Edwin Crozier

Be Bothered by Your Kids

April 27, 2010 by Edwin Crozier 1 Comment

Many of you know I run a Bible reading blog as well (giveattentiontoreading.com). Today’s reading really hit me with the example of Jesus having compassion on the crowds even when He was mourning for the loss of His cousin, John. At the other blog, I just talked about taking time for others in general.

However, what was really on my mind was my kids. Sadly, all too often I get so caught up in me that I simply don’t have time for my kids. We bought Backyard Ballistics, The Art of the Catapult, and even How to Build Treehouses, Huts and Forts, but have I done anything with them out of any of them? No. (Oh, by the way, in the interest of fairness in advertising and because the law requires that I tell you, those really are affiliate links. Click on them. Buy them. Most importantly use them with your kids.)

We allow each of our children to be involved in one sport at a time. But when its game or practice time, I’m usually irritated for the interruption in my schedule. Marita often asks me to be involved in more of their homeschooling activities and I often come up with a really good excuse to put her off.

I could go on and on with good examples of how selfish I can be as a father, but I’m feeling enough shame and guilt as it is. The sad thing is if I’m not careful I can get so caught up in all my good work that I simply can’t be bothered by my kids and that is what they become to me–a bother.

Oh sure, there are times when I really do have very important things that need to be done and I simply cannot do something with my kids at those times. Further, there are times when I need to direct them in their own activities and they don’t have time to do something with me. However, I have to remember that one of the most important jobs God has given me is the stewarding of these four blessings. I can’t raise them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord if I find an excuse to avoid most of our time together because it doesn’t fit on my grand schedule for my plans.

I’m trying to remember that there will be plenty of years down the line when they are no longer in my home and I’ll no longer have the opportunity to be bothered by them. I need to make the most of those opportunities right now.

Have a great day and spend some time with your kids.

__________

Check out the books I mentioned, they really are great.

We Don’t Have to Earn God’s Love

April 26, 2010 by Edwin Crozier Leave a Comment

A few weeks ago, we started what I think is an extremely important and yet misunderstood topic: Loving Ourselves. We are allowed to do that. Two weeks ago, we noticed that as unlovable as we may see ourselves, we need to simply trust God who looks at us and loves us.

Having heard that God really does love us, we can easily start running through the mental gymnastics of the devil as he tries to convince us that God does not love us, in fact could not love us because we are so bad. With that mindset, we often start trying to earn God’s love. We decide that in order to get God to love us we need to read our Bibles more, pray more, sin less, teach more, attend congregational assemblies more, and on and on the list may go. We seem to think that if we make ourselves better, then we might become worthy of God’s love.

I John 4:7-9 says, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.”

Consider what this says. That love of God is not based on anything we do. God doesn’t love us because of anything we’ve done, but because He is love. That means God won’t stop loving us because of anything we do, because He is love. He manifested that love eternally by sending His Son to die for us. He died for us even while we were sinners and doing nothing worthy of that love.

What does that mean for us? It means there is not one single thing we can do today to make God love us any more. At the same time, it means there is not one single thing we can do today to make God love us any less. We don’t have to try to earn it. We don’t have to fear losing that love.

Once we recognize that, how can we not love God ourselves? Because of that love we will want to draw closer to Him through Bible reading, prayer, spending time with God’s children, avoiding sin, etc. If we do sin, we can recognize God still loves us and instead of running from God, we can run to God, confessing our sin and accepting the forgiveness He has promised.

If God would love us like this despite all we’ve done, we can love us too.

Keep coming back. Next week, we’ll start looking at I Corinthians 13:4-7 to see what it means to love ourselves properly according to God’s will.

Let “Yes” Be Your Default with Your Kids

April 13, 2010 by Edwin Crozier 6 Comments

My default response to the kids is, “No.” I hear the words, “Dad, can I…” and my tongue starts tipping against the roof of my mouth automatically. “No.” I can say it sympathetically. I can say it resoundingly. I can say it firmly. I can say it at the top of my voice. I can say it in a whisper. I’m pretty good at saying, “No.” Why? Because “No” doesn’t take any thought.

