I have spent enough time in politics and the news business to remember that I am not a politician, nor a newspaperman. I am a Minister of the Gospel. A clergyman if you will, at the end of the day, ambassador of the heavenly kingdom of Jesus Christ, who is, the Lord God Almighty.
So I've decided that I will unfetter myself from those associations that prevent me having my say. I will happily remove myself from being in a position where a party or a position prevents me from speaking my truth, whether I sound angry or not. Whether I become partisan or not, or too religious-sounding to those who might read my work.
Especially for me as a Christian, I see my Op-Eds on politics as a natural fit of course. I like to think so anyway. And I am looking to encourage Christians to get more involved in the elections process. I am also looking to see more Christians make their voices heard on current affairs that impact Canadians every single day.
THE POWER OF THE SLEEPING GIANT
The Church really is the sleeping giant, and rousing it from slumber is certain to make a tremendous impact on any issue that Canadians are facing -- from Politics, the Prime Minister's office and who sits there -- to gun control, abortion, human rights, or free speech and free trade, just to name a few. There are so many issues that we can bring sound council and good leadership in if we are willing to get involved.
Churchill, I think, stated that "all it takes for wickedness or evil to prosper is for good people to sit idly by and do nothing". And Christians should not ever be found to be guilty of that offense. The next time you see the Prime Minister commit any gaffe, or hear of injustice set into law or witness the policies of our government binding prosperity and peace or see just men go to prison for speaking their truth, you must know that you personally did what you could to prevent it. That is your imperative as a moral and ethical being. Otherwise? Well, to say the least, you must hold your tongue! You will have to keep your comments and that piece of your mind you want to share on the matter to yourself.
SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE? NICE TRY! MORE LIKE JUST LAZY!
Historically, the church mindset has often been to just steer clear of politics. With feelings of being uninformed (in reality un-interested) they lay off because they know so little of what is going on in politics. In their society in general really. It's time to pay attention.
In the past, we [Christians] have somehow been convinced to bury our heads in the proverbial sand when it comes to politics, elections, and social conservative issues, citing that "that's the world or worldly stuff". Or we say things like, "We are to come out of the world". Well please allow me to remind you of a few things.
For starters, the book of Romans has something to say about it. Read Romans Chapter 13. Then read Titus chapter 3, within these, we are commanded to not only interact with the authorities but to also respect and help them. (be ready to do every good work)
How about Psalms 127:3-5 that speaks of the future of our children standing in the gates of our cities contending in the courts?
We are the salt and the light of the world. And further, we are expected to be in the world. Not "of" the world, but we still operate, live in, exist in and build our lives "in the world". 1 Corinthians chapter 5 teaches us that the Apostle Paul wrote to instruct us not to keep company with, ... shall I suffice to say, "worldly" people? I could further paraphrase and remain soundly within the scope of the context to say, partiers, drunks, sexually immoral people, cheaters, scrappers, etc., but he meant those sorts of folks that we so often find inside the church doing those things! Those who roam around inside the fellowship that calls themselves Christians.
Paul did not refer to those "outside" of the church, telling us to avoid them. Nor their affairs. Paul goes on to say that we take him wrong thinking like that, since if it were the case that we need to avoid all them like that we would need to leave the earth. God just wants "us" not to be doing those things! I like the Amplified Bible version of 1 Corinthians chapter 5 and vs 10 how it makes this point crystal clear, "... for then you would have to get out of the world and human society altogether!" My friend, we need to get our heads out of the sand, we need to be very involved in human society. No excuse.
The worldly people outside of our churches are by and large unconvinced that God even exists. Those who concede He does exist, usually [agnostic] won't like to argue about Him. It's akin to concluding that if He does exist then they are at a loss to know who exactly He is, or how to relate to Him. This increases the stakes, lends us a higher purpose to throw in a helping hand especially considering that these folks who make up our society, in general, are those whom God loved so much that He sent His Son to redeem them through His precious blood and His finished work on the cross. We, "us Christians" are the ones set forth to bring them that good news.
We can be a living witness of the goodness of God. Also His wisdom and character. We can do so by standing up against the many things that are wrong within our society and keeping busy trying to change those things by becoming involved or more involved by participating in the labor of getting fair representation of good moral principles and being an ethical voice from inside of our communities, and extending out to the boundaries of our varied regions, ultimately serving to lead the way in right thinking and in right acting.
In Alberta today, there are many great initiatives to join up with. Do some research, speak with friends or neighbors. There are so many efforts, groups forming and more and more opportunities to locate good works that those with vision who started them will only be too happy to bring someone new into. There are lots of easy to locate and easy to get involved with pages readily found on Facebook and other social media channels. Sources online are rife with associations that need our/your support. Take the leap, get involved. You can easily start something new, or pick up one that you like. Start today.
I'll leave you with a good example of how Christians can easily get involved in Godly, Christ-centered efforts to be a change within the social-political sector. Check out the following link to Alberta Linked Assembly.
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PG.
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