Sunday, February 21, 2016

Are Christians Falling Victim To A Jedi Mind Trick?

This is a deviation from my usual devotions in that it is not based upon a My Utmost For His Highest devotion.
 
I have been watching the goings on in our culture since our return from Haiti, with some dismay.  It is not that I was mentally unaware of the moral degradation of our culture, but I did not see the spiritual significance.  I had a mental image this morning of Satan playing the role of Obi Wan Kenobi, waving his hand before the faces of Christians, saying, these are not the sins you have been warned to avoid.  I do not intend to make a political statement with what follows … but rather, to hopefully bring some spiritual light on what is happening.
 
I have been watching the presidential race with great interest.  On the one hand, Hillary Clinton has been accused of security violations that would have cost most government workers their jobs and perhaps even might have sent them to jail.  But no one is talking about it.  Donald Trump is obviously not a Christian, but has won over many evangelicals as a presidential hopeful.  It is as if Evangelicals are victims of a Jedi mind trick.  Obi Wan Kenobi said “ The Force can have a strong influence on the weak-minded."  The same might could (Alabama-speak) be said by Satan about weak minded Christians. Oh, oh did I just offended someone?  I don’t mean to offend, but to challenge.  I am not telling you who to vote for.  I am just encouraging you to not be deceived.
 
As Christians, we should not make excuses for our sins or for the sins of others.  Unfortunately many of the people that the press euphemistically refers to as Evangelicals are, in fact, people who sometimes go to church and are thought to be Christians.  Unfortunately, many of the people sitting in pews on Sunday are not actually Christian, but merely religious.  And just as unfortunately, many of the Christians who gather with them, have embraced the same secular culture and see nothing wrong with what the Bible clearly establishes as sinful acts.  Given the response of “evangelicals” in the primaries, thus far, integrity, purity, and other virtues are negotiable if it means that we might be safer or get more money, or have less taken away.  The government wants to be our god and, it seems, many “evangelicals” are bending their knees. However, apart from having the Spirit of God, those pundits do not have the capacity to understand what is happening.
 
Here is a simple test.  What is your favorite television show?  Your favorite movie?  Does it contain nudity, profanity, sexual promiscuity?  Do you minimize those things for the sake of a story line, a favorite actor, or your affection for a particular genre?  You … or more correctly .. your flesh is embracing what the Bible speaks against as something that is really “OK”.  Folks the Body of Christ in the United States is in spiritual trouble.  The pundits on the news channels are perplexed as to why one candidate who, by profession, embraces the faith, was not supported better by those who make the same claim, and instead, embraced someone who clearly does not embrace the faith.
 
So get to the point Charley!  Our calling is to render to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s. (Matthew 22:21) “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” So the question is, for the Christian, what belongs to God?  The answer is simple .. you do.  (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God …..” Our devotion should not be offered to a politician .. or to our culture.  Here is another one … “Love God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength” (Matthew 22:37-38)  One more “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on (trust) your own understanding.  In all you ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path.”  (Proverbs 3:5,6)
 
So what is Caesar’s with respect to voting?  Good question.  In my view, we should vote. We should vote for the one who best represents the Lord.  If there is no one who does, then vote for the one who best represents “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable”  (Philippians 4:8) , and if you can find none, don’t vote.  Let me debunk a myth.  We do not live in a Christian nation.  We live in a nation the was founded on Christian principles.  Principles that are no longer promoted by our government institutions but are rejected as “religious tenants”  that must not be promoted in public forums.  Should Christians be involved in government, absolutely.  We are called to be salt and light in every corner of our culture.  Should we accept the calling of “bad” as good because our culture demands it?  Absolutely not.  (Isaiah 5:20-25) “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight. Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine  and champions at mixing drinks, who acquit the guilty for a bribe,  but deny justice to the innocent. Therefore, as tongues of fire lick up straw and as dry grass sinks down in the flames, so their roots will decay and their flowers blow away like dust; for they have rejected the law of the Lord Almighty and spurned the word of the Holy One of Israel. Therefore the Lord’s anger burns against his people;”   When we embrace the secular culture and its definition of what is good, we have lost our saltiness.   (Matthew 5:13) “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.”
 
Charley Elgin

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