Tuesday, October 22, 2013
362 - The Sacrifice of Public Discourse
Spirituality Column #362
October 22, 2013
Current in Carmel-Westfield-Noblesville-Fishers-Zionsville
Aside from an occasional (and usually linguistically-cloaked) barb, this column avoids day-to-day politics and social controversies.
They detract from the eternal, loving, larger and truer story of Jesus Christ.
And as Jesus tells the multitudes in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:24) and the Pharisees in the Parable of the Shrewd manager (Luke 16:13), that man cannot serve two masters referring to God and money, it seems that no longer can modern culture manage to concurrently serve the two masters of God and politics.
Plenty of other folks besides me can tell you what they think you should think about a government shutdown, the debt ceiling, ObamaCare, politicians in general, Republicans and Democrats in particular, Conservatives, Liberals, the media, economics, civil rights, gay marriage, secular “faiths,” educational platforms, family priorities, global warming, etc. In all these arenas, political correctness and social agendas outrun divine truths and human freedoms.
We mistakenly subordinate the prayerful inclusion of God to useless political chatter. Hence, we are trapped in the land of “one or the other.”
Regarding God and politics, you may have noticed, we can only discuss one – publicly and coherently – at a time. When openly conversing about the great issues of our times – although arguing is more usually the case – Christian perspective, whether it starts out in the mix or not, is quickly swept away. Typically, the first casualty in a disagreement is sacrificial love. And what was Jesus Christ all about? Sacrificial love.
There’s not much Christian perspective left when sacrificial love goes away.
So I find great and enduring comfort in the divine Truth that God never changes, the gracious mission of Jesus Christ never changes, and the light of the Holy Spirit never loses its focus. God created us and gave us life, Jesus Christ saved us and gave us His life, and the Holy Spirit illuminates these truths in our hearts, minds and souls.
That’s not to say we should never be upset by the treachery of political spin, secular educational agendas, media disingenuousness, government fraud, human greed and the amalgamation of sin toward which practically all of us contribute so mightily and miserably.
But God didn’t create the world to be bad. God created the world in His image to be good, to be loved by Him, and to glorify Him. Suppose mankind freely pursued that agenda and insisted that God’s truth – not sectarian, debate-riven church “truth” but the actual, sacrificial-love-of -Christ capital-T Truth – governed public discourse?
Now that would be change I could believe in.
Walters (rlwcom) isn’t fool enough to imagine mankind without political arguments, but He is faithful enough to be assured of the holy single-mindedness of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
October 22, 2013
Current in Carmel-Westfield-Noblesville-Fishers-Zionsville
The Sacrifice of Public Discourse
By Bob WaltersAside from an occasional (and usually linguistically-cloaked) barb, this column avoids day-to-day politics and social controversies.
They detract from the eternal, loving, larger and truer story of Jesus Christ.
And as Jesus tells the multitudes in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:24) and the Pharisees in the Parable of the Shrewd manager (Luke 16:13), that man cannot serve two masters referring to God and money, it seems that no longer can modern culture manage to concurrently serve the two masters of God and politics.
Plenty of other folks besides me can tell you what they think you should think about a government shutdown, the debt ceiling, ObamaCare, politicians in general, Republicans and Democrats in particular, Conservatives, Liberals, the media, economics, civil rights, gay marriage, secular “faiths,” educational platforms, family priorities, global warming, etc. In all these arenas, political correctness and social agendas outrun divine truths and human freedoms.
We mistakenly subordinate the prayerful inclusion of God to useless political chatter. Hence, we are trapped in the land of “one or the other.”
Regarding God and politics, you may have noticed, we can only discuss one – publicly and coherently – at a time. When openly conversing about the great issues of our times – although arguing is more usually the case – Christian perspective, whether it starts out in the mix or not, is quickly swept away. Typically, the first casualty in a disagreement is sacrificial love. And what was Jesus Christ all about? Sacrificial love.
There’s not much Christian perspective left when sacrificial love goes away.
So I find great and enduring comfort in the divine Truth that God never changes, the gracious mission of Jesus Christ never changes, and the light of the Holy Spirit never loses its focus. God created us and gave us life, Jesus Christ saved us and gave us His life, and the Holy Spirit illuminates these truths in our hearts, minds and souls.
That’s not to say we should never be upset by the treachery of political spin, secular educational agendas, media disingenuousness, government fraud, human greed and the amalgamation of sin toward which practically all of us contribute so mightily and miserably.
But God didn’t create the world to be bad. God created the world in His image to be good, to be loved by Him, and to glorify Him. Suppose mankind freely pursued that agenda and insisted that God’s truth – not sectarian, debate-riven church “truth” but the actual, sacrificial-love-of -Christ capital-T Truth – governed public discourse?
Now that would be change I could believe in.
Walters (rlwcom) isn’t fool enough to imagine mankind without political arguments, but He is faithful enough to be assured of the holy single-mindedness of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
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