Can you go over to so-and-so’s house today? I don’t want to think about it; No. Can you have this or that? I don’t want to put brain power to that; No. Can you try something or experiment with the other thing? I’m not wasting any precious thinking time on that; No.

I learned something last week. Yes is better. Oh, don’t get me wrong. No is necessary. But it doesn’t have to be the default. By default I mean, I normally have a ready made “No” and have to be convinced of a good reason to say, “Yes.” Perhaps the better approach is let the default be “Yes” and force myself to have a good reason before saying, “No.”

Last week, or maybe it was the week before, we were burning limbs at my house. Tessa had a brilliant idea. She had always wanted to hold a real life torch. She decided to grab an old sock, wrap it around the end of a stick and put it in the fire. Now that would have to be some amazing fun. But, there I was, my practiced response at the ready. I could see where this was going as soon as the sock came out, “No.” “But dad, this is an old sock that doesn’t fit me.” “NO.” “Dad, I have money to buy new socks.” “NO!”

I know, I know. Some of you are saying, “Why did you even let her argue? You said, ‘No.’ She should have said, ‘Yes, sir,’ and been done with it.” I’m sure there is some truth to that. However, when you’ve learned that the answer will always be “no” unless you give some good reasons, you get pretty practiced at firing off some good reasons while you have a chance. I think I might have a better chance of getting her to quit arguing with me if she learns that I’m a yes guy unless there is a good reason to say, “No.” If the default is always “No,” I’m guessing the rebellion will always simmer beneath the surface.

Back to my story. After saying, “No,” it hit me. Really? Why “No”? I’ve always thought it might be kind of cool to have a torch too. I’ve never gotten to hold one. I’ve only seen them in the movies. It is just a sock. We’re talking a few dollars to have an experience. How many of you have actually created your own torch? I don’t mean just putting a stick in the fire, I mean a real, honest to goodness torch that light’s up the night like a flashlight. The kind they use on Lost.

I backed up and said, “You know what, Tessa. Let’s make a torch.” Then I was in on the fun. I took some lighter fluid and completely soaked the sock. We stuck it in the flame and we had a torch. Tessa was excited. All the kids were chomping at the bit, “I want to hold it. I want to hold it.” I got to hold it too. We learned something. Torches that seem to last for hours in the movies would leave you lost in the dark in real life (unless they have some other kind of fluid to burn that lasts longer). Our torch only lasted about five minutes. But it sure was fun. The next night when we were burning another group of limbs, I was at the ready for a torch for each child. What a blast. The neighborhood kids got a kick out of it too.

The lesson for me in all of this was that “No” doesn’t have to be the default. Maybe “Yes” could start being the default. Maybe my first thought should be, “Yeah, that sounds like fun.” Then I have to think it through and see if there is a real reason to say “No.” To be sure, there will be plenty of reasons to say “No.” Something might be too dangerous, too costly, not enough time, not the right time, too mature, too immature, too hurtful, or just plain against the rules. There will be plenty of time to say, “No.” If my kids ask to play dodge brick, I can say “No.” If they want to hang on to the hood of the car while we drive down the interstate, I’ll probably say, “No” (although that one is kind of tempting). If they want me to spend more money that we can budget on a television or some other gadget, I can say, “No.” But it doesn’t have to be the default just because I’m too lazy to think up a reason not to do it.

I’m going to try this new approach and see how it works. My default is going to be, “Yes,” and I’ll have to think up a reason to say, “No,” instead of the other way around. Why don’t you try this for a while and see what it does for your family?

God Loves You Today, So Should You

April 12, 2010 by Edwin Crozier 2 Comments

Last Monday, I introduced a topic about loving ourselves. That doesn’t seem to be as hot of a topic as what I’ve said about Christians and politics, but I think it is a great deal more needed.

