Semantics!Lately I seem to be all over the map. I have played ball for both teams(liberal & conservative), but lately I seem to be coming full circle to where I started (philosophically speaking...). You see, I was raised in a small town, in a small community church that believed in Christ's message of Grace and Love. My early development was influenced by older siblings who experienced the latter days of the Hippie movement. I also took strongly to the lessons I learned of America and the Constitution/Bill of Rights. Then I went out, so equipt, to find my way.
I loved debate classes, especially the ability to argue both sides of an arguement. I mean, if someone failed to show up on the day of a scheduled debate, I would step-up and fill-in, even if I had just argued the other side. I also recall really enjoying Formal Logic class. My College days we in pursuit of a Liberal Arts Degree( I 'm sure you can guess my political leanings during this time). It wasn't that I didn't believe in Jesus, just that I felt the world was more diverse than Black and White. My liberal undertaking led me in pursuit of more-and-more excess with less-and-less responsibility. I ended up a meth addict/cook with deep debt and no compass.
Upon running into Jesus again(he was never far away) I asked for(and got)relief from my liberal excesses. I switched teams, grabbed my Bible, and prepared to make war upon "the world". I, once again was in possession of my faculties and Absolute Moral Truth. Nothing like giving a control-freak Absolute Moral Truth. I was like Hitler with the A-Bomb. Oh sure, I can smile and act nice, but inside I know that I'm right and your wrong, and I can wield sarcasm and pity for the lost like a surgeon. You may never even know that I'm looking down upon you from my ivory tower, but I'll keep cutting in little ways until you get the message; "I know God and you don't, na na na na naa na". What a jerk I can be!
So, what does all this have to do with my topic?
Well, lately I've found myself playing loose with my allegiances. I mean, I'm a disciple of Jesus Christ who believes fully that He is my Hope, my King, and my Savior. And yet, I am siding with Anne Rice in her indictment of organized religion. I love being in America and I believe in our Christian Heritage. And yet, I am firmly in support of the Mosque in Manhatten on the grounds of Religious Freedom. I seem to be playing both teams. Am I?
I guess I need to explain a bit of the "Why". Around December of 2008 our church did a 4-week segment called "Please Forgive JAMES". it was sort of a mystery, until JAMES was revealed not to be a "Who", but rather a "What". JAMES was an acronym for the perception many people have of Christians. It stands for: Judgemental, Arrogant, Mean-spirited, Egotistical, and Self-righteous. I was outed/busted/exposed. Even in my best Sunday disguise, I knew that these qualities were at the core of my being. I struggled with them, hid them, and bargained with them, but they were there. It was then that Jesus started me on my current journey. I have been mandated to LOVE. I have tossed the law, or rather left it to others who perhaps can do a better job of it than me. God told me to love everybody, RIGHT WHERE THEY ARE. I'm not to judge, not to condemn, not to proclaim my superior relationship to God. I am to LOVE ALL His children.
I'm not great at this, but I'm getting better. I still struggle with "Me" and my desire to be "right". I do bear witness to the wonders of God and my belief in Christ, but now I'm willing to accept that you are"_______"(fill in the blank). It's OK God believes in you, even if you don't(yet?)believe in Him.
OK, So what does any of this have to do with "are we a Christian Nation or a Nation of Christians?"
Well, I feel that to call ourselves a Christian Nation(meaning that the USofA is a Christian Nation) is to say that it is our piece of ground, and at best, we will tolerate you(barely). But a Nation of Christians is a place where anyone, of any faith or creed, can come and be shown love by a people who follow a King that promotes loving one's neighbor, and even his enemies.."They will Know We Are Christians By Our Love"
I mean, Jesus Christ's Kingdom is established in the hearts of those whom he has called, more-so than in the political offices of those who need to run the operations of Government. And certainly those who do follow Jesus should strive to public office, but they should not eliminate others from participating in this great experiment in democracy.
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
So I ask you: Christian Nation or Nation of Christians(and friends)?
Then again, it might just be Semantics
Great thoughts! I personally have a problem with any nation being referred to as a Christian nation, because it implies that there is no choice for those born into it. Satan and his game, that's the thing we're born into with no choice. But the very nature of (insert your term for being a disciple of Jesus here) is choice.
ReplyDeleteJesus said to Peter, Andrew, James and John, "Come follow me!" It was when they were fully capable of deciding right then and there if they would.
Same reason I have an issue with infant baptism, or pre-arranged marriages. If it's not chosen by the one entering the relationship, it's not a relationship.
That's why I don't tell non-believers what the Bible says -- they have no reference for it and no authority given to it! Nor do I say, "This is sin", because again, they have no reference or authority given to that.
Instead, we all must grow to know the One who is the Word, who commissioned the written Word, and these truths will prove themselves to be self-evident.
America, then, is about choice. The irony is that both the right and the left are not. The right wants to hold the high ground on morality and dictate what is right and wrong; the left wants to let government handle all the programs, all the regulations, all the terms and conditions for living here. (I understand that's a gross generalization, my apologies in advance.)
I believe America is not found in either of these ideologies. America is about being free to decide, free to work, free to not work (and endure the consequences either way), free to live with more, free to live with less, free to believe the truth, or a lie.
Perhaps the great irony is that, in the end, we are also free to give up our spiritual and fiscal liberties and kill the dream itself.
It might be semantics. But I think it's something worth looking at.