As most of you know, I am not a Bush fan. Scroll down a few blogs and you will see which ticket I will be checking come early November. That's besides the point. I am writing this to make a confession. I have been a horrible follower of Jesus as far as this goes (the whole not liking Bush thing). I have my reasons to disagree with Bush and I think he really screwed some things up in Washington. But I have asked myself some questions...
1. How does my "not liking Bush as a person" glorify God?
2. If I speak of love all the time, why can't I love him as well?
3. What kind of example am I to my sons about love when I speak so badly of him?
4. What kind of example am I to the world when I speak of him in a negative way?
This all rose out of questions I have been asking myself about Christianity over the last few months. Bush spoke on CNN a few days ago and I looked past what he has done, said and what he was saying at the moment. I looked into his eyes and saw someone that has needs just like I do. Someone that needs grace just like I do. It was truly a beautiful moment. I am going to do my best to not speak ill of President Bush. He is a man just like me in need of a Savior just like me. If I (one of the most out spoken people that disliked Bush) can renounce my dislike for him and learn to love him despite the things he has done, what can the world or our sons or our co-workers learn from a love that has no enemies?
Note: This is also a response to some of my favorite authors who have taken it upon themselves to use their celebrity status in the kingdom (if there is celeb. status) to go on campaigns for Barack Obama. I do not speak for them but this "campaigning" really upsets me. The gospel must be preached, not a politician's promises.
3 comments:
Here is the true test Ricky...can you now love Tony Romo? :-)
Seriously though, how can we use words such as "hate" when we are trying to be an example of God's love? If we are going to preach love, then we have to open it for everyone or how will anyone take us seriously? Good post.
Wow, Ricky, this is the first time I actually have visited your blog. I spent some time reading through all of them. I must say I am intrigued by your writings. As well as some of the comments left by your friends. It would be interesting to sit down with you and see what all has been going on over the years that have led you to some of your beliefs and practices today. I could spend hours and pages commenting on each post but I don't have the time right now nor do I think that it bares importance in the grad scheme of things. So I will just make some observations of my own not only to this post but some of your previous ones.
When it comes to politics I believe we as Christians tend to approach them all wrong and we preach personal or cultural convictions as if they were Gods convictions. The reality of it all is that Rom. 13 says that there is no authority except that which God has established. So while Yes I think we have a civil duty to vote once a leader has been voted in our job is neither one to judge or to complain rather one to pray for such leader knowing that whether good or bad they are whom God has allowed to be in office. The truth is we have never walked in the shoes of the president. The way economics work we don’t see the consequences of a current administrations actions until several years later, thus much of what we are seeing today economically is because of decisions made years ago some even before the current presidents tenor and made and or approved by a congress of both parties I might add. To think that either candidate will make much change to the countries economic state, especially during their term is really naïve. What Bush’s administration has done to our country remains to bee seen in the years to come. As for his decisions in regards to the war on terror, this is a whole can of worms that we won’t go into. I will say but one thing and that is that Christians often equate peace and Christianity together, which in many ways is not a biblical model at all. While the Bible teaches that we should live in peace and that the greatest gift of all is love, we see God use war to fulfill His purposes all the time. Love, this is an interesting topic. You even titled a blog love has no enemies. I think Christ would differ, Him being the embodiment of love, had many enemies, in fact the Bible grantees us that there is an enemy who is seeking to devour us and thwart Gods purposes. You also said that justice is what love looks like in public. We as Christians tend to think that love and justice go hand in hand. The problem with that notion is that it is simply just not true. Love demands sacrifice which often is contradictory to justice. Justice is another interesting word. Christ didn’t deserve to die for us. We deserve an eternity in Hell, yet for those of us who have surrendered to Christ’s Lordship we will not get what we justly deserve rather Christ’s love for us brings grace. Now I know you were talking in the context of the sexually abused children, but that brings us full circle with a prior topic. We love to say that war is not love and anti-Christian especially when we look at it from one side and how much we sacrifice, but what about those on the receiving end not our enemies but the poor, the needy, the oppressed, the victims of genocide, the child who is being abused and starved of an education and forced into child labor by an oppressor. I have been all over the world and seen with my own eyes these victims as recently as last month and had them hug my neck because I was an American who was sacrificing my loved ones for theirs. No it is easy to say Bush had personal reasons to take us into the war from my lazzyboy at home, or that he should pull us out. To write “christian” songs about how we should promote peace but when you stand in front of a widow who says your countries intervention was an answer to my prayer then my American influenced Christianity is challenged and I realize that Gods purposes are greater than mine and justice well it is defined by God not by man.
I couldn’t care less for either candidate. Their both politicians first then “Christians” to say that ones stance on abortion makes them a more Godly candidate is to exalt ones sins over the others and sin is sin.
What we really need as Christians is to truly understand the character of God. IN our countries history we have seen great periods of revival and awakening. One of those came on the heals of the II great Awakening and it is know in most circles as the holiness revival it spread across denominations and shook the church to the core. As a response to the latter came a movement that swung to the opposite extreme known as the Social Gospel. It was a movement that rather than focusing on personnel conversion and change of character by Gods sanctification process. It focused more on the actions within the community and said ones actions spoke to ones heart. The problem is that you can’t have one without the other. Salvation is through Christ alone and it is “HE WHO WORKS IN US TO WILL AND TO ACT ACCORDING TO HIS GREAT PURPOSE” Philippians 2:13 it is His sanctifying us that causes us to act out in love not the other way around. What many Christians are doing right now is exactly the opposite. They are trying to sanctify themselves by the actions they do in every detail in life including their presidential nominee. The president is not the one who is supposed to lead the country spiritually it is us. There is a good book you should reed written by a dear friend of mine that just came out titled “Reclaiming the Wesleyan Social Witness Offering Christ” I think you would like it and it would help with some of your views on the church and its role.
so did you and kallie give up facebook? or did you delete me as a friend? I hope you know I was joking about my last comment. Anyway, for some reason you and kallie's facebook isn't showing up on mine. So just wanted to see what was up. Anyway, talk to you soon.
Kyle
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