Even having seen a biblical basis for loving ourselves, we can still believe we are just unlovable. Sure, you may think I’m a cuddly sort of fellow. I’m nice enough. I’ve probably usually spoken to you with kindness. But if you actually knew me. If I laid out my history before you, you’d run screaming. If I told you some of the things that have been in my head, you would flee, flapping your arms about your head trying to ward off the craziness. The problem is, I do know me. I know what I’ve thought about. I know what I’ve done. Regrettably, I can’t run away from it. It’s always with me.

Do you know that same feeling?

I can’t speak for everyone else in the world. I don’t know what everyone else would do if they learned about who you really are when the masks come off. But I can share with you what God said. God knew your entire history. God knows every thought you’ve ever had. God knew every mistake, every failure, every sin. He knew every lie. He knew every lust. He knew every theft. He knew every immorality. He knew every covetousness. He knew every arrogance. He knew every judgment. He knew every hurt. He knew every betrayal. He knew it all. There is not one thing you have kept hidden from Him. He knew it all before you were even here.

Do you know what He did even though He knew every bit of that? He loved you. He looked at you and said, “There is someone I can love.” And He sent Jesus to die for you so you might be forgiven and set free from all that wrong. Romans 5:6-8 says, “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person–though perhaps for a good person one would are even to die–but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

So, before you start hating on yourself today, stop and think about what God did for you even though He knew everything you did. If God can love you, then you must be pretty lovable. Why not love yourself too?

[EDIT] As per Michelle’s request: A Link to my sermon entitled “Worth a Son”

Thanks for the suggestion, Michelle.

Love Yourself Today

April 5, 2010 by Edwin Crozier 10 Comments

Index of “Loving Ourselves” Posts

God Loves You Today, So Should You

We Don’t Have to Earn God’s Love

Be Patient With Yourself

Be Kind to Yourself

Nourish and Cherish Yourself

Do Not Envy

Do Not Boast or Be Arrogant

Don’t Be Rude to Yourself

Don’t Insist On Your Own Way

Don’t Be Irritable With Yourself

Don’t Resent Yourself

Rejoice in Truth, not Wrong-doing

Bear and Endure All Things

Believe and Hope All Things

Hating Ourselves

A man, supposedly in his late 40s posted the following in an internet forum that I do not want to link you to.

“I hate what I see in the mirror. I hate my past. I hate my present. I hate everything I am. I go to bed every night wishing I would wakeup with some disease and only have a few months to live. Or that I would die on the way to work in a car wreck or have a massive heart attack. That would show them wouldn’t it. Would anyone really care if I was gone? I walk around feeling empty inside and nobody notices. Why can’t anyone see how sad I am? Can’t anyone see how much pain I am in? Can’t anyone see me struggling to stay alive? I hate myself even more for having these thoughts. How weak is that? Why can’t I be a real man and get over it? I ask myself if this is a cruel joke God is playing on me? Is this payback for all the bad I had done in my life? Why am I here? I am so pathetic and such a loser.”

The responses he received were not much better.

“You and me both. I know how you feel. Every day I wake up hoping to die. I’ve been through a lot … in my lifetime. Most of the time, I don’t see what the point of living is. At university, everyone ignores me. No one cares about me. Most of my family hate me. I have no friends…I’m not even my won friend.”

“I know there are people who love me, but it doesn’t make a difference to me. I feel like you. I’m a loser.”

“Bro, I feel so close to you. I hate myself and I hate myself that I hate myself in the same time. I don’t know how to feel or what to feel. Sometime I blame life and gods but then I hate myself that I should just blame myself. I hate myself more than I hate this meanless life. I hate my boring look, my stupid brain, my weak body, and my ugly mouth that always say the wrong things.”

“I go through life pretending I am so happy, but if anyone even cared they’d look deeper. And even though I am female, I totally understand how you feel. They all say life is a rollercoaster, but it feels like it is only going down and down further each day.”

Someone finally posted:

GOD LOVES YOU! Nothing is more important than that.

