Church, State, and the Two-way Street

I saw this meme and caption the other day, and my heart broke.

“Teachers, The Supreme Court just ruled that you can lead your students in prayer. I hope you are all prepared to uphold and honor that decision. Bring out your prayer rug, your pentagrams, your herbs and Tarot cards, your Quran, your Tanakh and Talmud, your Ram's horn, your Star of David, your Baphomet, your Satanic Bible, your altars, your Tibetan prayer wheel, your Book of Shadows.”

I talk about this often with my husband. I have never been a believer in the law mandating what is my Christian moral code. I believe in the law’s stance on religious freedom. My God did not force you to honor and worship him, he gave you free-will. Your choice will have eternal consequences, but if my God didn’t force you, neither will I. I also recognize that the freedom granted in this country means every person is equal and everyone has the same right to pursue a role in government. Should someone of another religion take and hold power, I do not want their religious morals imposed on me, so it’s only fair. My role as a Christian is to be an example of Christ – I cannot think of one single time Christ forced anyone to believe what he believed or do what he did. He was a role model for God’s grace, and he was covered in God’s blessing. He was accepting of all, and they were drawn to him by his peaceful and accepting behavior…not his riots in the street or forcing everyone to do what he said. It’s the single most powerful, yet overlooked, concept in the Bible. Jesus didn’t shun the sinners – he showed them a better way and gave them a choice.

Our political climate has become so aggressive that the good news of Christ is being drown out. The Bible has been turned into a weapon trying to control the masses, when that’s exactly opposite of everything Jesus showed us. It’s being used as an excuse to hate, judge, and restrict people – but it’s a book of love and justice and righteousness. Civic leaders in Jesus time were prideful, legalistic, arrogant. There was very little likeable about them – and it did nothing good for the Kingdom. In contrast, Jesus sat at the table and ate with the sinners; he got to know them and spoke to them about God’s love and redemption available to their lives. He gave them the option, not the command.

I’ve been studying Jeremiah for a few weeks now. “The weeping prophet” was given the hard task by God to call out the sin in Judah and warn the Jews that judgment was coming if they didn’t repent. Notice one thing: Jeremiah called out to the people of God – not the pagans of the time. His message to repent was for the people of God, not the pagans. God’s judgment was for HIS people, not the pagans. You are not required to follow God’s laws until you accept them as your truth. Does this mean you won’t suffer the consequences of your blindness if you never do? No, the Bible never says that. But I can’t think of a single scripture that says you must follow God, either.

We must be careful. The actions of Judah described in Jeremiah are not far from the actions of our current Christian society when you think through the lens of historical culture. They were following the rules of the pagans around them, while trying to mimic a relationship with their God. They worshipped God in the temple, and then turned to worship idols in the high places.

This is what the Lord says: “Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches, but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the Lord. – Jeremiah 9:24

God says we should boast because we have understanding about him. You can’t force that kind of “in your heart” understanding on someone else; and even if you manage to legislate the masses into following God’s Word, there isn’t an understanding in their heart and the result is fruitless following of someone else’s law, not God’s. That means nothing.

For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. – Hebrews 4:12

God knows our heart, and no amount of legislation is going to change someone’s heart. At best, it forces a mimic of God’s law, at worst it turns someone completely away from Him.

But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, - 1 Peter 3:15 (emphasis mine)  

The current, public response of “Christians” today is not always Christ-like. (I use the term Christians loosely, as most of the time I see abuse of a religion to get someone’s way more than an authentic relationship with Christ.) Christians today are depicted as standing on their holy soap box, not proclaiming the goodness of God but condemning those who are lost. I hope that non-believers understand that not all of us feel that way. Most of us would prefer they know Jesus for themselves, and choose the love and blessing that comes with knowing him. The rest of the moral code follows that first action of faith; over time the Holy Spirit works to mold that person into an image of God, so that is my primary goal. I cannot be someone else’s Holy Spirit, I can only be their example.

To clarify, the case referenced above, Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, did not allow teachers to pray with their students – it allowed teachers to pray. If other students choose to join in, that’s their prerogative – it’s also their choice not to join in. Religious freedom must be a two-way street, without imposing any one religious view on any person.

We as a country and as a culture have a long way to go, and the Bible already tells us that the path is narrow – which means not everyone will find the truth in time. Our focus as Christians has got to move out of the worldly political agenda that is ravaging our country today, and start figuring out how to bring people to Christ through love, justice, and righteousness. We need to focus more on ourselves and our own actions than on those around us; you cannot counsel against another’s sin if you aren’t addressing your own. We have to open our eyes to what’s happening behind the scenes, and begin a counterattack out of love.  We must fight against hypocrisy, moral denigration, false prophecy, and lies. We must identify the worldly idols in our own lives and redirect our focus to God; he alone knows the way out of this mess…but we must first recognize that we are in a mess and doing harm to the Kingdom.

I encourage you to pray for strength in these times. I ask that God open your eyes to your circle of influence, to sin that you need to address within yourself, and that he put your heart where it should be. The world doesn’t need more mandates…it needs Christians setting a good example that people can get behind.

I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart. – Jeremiah 24:7