NowTHINK!AboutIt

Avoiding Hackneyed...Making Sense

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy

Has The Great Commission Been Supplanted By Politics

September 16, 2023 by EnnisP Leave a Comment

Religion teaches us what is decent. Politics allows us to choose for ourselves.

Religion encourages us to believe
Politics encourages us to respect the beliefs of others.
Religious beliefs divide us into groups.
Politics unite us around shared interests.

For most of history, churches and church groups were very diverse and, therefore, divided from one another. That division had a positive effect. It kept churches from uniting and dominating society.

With consensus around a few ideas, however, that has changed. Churches have become politically rather than spiritually driven. Instead of trying to save souls – the thing they were commissioned to do – they’re trying to police souls and clean the world up.

What I’ve just described feels good to the faithful. It has the ring of rationality to it. What can be wrong with standing for the right? Anything other than opposing wrong seems too much like cowardice but regardless how courageous it may seem, that approach is not a replacement plan for the Great Commission and it won’t work. The world is not going to change for the better because we treat it with a dose of Lysol. Things won’t get better and God won’t be pleased.

Politics vs Religion

Politics and religion are both important but for two very different reasons. Neither can replace the other but there is friction between the two. They didn’t get along in the past and they don’t get along now for very obvious and acceptable reasons.

The capstone of politics, the one thing that makes it work, compromise, is the one thing churches have a long history of not tolerating. The one thing churches have done repeatedly, divide and go their separate ways (remember the Pilgrims), is the one thing governments can’t do.

But it’s not a stalemate. The idea isn’t for the two institutions to blend or mirror one another or vie. Each has an important job to do. Each needs to respect and allow the free function of the other.

Churches, however, are not comfortable with that idea. The Great Commission is the answer to their angst but it’s apparently not enough to keep them from interfering. [Read more…] about Has The Great Commission Been Supplanted By Politics

Filed Under: Philosophy, Political Issues, Religion

Chris Christie Is The Man To Beat

June 14, 2023 by EnnisP Leave a Comment

Democracy and religion like oil and water don't mix.

Christie Understands
The Importance Of Consensus

After watching Chris Christie’s CNN hosted town hall Monday night, I’m convinced he’s the man to beat. He’s the newest Republican Presidential candidate to enter the race, and there are many, but he’s distinguished himself quite clearly from all the rest.

Other candidates may agree with him on substance but the difference is not so much in the philosophies but in the approach. Christie doesn’t mince words. He said exactly what many people think about Trump, something no other Presidential hopeful has been willing to do. In that regard, Christie is a breath of fresh air.

And really, isn’t that what we want from our leaders? Don’t we want to know what they are thinking? And hasn’t clarity been lacking for a long time, until Christie. Even Reagan doesn’t matchup. He was pleasant, smooth and poetic but rarely pointed.

You can’t listen to Christie and wonder what he’s thinking. No reading between the lines required.

I don’t think hard core members of either party will vote for him but all those in the middle (the majority), including Independents will take notice.

What became clear from the interaction was his ability to articulate answers to difficult questions that were both truthful and palatable. He didn’t back down from labeling Trump but his statements about Trump weren’t just media tricks to get attention. He also didn’t dodge any other questions. He openly admitted what he thought on the issues. He take a position and then explained how he would approach the issues.

Take abortion for example. [Read more…] about Chris Christie Is The Man To Beat

Filed Under: Christian Living, Elections, Political Issues

Nooses, Abuses And Oppression Are Racism’s Favorite Tools

September 26, 2022 by EnnisP Leave a Comment

It's hard to rise above with a noose around your neck.

Racism Is Better Than Slavery
But Not By Much

A guy recently made a remark that caught me off guard. We were working next to each other and somehow the conversation prompted him to make the following statement.

“I think it is time,” he said, “that the black community got over slavery and got on with life.”

It was surprising for two reasons. We weren’t discussing racial issues so it seemed to come out of nowhere. And it was terribly off-center.

There was more to the conversation than that but somehow he thought the remark was related and appropriate.

To buttress the insult, he named several ethnic communities, all of whom had been enslaved and all of whom had done well after liberation.

He also prefaced his remark by affirming he was not a racist. I’m sure you’ve heard some version of:

I’m not a racist but………

To the average person on the street, that idea, which is partly true, gets traction. Other ethnic groups have been enslaved and yet today seem to be doing well in spite of it.

However, there are differences between the black community in America and other enslaved people groups and the differences are obvious. Those differences, however, though easily recognizable are for various reasons met with disinterest.

People just don’t care that the underlying feeling across the American landscape is that Blacks are somehow inferior. I call it a “feeling” because there is certainly no substance to the idea but it is as widespread as blueberry jam for breakfast.

Even my antagonist’s remark was motivated by the idea, although I doubt he realized it. Think about it. If in fact, the black community hasn’t gotten over slavery, how would you explain that? What is holding them back? What could explain their lack of development and over-incarceration?

There are only two possible answers. Either they have been marginalized by the surrounding culture or they are inferior. I would suggest it’s the former.