To which the next responder replied:

“I wish I could believe in that premise, but I’m finding it hard these days. I have failed at everything I’ve ever done and tried. At the same time, I’ve done nothing wrong. I’ve been a hard-working blue collar guy all of my life. I’ve never broken a law or hurt anyone. Now, at 47, laid off from my job nearly a year, a wife of 19 years who looks at me like a loser. No kids. Little savings. The only thing I truly love are my two dogs who are always faithful.

“I look back and conclude that my life has been pointless. Utterly meaningless. I hate myself so much, that I love my own honesty about it.

“I hate myself so much that I pray for death. I am a 30-year smoker and am happy about it. Lung cancer, colon cancer, a massive coronary all sound good to me. I’ll take any of them. Then I can go down for the long sleep and all of this…would be over. No more worries. No more insomnia or nightmares. Not another morning waking to nothingness. Worthlessness. Pain.

“The only reason I haven’t put a bullet thru my head is because of the last remaining shred of Christianity, that suicide is the ultimate sin from which there is no forgiveness. So, I’m finding it harder to believe that God is here, or cares. I have sinned like all humans on this planet and regret them all. But, if he’s there, he’s forsaken me. I guess I don’t blame him. I would too if I were him.”

Self-loathing and self-hatred: Some of us have it down to a science. Some of us are even convinced we are more spiritual because of our negative feelings toward ourselves. We are sure that any kind of love we have for ourselves would only be selfishness, self-centeredness, arrogance. We are sure that any kind of love we might have for ourselves would mean we weren’t seeing ourselves in the sinful light we are sure we must recognize. I’d like to share a Biblical revelation with you. We are allowed to love ourselves.

Some hearing this will think this is no big deal and wonder why I’m even sharing such depressing stuff. Others are saying they know how these people online feel and want to find out where this stuff came from. They are saying, “Are you sure? Are you sure I’m allowed to love myself? If you knew me like I do, you wouldn’t be saying that.” I’m talking to you. God says you are allowed to love yourself.

Why do Christians Struggle with Self-Loathing?

For those who don’t understand, here’s the problem. Some look at their sins and equate their existence with their sinfulness. They don’t just despise their sins; they despise themselves for their sins. I understand that. With each new sin, no matter how small or great, we receive another reminder of how worthless and unlovable we are.

Some look at their bodies. They see themselves as too thin or too fat, too tall or too short, too plain, too out of proportion, maybe their ears are too big or their chin is too small. They equate their body with themselves and hate themselves a little more every time they look in the mirror. As an overweight guy, I can understand that too.

Some listen to the negative messages they’ve heard from parents, professors, and peers: “You’re never going to amount to anything.” “You’re so pathetic.” “You’re a loser.” “You’re worthless.” “I don’t even know why I had you.” “I don’t even know why they let you in this school.” “I don’t even know why I’m friends with you.” “You’re the worst __________.”

Some want to be perfect and every mistake adds another level of loathing. Each failure reinforces the messages they heard from others and they play those messages over and over again in their heads. I haven’t heard all these, but I’ve heard some things. I understand this.

Some look at how they’ve treated others and the mistakes they’ve made in relationships. Every time they see someone they’ve hurt, they heap punishment on themselves. How could the one they’ve hurt love them; how can they love themselves? I wish this one didn’t ring so true. But I get it.

Then, they “go to church” and see everyone wearing their Sunday smiles, and hate themselves a little more for not being strong and perfect like everyone else. You ought to try being the guy who looks out over the whole audience each week to see what appear to be a whole bunch of people who have it together. It’s a weekly reminder of, “Why on earth am I the guy up here preaching?”

For you, “hate” and “loathe” may be too strong of terms. But how do you talk to yourself? Do you call yourself names? “Idiot,” “Loser,” “Moron.” Do you talk down to yourself? “If you had half a brain, you wouldn’t make mistakes like this.” “You’re such a ______, no wonder nobody likes you.” Do you punish yourself over and over again? “I don’t deserve to have a relationship, I’ll sabotage this one.” “I don’t deserve to be thin, I’m going to eat two extra helpings of ice cream.” “I don’t deserve to be pretty, I’ll go out in my rattiest clothes and refuse to try to look nice.” If you treated someone else the way you treat yourself, would they mistake it for love? Maybe your feelings aren’t as dark as those shared at the beginning of this post, but are you treating yourself the way God wants you to?

