Christian Respect for Political Leaders

 

 

Singer Carrie Underwood will perform “America the Beautiful” at the inauguration ceremony for the new United States President, Donald J. Trump, on 20 January 2025. Once this was announced, the singer began to receive vitriolic and hateful comments from persons opposed to Mr. Trump. Ms. Underwood seems to have taken the approach that it is an honor to be asked to perform at the ceremony, regardless of who the new leader is.

When Jesus said “Render unto Caesar,” he was warning against elevating the temporal government over the Kingdom of God. He was not telling us to remove ourselves from any involvement with the government.

Once, during the presidency of Barack Obama, a coworker of mine was bitterly complaining about the president. I was also not particularly fond of the president, but I told the coworker that it was the responsibility of every American, especially those who are Christian, to be willing to jump in front of a bullet to protect our leader. He responded, “Not me! I would be hitting the floor!”

It is our duty and honor as Christians to be civically involved, even if we do not personally approve of our current political leaders. Paul, who would ultimately be executed by the Roman government, would agree.

Mark 12:17; Romans 13:1-7; Hebrews 13:1-17; 1 Peter 2:13-17

Car Tags

In the United States there is a tradition of "vanity" automobile license plates. For an additional fee, authomobile owners can have customized messages on their car tags. Some of the most well-known of the vanity tags have these messages:

2THDR       This reads as "tooth doctor" and belongs to a dentist.
GRLPWR   This reads as "girl power."
NOSUP4U  This reads as "no soup for you!" and echoes the famous Soup Nazi episode on the         popular Sienfeld television series.
ISWALO     This reads as "I swallow" and is a vulgar reference to fellatio.
HIOFICER This reads as "Hi, officer!" and is a message to any police officers following the vehicle.
GONPLCS This reads as "Going places."

An extended list of car tags is at www.coolpl8z.com, check out the constantly changing Top 100.  Some are quite vulgar and offensive. You may wonder how some of the slogans got past the censors.

I recently saw a license plate which at first I could not decipher; GETMULA. I eventually understood that it reads as "get moolah." Moolah is a slang word for money. How sad.

The acquisition of money sadly is the primary motivation for many people. A Christian understanding of money is that it is simply a tool, neither evil nor good in and of itself. Ethical acquisition of money, a proper relationship to that money, and its use in furthering the Kingdom of God are proper subjects for Christian discussion.

God's Ultimate Purpose for Our Creation

Henry David Thoreau (1817 – 1862), an American Transcendentalist philosopher and writer basically lived the life of a hermit on Walden Pond in the State of Masssachusetts (USA).  He rejected organized religion and political parties, was a committed abolitionist and pacifist, and spent his life dedicated to self-improvement.  He never married and never attended any church. The writer, Robert Louis Stevenson said of him, “He was not easy, not ample, not urbane, not even kind; his enjoyment was hardly smiling, or the smile was not broad enough to be convincing; he had no waste lands nor kitchen-midden in his nature, but was all improved and sharpened to a point.”  Thoreau was not a pleasant person, but he still had some important insights, one of which is, “What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.” 

This statement is the essence of Jewish religious thought. As Huston Smith said in his classic work, The World’s Religions, “… Judaism is less an orthodoxy than an orthopraxis.” Orthodox Judaism sees obedience to God’s commands now as important, not for future reward, but for what it does to you. Observance of the Jewish rituals is seen as making all of normal life holy. (Leviticus 11:44, 1 Peter 1:16). Orthodox Judaism believes that observance of the rituals is preparing the world for the appearance of the Messiah and the coming of the Kingdom of God.

Many modern Christians have lost sight of the fact that Christianity began as a movement within Judaism and that Christianity can only be understood in the light of the Hebrew Scriptures. The entirety of the Old Testament clearly points to one person, Jesus.

Just as the Jews see obedience to God’s commands as making all of life holy, our allegiance to Jesus is conforming us to the likeness of Christ. This is the process of sanctification. Jesus did not conform to the world. He expected the world to conform to Him. This is God’s ultimate purpose in our creation, that we become conformed to Christ for God’s glory. Romans 8:28-31

Christian Heresies: King James Onlyism

You may have noticed that when I quote from the Bible, I use the King James Version (KJV).  This has practical, cultural, and personal reasons.  It is the version of the Bible with which I grew up and with which I am entirely comfortable, but it is not the only version I use.  I also consult the New International Version and the Greek New Testament.  I have said here before that I would also like to consult the Hebrew Bible, but the Hebrew language is an impenetrable mystery to me.