What I’ve learned while working shoulder to shoulder with black folks while living in the deep south and doing missionary work in a dominantly black community for over thirty-three years is this: whatever gifts, abilities, talents and potential you find in any group you find in every group and to the same extent. Those qualities are just as prevalent among blacks as they are anywhere.

If that is true, though, how do you explain the mindset of my antagonist. [Read more…] about Nooses, Abuses And Oppression Are Racism’s Favorite Tools

Filed Under: Bad Things, Political Issues

In God We Trust – In Christians Maybe Not

September 10, 2021 by EnnisP Leave a Comment

Christians are new creations, not final creations.

Christians And Diplomacy
Don’t Mix

Becoming a Christian does not make you right.

Saved, yes! Eternally secure, yes!

Opinionated? Unfortunately!

But will you always be right? Not necessarily. Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

  • Christianity is free from error, Christians are not.
  • God is absolutely free from confusion, believers are always vulnerable.
  • The Bible is without error but it’s rather arrogant to think you understand it perfectly.
  • God is all-knowing. Christians must learn everything.

And to do that they must unravel the thread of truth from the tangle of “Christian” voices claiming to know it.

Christians do enjoy many benefits.

  • A Christian is saved, born again, and Spirit inhabited.
  • Christians are children of God, have a new perspective, and a relationship with God.
  • Christians can change for the better but there’s no guarantee. Some go backward.

What is neither promised nor even insinuated is that on the day of salvation you’ll be blessed with instant knowledge of the truth and a well-developed sense of discernment.

Tees For Everyone

Those are things you’ll have to work for. Salvation is instantaneous, learning the truth is a process.

The Starting Point

All Christians start off as babes. New Christians are nowhere yet. The fact that Christians are commanded to learn the truth means they don’t already have it.

Believing in God is not a synonym for knowing all truth or being completely reliable.

Reliability, of course, is a character issue and a topic for another post but it’s important to keep in mind that Christians are NEW creations, not FINAL creations and they will never be finished products in this life.

Perfection comes only in the next life and for good reason. It’s difficult enough being a saved sinner in an imperfect world. Perfect Christians would clash intolerably.

But back to my point. [Read more…] about In God We Trust – In Christians Maybe Not

Filed Under: Church, Political Issues, Religion

5 Differences Between Democracy And Christianity

January 15, 2021 by EnnisP Leave a Comment

Christianity does not equal democracy but democracy is Christian

Democracy’s Concept Is Accepted By All
The Definition Is Not

Democracy is one of those words that every American owns. We love it, embrace it, and repeat it ad nasueam but I question whether it is truly understood.

The definition is simple:

Democracy is a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives.

On the surface, we get that. The people (you, me, and everyone else) are ultimately in charge but there is a downside. When we say the people are in charge, we are talking about all the people. Not the wealthiest, the smartest, the most attractive, the morally normative, or any other high profile group.

The people refers to all the people and as the culture becomes more diverse so too do the democratically legislated laws. The body of elected officials who legislate laws take into consideration the entire constituency when writing those laws.

Everyone has a say. Every group is represented equally and that is the Christian approach to governance. Democracy is a very comfortable form of government when everyone in the country agrees with you. As differences begin to accumulate and the laws expand accordingly, discomfort rises among the more religiously rigid.

Admittedly, my thoughts about democracy have moderated over the years. I’ve always considered it a Christian concept and it is, but how far can you extrapolate that idea?

Are Christianity and Democracy equal? Is one exactly the same as the other? Is Democracy the word we apply to government so we can make it seem like a religion? I would say no, no, and probably.

Tees For Everyone

There are underlying Christian principles in a democratic form of government but democracy is neither sectarian nor religious. It can’t be because then it ceases to be a government of the people, for the people, by the people. Democracy is Christian but not in the way many Christians think. Democracy gives expression to those aspects of Christian doctrine that most Christians love to ignore.

Jesus taught us to love our neighbors. Not some of our neighbors. Not the neighbors we think are the right class or look like we do or agree with our personal beliefs. We are to love our neighbors period. Even if we consider them enemies, we are to find a way to love them.

Jesus said that too, but it’s not easy to do mostly because it runs contrary to our natural responses. How can we love our neighbors if we don’t allow for their differences, distasteful though they may be?

With a community as large and broad as the USA, you’re bound to find people you disagree with, lifestyles you could never accept personally, and personal choices you aren’t comfortable with. But that is the nature of community.

It’s logical. The larger the community, the more pronounced and widespread the differences. [Read more…] about 5 Differences Between Democracy And Christianity

Filed Under: Philosophy, Political Issues, Religion

Next Page »
Faith Tees
Calvinism's Fallacies: Why The Gospel Applies To Anyone, Anywhere, At Any Time, Under Any Circumstance
In Defense of Divorce
This book doesn't say what you've already heard.

SUBSCRIBE

Recent Posts

  • Review: The Universal Christ by Richard Rohr
  • Has The Great Commission Been Supplanted By Politics
  • 9 Reasons You Won’t Find God At The Center Of Government
  • What Does It Mean To Be Godly
  • Who Will Save Us From Religion

Copyright © 2023 · Dynamik-Gen on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in