I know the struggle with these feelings. I like to say that “hate” and “loathe” are too strong of terms for how I’ve felt about myself. Maybe they are. But I can guarantee you that when I talk to others the way I talk to myself about mistakes, value, life in general, no one would mistake it for love. If I talk to my wife the way I talk to myself, she would not think I was loving her. In fact, she probably would think I hate her. If I talk to my kids the way I talk to myself most of the time, they’d end up in therapy (that may happen anyway). I get it.

I’m even one of those people who likes to tell myself this is how I’m supposed to treat me because it is really spiritual. I should despise me for my sins and imperfections. That means I have a realistic self-image based on the Bible. After all, the Bible rebukes all the sins I’ve committed and says I deserve judgment for what I’ve done. I should not like me. If I like me, that means I like the sins I’ve committed. I don’t do as some, flagellating themselves with whips and hurting themselves physically (based on a misunderstanding of I Corinthias 9:27). But verbally and mentally I’ve been there. You should hear the names I call myself when I simply make a wrong turn. If I said that to someone else, folks would be scandalized.

Loving Ourselves

But then I reread Matthew 22:37-40. The two greatest commandments are, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” The second is very similar, Jesus said, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

I’ve read these commands before. I’ve been in classes about them. I’ve preached sermons about them. But on a gut, emotional, core value level, I missed something about these verses. There are two commands about love, but there is a third statement about love within them. It is not a command because it is simply assumed. We are supposed to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.

Do not miss the profound nature of this. Not only are we allowed to love ourselves, we are supposed to love ourselves. Loving ourselves is the foundation for loving others properly. If we despise ourselves, loathe ourselves, and hate ourselves, we will not be able to love others properly or in a healthy way.

The sad reality is too many of us do love others exactly the way we love ourselves, we hate ourselves so we hate others. Maybe “hate” is too strong of a word in this case too. But I think of my statements above about talking to my wife and children. There I said, “if.” I should actually say, “when.” Because I have talked to them these ways. However, as I’ve grown, I’ve discovered that when I talk to others this way, almost without fail I’m not really angry at others. I’m angry at me. The self-loathing simply wells up inside and despite my best efforts to control it seeps forth like too much jello in a mold. My experience is most of my outbursts at others are actually outbursts at myself directed outwardly. It is as if some part of me wants them to feel about me the way I do in that moment and so I’ll sabotage the relationship so they can punish me as I’m sure I deserve. Or these outbursts are attempts to be able to shift my own gaze on to someone else so I can convince myself that they are really the bad one and I can think better of me.

Though I don’t need personal experience to know what Jesus says is true, I have seen my own experience support what Jesus says here. We have to love ourselves properly before we’ll love others properly. When I am most hateful with myself, that is when I’m most hateful with others.

Look again at what Jesus said. “You shall love your neighbor as you love yourself.” Not only are we allowed to love ourselves and supposed to love ourselves, these verses demonstrates that God expects us to love ourselves. Jesus didn’t command loving ourselves, He simply assumed we would.

If you’re like me, hearing this for the first time, you are probably raising all kinds of objections. “What? This sounds like narcissism to me. This sounds like selfishness and self-centeredness.” Of course God doesn’t condone narcissism. I’m not saying we are allowed to be obsessed with ourselves. Of course God doesn’t allow selfishness and self-centeredness. I’m not saying God allows us to hate others while we focus on ourselves. However, there is no getting around it. God assumes that we’ll love ourselves. In fact, He has said this not once, but twice. In Ephesians 5:28-29, Paul says husbands should love their wives as they love themselves, nourishing and cherishing them. Again, he didn’t command the love of self. He simply assumed it.