The main reason that I quote here from the King James Version is that it is in the public domain so there are no copyright issues.  Some of the newer translations are actually sometimes easier to understand for English-speakers.

Followers of the King James Only Movement would declare that I am a heretic or that, because I use any translation other than the 1611 Authorized Version KJV, including any other modern languages, that I am not saved.  Their interpretation is at the very least, incorrect, and at the worst, heretical.  Heretical because it is, or borders on being, a form of idolatry.  Some actually believe that the KJV takes precedence over the Greek and Hebrew originals.  They worship a particular version of the book and miss what the book actually is.  They have allowed themselves to become distracted by side issues, taking their eyes off their true purpose: furthering the Kingdom of God.

The Bible is a collection of poems, letters, histories, instructions, laws, proverbs, songs, and other literature.  Left alone it will sit on a shelf.  Just a book.  In the hands of a believer, the divinely inspired book comes alive; one of the tools used by the Holy Spirit to instruct, comfort, teach, correct, and convict.  Some call it the Word of God, but the Bible itself tells us in John 1:1 that Jesus is the Word.  The Holy Spirit uses the Bible to glorify Jesus.

http://www.raptureready.com/rr-kjvo.html  

a spirited refutation of King James Onlyism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_James_Only_movement 

has a number of pro and con links at the end of the article

What the Bible Says About being Rich

"Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life." 1 Timothy 6:17-19
Jesus showed the rich young ruler (Mark 10:17-31, Luke 18:18-23, Matthew 19:16-23) that what he really loved was his wealth, not the Lord. It is not the wealth that is the problem, but the misplaced priority, worshipping the idol of money or power instead of glorying in the Kingdom of God. Jesus said it was very hard for a rich man to be saved, He did not say it could not happen.
In the quotation above, Paul doesn't insist that the rich not be rich or that they even feel guilty about being rich. He points to their hearts; if their hearts are set on God and not on their wealth, then their money becomes a powerful tool for use by the Lord.

Names in the Bible: Jesus

The English-language name Jesus is actually Yeshua  or Yehoshua from the Hebrew word "yasha (ישע)" which means "to bring out into a spacious place," "to deliver," or "to bring to safety."   The word calls up the idea of the Exodus, of God leading the Israelites from bondage in Egypt into the Promised Land, just as Jesus brings us out of the dead world system into the Kingdom of God.

Book Comment: After You Believe

"Keep getting old as long as you can."

Kris Kristofferson (b. 1936, Texas) 

Country music singer, songwriter, 

Golden Gloves boxer, Rhodes Scholar, 

U.S. Army captain

Kristoffer Kristian Kristofferson (yes, that's his real name) expresses the aim of most people for their lives.  Christians have a different perspective but we haven't always ourselves really understood it.  Many still don't.

In his book, After You Believe.  Why Christian Character Matters, N. T. Wright, the former Anglican Bishop of Durham, England, asks the question of what you do after you become a Christian.  Do you just wait to die and go to Heaven?  Does it matter once you are "saved?"  Isn't what we're really concerned with the "sweet by-and-by?"  Wright thinks it matters very much what we do in the "interim," and he clearly shows that Jesus and Paul thought so to.

Wright speaks of two approaches many Christians have adopted: 1. A Rules Mentality,  which in essence places the believer into legalism and ritualism, and 2. Spontaneity, going with what "feels right," since we are no longer under the Law.  This in essence places the believer into antinomianism.

Bishop Wright says neither of these approaches is correct.  Our duty is to develop Christian character and become who are intended to be in Christ.  The Kingdom of God is in the world now, and we are citizens of that Kingdom.  In the next life, in the Kingdom, we are to be kings and priests; since the Kingdom is here now, we are to begin being kings and priests now, fully revealing the image of God.  He call this the development of Christian virtue.

Wright is an Anglican and Anglicans say that they are "protestant, yet catholic."  I am very Protestant and I get a little squirmy when Wright explains things in more "catholic" ways, but what he's really talking about are sanctification and holiness and he is exactly correct.

