Can Believers Really be This Blind?

CAN BELIEVERS REALLY BE

THIS BLIND?

I had an article all ready to post, but I must address again this hypocrisy which is camouflaged as spiritual and moral boldness.

In the lineage of boycotts (i.e. Disney) or massive support (i.e. Chik-Fil-A) believers and Constitutional rights advocates of all stripes are outraged because part of the new healthcare law includes covering certain forms of contraceptions that are very early abortions. There really is no gospel or redemption in these kinds of movements, and this particular one centers around Hobby Lobby. I have dealt with the principle involved in an earlier post HERE. But let us unpack this situation and some of the inconsistencies involved.

It is so easy to be moral champions because you can clearly show yourself as untouched by the particular moral issue of which you protest. But what about the morals that center on love and mercy and grace, and the overarching indictment of us all - Christlikeness. Let some moral issue (gay rights, abortion, socialism, etc.) raise its ugly head and believers come out of the woodwork to trumpet their self righteous horns. And in so doing, perhaps unintentionally, they present Christianity to the world as a set of moral rules and regulations. Point of order: If you drove 26 mph in a 25 mph zone today you transgressed the law of God just as much as did the abortionist. What condemned the entire world to spiritual death? An abortion? Homosexuality? Murder? Adultery? No, one disobedient bite of a piece of fruit.

So please, let us climb down from our self serving perch and admit that if we were to be judged just by our thought life this very day, we would all wind up in hell if it were not for God’s grace. That really doesn’t sound like a firm moral foundation to me.

The company known as Hobby Lobby is owned by a billionaire who is an evangelical believer. He laments over the required healthcare because of the coverage of some contraceptions which are actually abortions. But by his own words he and his wife have lived the “American Dream” which is anything but spiritual. Hobby Lobby creates much of their merchandise in China which employees massive amounts of slave labor compared to the workforce in America. And here is the real hypocrisy.

China is the abortion capital of the world. So you can complain and take a “bold” stand against contraception in America but you can do billions of dollars of business in a nation which murders millions of unborn babies. And just why would you do business in China instead of America? I think we all know the answer to that question.

Money. Plain and simple. But everyone loves a good moral crusade, especially when you can kill two birds with one stone. Abortion and Obama.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

When you are persecuted for righteousness sake and you do not complain but rejoice, then it is persecution.
When you complain loudly and claim you are being treated unfairly then it is not persecution, it is self pity.

WHAT DO YOUR EYES SEE?

Now we come to the core issue. Do we have a view of God, or do we have a view of self? This is what separates Biblical and spiritual Christianity from earthly and carnal Christianity. This is what separates religion from relationship. This is what separates the Lordship of Christ from the lordship of self. This is the deepest of issues. It determines what kind of faith we have. It is the line of demarcation between the eternal and the temporal.

Where are our eyes fixed? Do we look upon that which is eternal or do we look upon the temporal? Are we willing to suffer for Him, or do we recoil at persecution? Do we leverage democracy in order to secure our rights, or do we humbly submit ourselves in hopes that Christ can be seen in and through us? Do not think for a moment that the owners of Hobby Lobby are peculiar in their beliefs and reactions. In fact, they are in the mainstream of evangelicalism. The western church has become enamored with democracy and earthly rights and to that end believers look to alleviate any and all unfair treatment.

Our Master gave His life for us, but must we get our feathers ruffled whenever we deem ourselves unworthy of persecution? It is quite a phenomenon to watch as the church complains and squawks about the unfairness of this present world, as if we should expect fair treatment. Our reactions mirror the secular world, and our remedies are found in the secular. Protests not prayer meetings; criticizing rather than loving; reason rather than surrender; loudness rather than humility. All these seek not Christ. Have we forgotten what He taught and how He lived, or have we ever really known?

The church houses are dark but the talk shows are lit. The prayer closets are empty but the voting booths are full. We desire his material blessings but not the fellowship of His sufferings. And somehow we continue to cling to some utopian notion about this nation and its roots, and in so doing we have left the Chief Cornerstone upon which all our hopes and truths are built. When did our eyes leave Christ? When were we deceived into playing in the world’s house and by the world’s rules? When did we doubt our Lord’s sovereignty and begin to rely on our own strength? And when did we become blind to the spiritual worth of being persecuted? The modern church has become so accustomed to living in convenience and accommodating surroundings that we cannot abide inconvenience, to say nothing of suffering or persecution.

And because we have changed the truth of God and the definition of discipleship, we now manifest a false construct of Christ who seeks money, complains, gathers petitions, commiserates about afflictions, castigates the lost, demands better treatment, and in general speaks and behaves like those who do not claim Christ. We mock those who bow to the earth while we ourselves bow to the systems in the earth.

I Pet.4: 12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:
13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

You see, this is not about battling the systems of this world. This is about the glory of Christ revealed in us through a remarkable life that is at odds with all that is in this world. It’s not about moral issues, although that seems to be the current direction. This is about Christ and His gospel, and us His ministers of reconciliation. We must constantly seek ways to shine Him and not ways to alleviate cultural pain. May God make it so.