More to Come

Over the next few weeks, I want to delve into this topic. I want to explore it because I need to. I think many readers here need this as well. I want to begin by looking at God’s love for us and then examine I Corinthians 13 and how it applies to loving ourselves. That will help us get a good grasp on what we would actually do if we were to love ourselves. I hope this series lifts you up, draws you closer to God, and helps you find your worth in your relationship with God not your own personal accomplishments.

If you are willing, we’d love to hear from you on here about your own struggles or questions about this issue. That will help me know the direction to take these posts.

For right now, let me simply reiterate the message of the picture at the beginning of this post. Feel free to love yourself today.

Check out the next installment in this series here.

By the way, if you would like to check out a sermon I presented on this topic, go here.

God Doesn’t Care About Our Politics

March 29, 2010 by Edwin Crozier 18 Comments

voting by Vaguely Artistic I’m really bothered by all the political banter I’m hearing among Christians, especially since last week’s vote about healthcare. Now don’t misunderstand me. I have political opinions. I’m happy for others to have them, even if they disagree with me. I’m not one of these guys who thinks just because someone expresses a political opinion they must not be properly centered spiritually. What bothers me, however, is how many Christians and religious people are beginning to accept the lead of the religious right that says one of the church’s main goals is to get to Washington and enact “Christian legislation.” I’m very bothered by the number of Christians that seem to think their political opinions are bible opinions and judge those who disagree as not quite as spiritual as they are.

Let me share with you some principles that help me keep my balance about politics and my relationship with God. I know this is not the normal position for today’s Christian. I simply ask that you give me a fair hearing before you start judging me as having lost my mind.

God never asked for a Christian nation.

Christians everywhere are upset because President Obama told somebody America is not a Christian nation. I don’t know what he meant by it and I don’t know what you mean by it, all I know is God never asked for Christian nations. So why get stressed about it?

In Hebrews 12:26-29, the Hebrew writer claims God was going to shake out the Old Covenant kingdom so we could receive a kingdom that cannot be shaken. Why would we want to stress having another kingdom that can be shaken out of the way (and eventually will, no matter how much we love our country) when God is giving us a kingdom that can’t be shaken? Is God’s kingdom so trivial to us that we have to boost it with our earthly kingdom as well?

In John 18:36, Jesus said His kingdom is not of this world. Why then do we get bent out of shape when we learn that a kingdom of this world is not Christ’s kingdom? Jesus said if His kingdom were of this world, His disciples would stand up and fight by earthly means. But they weren’t fighting because that wasn’t what His kingdom was about. Yet today, His disciples are completely caught up in an earthly fight through political means to somehow preserve a Christian Nation that God didn’t establish.

God has His kingdom. According to I Peter 2:9, we are part of that kingdom because we are in Christ, not because we are in America. The fact is there are Russians that are part of God’s nation, there are Mexicans, Canadians, French, South African, Nigerian, Italian, British, and all other nationalities of people in Christ’s kingdom and it has nothing to do with their national citizenship. I love America. My Dad’s life was devoted to defending America. My brother is devoting his life to the same cause. I have good friends who have done the same. I’m proud of their patriotism and their sacrifice to defend our nation. But I have to keep very clear that defending America is not the same as defending Christ’s holy nation.

God worked through an earthly nation during His old covenant, but He has moved on from that now. He has a spiritual kingdom. If He wanted a Christian nation, He could have revealed through the apostles how to get Rome to be His nation, but He didn’t. Why are we getting all bent out of shape about that now? What passage would we go to to tell us how to establish the Christian nation God supposedly wants?

God has never asked us to spread His gospel through political means.

In 2 Corinthians 10:3-6, Paul makes it clear that we don’t use earthly, fleshly means to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. They weren’t under a democracy. They wouldn’t vote. They would take up arms and revolt. But Paul said that wasn’t what they were about. They weren’t concerned with overthrowing the Roman government in order to make it a Christian one. They didn’t go to Caesar and try to get him to pass Christian friendly laws. Why on earth would we think our job is to spread the gospel through political means?

