have freedom! We have the broken chains of bondage laying about our feet – THAT is the message you should take to your Congressman:
You want drug abuse to stop – lead them to the Great Physician, whose love heals all pain – Jesus Christ.
You want to stop sexual sin – lead them to the lover of their soul – Jesus Christ.
There is great risk here – with legalism, you can at least attempt to control everyone’s behavior and create a comfortable lifestyle bubble around you. Simply preaching the Gospel and leaving people in the hands of the Spirit leaves you vulnerable. If you stop the gay couple from holding hands, you may feel more comfortable. If you tell them of Christ’s love and freedom from sin and they reject it – the behavior continues. So, you have to decide – what’s more important – stopping bad behavior or saving souls? Tell your Congressman.
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