Under the leading of the Holy Spirit, we are to experience what Paul calls "the renewing of your minds."
Classical pagan virtue found many of the Christian attitudes to be puzzling, especially those involving self-denial and self-sacrifice.  By practicing the Christian virtues (love, faith, hope, charity, self-giving, looking away from oneself, etc) under the leadership of the Holy Spirit (assuming the Mind of Christ) we gradually grow into them so that they become second nature.  Once they become second nature to us, we will not have to stop and decide how to act when the fecal material really hits the spinning blades.  We will know how to act.

"Your labor is not in vain"

In his 6 July 2010 post on The Schooley Files, Keith Schooley quotes 1Corinthians 15:55-58, "... your labor is not in vain" and makes an insightful observation: "... if we know that this present creation is going to be redeemed, then we need to live in it as though we were an agent of that transformation."

Schooley's comment came in a discussion of Bishop N. T. Wright's book, Surprised by Hope.  Bishop Wright strongly believes that many Christians think that once they are saved they can just be good and follow all the Rules, hoping not to "mess up."  They are waiting to die and go to Heaven, taking others with them if possible.  To them, it's all "in the Sweet By and By." One of Wright's recurring themes is that we are to realize that the Kingdom of God is here now.  We are to assume now the ways of thought and habits we will need to fulfill our duties in the next life.  The positive things we can do in this life can truly be seen as part of God's working out of his purposes in the world.

In his book, After You Believe, Bishop Wright writes specifically about this concept.  Tomorrow's post will be specifically about After You Believe.

Separation

I am a firm believer that Christians should clearly be "different" from other people. We are a separated, called-out, people, still citizens of our home countries but owing our ultimate allegiance to the Kingdom of God. Any conflict between the two should be easy to resolve: our duty is with the Kingdom.

Any activity which detracts from one's allegiance to the Kingdom should be modified or dropped altogether. This could include political associations, social activities, sports, or hobbies; none of which are, by themselves, wrong or forbidden.

The Bible recognizes the validity of the State and acknowledges that it has important functions. The State has been placed in power by God. The caveat is that the State also has its limitations. The State establishes censuses, registrations, laws, fees, taxes, and even calls for legitimate civil and military service. The State can not, however, demand unquestioning obedience or the right to dictate belief. For the Christian, there can be no ,"My country, right or wrong."

Unhindered

κηρύσσων τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ διδάσκων τὰ περὶ τοῦ Κυρίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ μετὰ πάσης παρρησίας ἀκωλύτως.
"Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him." Acts 28:31
ἀκωλύτως actually means “without hindrance” or “unhindered.” Hence the name of my blog, Saints on the Loose!

Brooke Greenberg

     Brooke Greenberg (born 1993), of Reigerstown, Maryland, is a nine month old toddler and she's been a nine month old toddler for her entire sixteen years of life.  She is about 30 inches tall and weighs 16 pounds and, consistent with her body, has the mind of a toddler.  She still has some of her baby teeth.  Her condition is so rare (she may be the only one) that it has no formal name; physicians refer to it as Syndrome X. 

     Brooke's condition has never been explained.  DNA sequencing shows no abnormalities.  It just seems that the various parts of her body function independently and not as unified whole.  Only her hair and fingernails, which are embryologically related, grow.  Her body does not know how to age.  

     We've all looked at our beautiful children and wished that they would never grow up.  In Brooke's case, she never has and we consider it a tragedy.  Her family loves her just as she is and feels that she has outlived physician's predictions (they said five years ... maybe) because God placed her here for a reason.  Her father believes she may help medical researchers better understand aging.

     We should be like children in our faith and trust in God ...

"Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 19:14.

"Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein." Mark 10:15 (also Luke 18:17).

     but, we should not be stunted in our growth, always remaining in a childlike state. 

"When I was a child, I spake as a child. I understood as child.  I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things." 1 Corinthians 13:11.

     We are counseled to grow ever more wise in our understanding of spiritual matters, not merely going around in circles repeating the same truisms over and over.

"As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby." 1 Peter 2:2

"I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able." 1 Corinthians 3:2

"For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong milk.  For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.  But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil."  Hebrews 5:12-14.