In Matthew 28:18-19, Jesus didn’t say go make Christian nations. He said to make Christians within every nation. In Mark 16:15-16, Jesus didn’t say to go and turn every nation into a democracy. He didn’t say, go and make sure all the nations have Christian laws. He said go and make disciples all over the world. In Romans 10:15, Paul didn’t write how beautiful are the feet of those with certain political opinions or who vote for certain laws. He said the feet of those who preach the gospel are beautiful. In II Timothy 2:2, when Paul was concerned with Timothy leaving behind a legacy for Christ and preparing the way for another generation of Christians, he didn’t tell Timothy to go to Rome and appeal to Caesar for better laws. He told Timothy to teach faithful men who would in their turn teach other faithful men to teach.

Somehow, we’ve bought into the distraction of the religious right that getting a law against abortion or homosexuality ratified in our Constitution will actually be some kind of major victory for Christ. Bologna. Let’s face it, not one single person has been saved because of anyone’s vote for any candidate or for any law. The victory that Christ wants is not to outlaw abortion or homosexuality. The victory Christ wants is for us to carry the message of His saving death to new people whose lives will be changed so they won’t have abortions or commit homosexuality anymore no matter what the national law is. If righteousness could come by a law, then the Old Covenant law of Israel would have done it. Why do we think if we get American law to correspond with the New Testament teaching that it will produce righteousness among Americans? Only the message of faith in Jesus is going to accomplish that and Jesus doesn’t need a national law to back Him up for it to work.

We need to remember that immorality and idolatry were rampant in the days of the New Testament, but God didn’t once ask anyone to try to get the emperor to pass any laws against all that. He simply asked His children to spread His soul saving gospel.

The Constitution is not the Bible, Part 2

I love the Constitution. I think it is one of the greatest political documents of all time. I have strong feelings about how it should be read and interpreted. I have many concerns that it is not being interpreted properly by our government today. I am concerned about what that means for our nation’s future. However, those are political opinions, not spiritual ones. I have to remember that the Constitution is not divine or divinely inspired. We don’t have the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the Constitution Testament.

I can get into all kinds of arguments about defending the Constitution, but that is not the same as defending God’s word or God’s will. The fact is, the Bible never says anything about how to read the Constitution. It never even says anything about whether or not the Constitution is the right way to govern a nation. The Bible never says anything about whether or not a nation even needs a Constitution like ours. It just isn’t there. Yet, Christians nationwide act like they are defending the Bible when they defend their interpretation of the Constitution.

I’ve heard people claim that we need to protect our “God-given rights.” We have these rights by the providence of God because Romans 13:1 says the government is established by God. That is not an accurate view of that verse or our American rights. Our rights to free speech, practice religion as we want, assemble, bear arms, speedy trial by a jury of our peers, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are not God-given rights. Please, if you are convinced that they are, find the passage in Scripture that claims we have any of those rights? These are government-given rights. I’m very happy to live in a nation whose government claims we have these rights and I will gladly stand up to fight for these rights. But, again, that is a political opinion, not a spiritual one. It is not a Bible opinion.

Romans 13:1 isn’t talking about democracies. It isn’t talking about American government. It is talking about all governments. It is talking about Nero’s government, Hitler’s government, Stalin’s governments. The point behind Romans 13:1 is not that what a government established by God does is the right thing to do and we as Christians must defend it like it is the same as the Bible. Rather, it simply means we must submit to our governing authorities (unless, of course, they ask us to disobey God; Acts 5:29).

When I’m defending my opinions about the Constitution, I’m not defending God’s will. When I’m defending America, I’m not defending Christ’s nation. The Constitution is not the Bible, part 2, and I must not trivialize God’s real word by trying to somehow equate a document of men with it.

God only expressed one political opinion.

There are a bajillion political issues out there. We can argue about taxes, healthcare, marriage, abortion, immigration, the environment, defense, homeland security, our President’s birthplace and on and on and on the list goes. To my knowledge, God did not express a political opinion on any one of these issues. We need to realize that all of these issues were present in the Roman world. They dealt with taxes. They dealt with defense and security. Abortion was going on. They even killed children after they were born. Homosexuality was commonplace. Idolatry was rampant. But God never once said anything political about any of these things.

1 Timothy 2:2 is the only political opinion expressed in the New Testament that I know of. Paul didn’t tell the Christians to get up in political arms about the bad laws governing the Roman empire. All he asked was for the Christians to pray that their government would allow them to lead peaceful, quiet, godly lives. We should still be asking for that. Right now, God is granting that request. We are allowed to lead peaceful, quiet, godly lives. I know some people pitch a fit about it. I know some people don’t like it. But right now, we are allowed to serve God as we wish, practice obedience as we wish, assemble as we wish. Nobody has stopped that. Maybe they will one day, but they aren’t stopping it right now. Maybe instead of complaining like we don’t have these freedoms, we should spend more time thanking God that we do have these freedoms and asking Him to continue them. Then maybe we can go talk to our neighbors about God’s saving Gospel and it might change their lives so they don’t practice homosexuality or get an abortion.

God expects His children to unite around principles greater than politics.

I love being in a democracy, but I’m increasingly convinced it may not be the best situation for Christians. Why? Because democracy came on the scene and Christians have been dividing over politics ever since. Maybe it was better when there was no vote under the Roman Empire and Christians just accepted what they were given and did the best they could to live godly lives in the situation they were given.

I’m often astounded by the conglomeration of people Jesus pooled together to form His group of apostles. I’m most astounded by the coming together of Matthew the tax collector and Simon the Zealot. I wonder what kind of political discussions they had around the fire at night. A tax collector was a Roman sympathizer, not only did he not have a problem with Roman occupation, he used it to make money. A Zealot hated Roman occupation and tried any means to get them out, even insurrection at times. These two were complete polar opposites politically. But there is no indication they had to change their politics to serve Jesus. Matthew didn’t have to become a Zealot to be among the 12 and Simon didn’t have to become a Roman sympathizer. Jesus expected them to unite around something greater than politics.

Satan will use anything he can to get us to divide among ourselves. Politics seems to be the big thing right now. I’ve even heard of some Christians defriending each other on Facebook over the political opinions surrounding the healthcare vote. How sad is that?

Jesus did not die to form the Republican party. Jesus did not die to form the Democrat party. Jesus didn’t even die to start democracies. We do need to remember that neither Jesus nor any of the apostles were believers in democracy. There wasn’t democracy in their day. We need to understand that someone can have completely different political opinions from us and still be a good Christian, just like the apostles were.

Jesus did not die to make sure healthcare was privatized or nationalized. In fact, I’m guessing Jesus doesn’t care how we get healthcare. Jesus died so our souls could be cared for eternally. He expects us to unite around the eternal principles of salvation in Him and not divide around temporal political concerns about nations.

Here is what I try to remember. If I really want to do something good in God’s eyes for my nation, instead of worrying about everyone else’s political opinions, I need to talk to someone about Jesus. He didn’t die to make Christian nations. He died to make Christians in every nation. If I’m going to keep my proper spiritual perspective, I’ve got to understand that political opinions are just that. They are political opinions. I’m allowed to have them. You are allowed to have them. If we disagree, we can discuss them. But we must not let them divide us. We must not think a political discussion is a biblical discussion. God never intended that.

Let’s remember that the most important thing that happened last Sunday was not the vote on healthcare. The most important thing is the gospel was preached to millions. The death of Jesus was remembered by multitudes. Some were added to the Lord through baptism into Christ. What happened in Washington was neither a victory or a defeat for Jesus or His people. Rather, Jesus was once again victorious in a multitude of ways because His people gathered and proclaimed Him as He asked. We’ll continue doing that no matter what happens in Washington.

Please, remember, God’s way works and God’s ways are not political.

(If you are interested in reading or listening to the sermon I presented on these same issues, please go here.)