A few weeks ago while driving to work I heard a brief news report on a town in Oklahoma which had decided to remove the 10 Commandments from public buildings in order to avoid being sued by the group Freedom from Religion. Most of the inhabitants of the town were not happy with that decision. I don't know what the unhappy residents planned to do about the situation but the news report got me to thinking.
Every since the Supreme Court banned prayer in public schools in 1962 there's been a battle in America over just where and how religion can be expressed in public. In recent decades there's been especial emphasis on keeping the 10 Commandments displayed in public schools and in public buildings such as court houses. I greatly sympathize with these efforts but I've begun to believe that they are misguided.
God's Law, indeed, the whole of His Word, are not symbols to be shown off to make a statement. They are the Lord's revelation of His nature, holiness, and holy standards to mankind. They are to teach mankind God's way of salvation and way of life. They are not only to be treated with the utmost respect, they are to be believed and lived.
Fighting to keep the 10 Commandments on display in public buildings is a noble cause but also futile if, in the process, God's Law ends up being nothing but a piece of paper on a wall. The 10 Commandments and the rest of God's Word are meant to inform how we follow God and live our lives every minute of every day.
Where do the 10 Commandments belong? Not in public schools or other public places (although there's nothing wrong with them being there). They don't even belong in church. The 10 Commandments belong in our hearts. If they're not there then they are useless, meaningless words no matter how many schools, court houses, or churches display them on their walls. Those fighting to keep God's Law on public display should consider that. Perhaps if they did they could find ways to really make the 10 Commandments the "light unto [our] path" that God intends them to be.
Showing posts with label Issues and Current Events. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Issues and Current Events. Show all posts
Sunday, June 23, 2013
Monday, December 17, 2012
Sin, Not Guns
"Now Abel kept flocks and Cain worked the soil. In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. And Abel also brought an offering--fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast." Genesis 4:2-5, NIV
"The LORD saw how great the wickedness of [man] had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of [man's] heart was only evil all the time...Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight and was full of violence." Genesis 6:5, 11 NIV.
The horrific school shooting in Newtown, CT this past Friday has renewed calls for more gun control, as I knew it would.
What happened at Sandy Hook Elementary school was a massacre of the innocents on par with Herod's slaughter of the babies in Bethlehem. When such inhuman evil occurs we want--need--to know, why? If we can get an answer to that question, if we can make the evil make some kind of sense, we believe the horror will become more bearable. So we cast about for explanations and find no shortage of "experts" and talking heads ready to give us some.
When evil involves guns the explainers invariably opine that guns are to blame. Motivated by ideological opportunism more than a desire to comfort victims, the explainers demand more gun control laws as teh only way to prevent more tragedy and save lives. But is that true? Will restricting access to guns really prevent violence? No.
Let me clarify.
If people had less access to guns gun violence might decrease but not violence itself. Read the Bible verses above. You'll see that Cain killed Abel and that the earth was "filled with violence" thousands of years before the invention of firearms. The case of Cain is particularly instructive.
Cain was in the first generation out of Eden. In fact, he was the first person born after Adam and Eve's expulsion from Paradise. Consequently, he was much closer to perfection than modern people and yet, enough anger arose in his heart that he killed his own brother. Scripture doesn't say how Cain killed Abel, perhaps because that's not important. What's important is what preceded Cain's act: his anger. Cain's murder of Abel was the end result of a moral rot that had taken hold of his heart, and that moral rot is the result of sin. No, I'm not saying that anger is inherently sinful nor does the Bible teach that. After all, God gets angry. But sin causes anger to morph into rage that propels people to harm, and even kill, other people. Guns, if they enter the picture at all, do so only after a person has made the choice to act violently.
Restricting or banning guns won't stop fallen man's propensity to violence. If firearms aren't available he'll use some other weapon or object or even his bare hands to hurt and kill. Sin, not guns, is the true bad actor, and no amount of laws in the world can conquer sin. Sin is conquered only by God's presence in our lives and His spirit in our hearts. Adam Lanza, the Sandy Hook shooter, obviously didn't have that presence nor that spirit, and twenty innocent babies are dead because of that. Sin is the problem. Sin is the cause. If any good comes out of the Sandy Hook tragedy I hope it'll be a return of the churches to preaching against the depravity of sin and that Jesus Christ is the only solution to it's strangle hold on our very nature.
The problem is sin. Remember that.
God have mercy on the families of the dead in Newtown.
"The LORD saw how great the wickedness of [man] had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of [man's] heart was only evil all the time...Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight and was full of violence." Genesis 6:5, 11 NIV.
The horrific school shooting in Newtown, CT this past Friday has renewed calls for more gun control, as I knew it would.
What happened at Sandy Hook Elementary school was a massacre of the innocents on par with Herod's slaughter of the babies in Bethlehem. When such inhuman evil occurs we want--need--to know, why? If we can get an answer to that question, if we can make the evil make some kind of sense, we believe the horror will become more bearable. So we cast about for explanations and find no shortage of "experts" and talking heads ready to give us some.
When evil involves guns the explainers invariably opine that guns are to blame. Motivated by ideological opportunism more than a desire to comfort victims, the explainers demand more gun control laws as teh only way to prevent more tragedy and save lives. But is that true? Will restricting access to guns really prevent violence? No.
Let me clarify.
If people had less access to guns gun violence might decrease but not violence itself. Read the Bible verses above. You'll see that Cain killed Abel and that the earth was "filled with violence" thousands of years before the invention of firearms. The case of Cain is particularly instructive.
Cain was in the first generation out of Eden. In fact, he was the first person born after Adam and Eve's expulsion from Paradise. Consequently, he was much closer to perfection than modern people and yet, enough anger arose in his heart that he killed his own brother. Scripture doesn't say how Cain killed Abel, perhaps because that's not important. What's important is what preceded Cain's act: his anger. Cain's murder of Abel was the end result of a moral rot that had taken hold of his heart, and that moral rot is the result of sin. No, I'm not saying that anger is inherently sinful nor does the Bible teach that. After all, God gets angry. But sin causes anger to morph into rage that propels people to harm, and even kill, other people. Guns, if they enter the picture at all, do so only after a person has made the choice to act violently.
Restricting or banning guns won't stop fallen man's propensity to violence. If firearms aren't available he'll use some other weapon or object or even his bare hands to hurt and kill. Sin, not guns, is the true bad actor, and no amount of laws in the world can conquer sin. Sin is conquered only by God's presence in our lives and His spirit in our hearts. Adam Lanza, the Sandy Hook shooter, obviously didn't have that presence nor that spirit, and twenty innocent babies are dead because of that. Sin is the problem. Sin is the cause. If any good comes out of the Sandy Hook tragedy I hope it'll be a return of the churches to preaching against the depravity of sin and that Jesus Christ is the only solution to it's strangle hold on our very nature.
The problem is sin. Remember that.
God have mercy on the families of the dead in Newtown.
Sunday, April 22, 2012
A Short Earth Day Observation
While he was still running
for president, Rick Santorum made a statement that got him pilloried and
lampooned by the usual suspects. Santorum
said that Obama believed in a pagan theology that taught that man exists to
serve the earth. Like I said, Santorum was mocked for that observation but in
truth he was spot on. And what's frightening is that many people, not just
Obama, are believers in the pagan environmentalist "creed" that the earth
is higher than man. For these people nature, not Yahweh, is their god,
and they will countenance any amount of human suffering to ensure the
survival and purity of that "god". Bible-believing Christians do not and cannot subscribe to this false theology. But as Earth Day brings environmental concerns to the forefront for 24 hours, just what should be the correct Christian position on environmentalism, the planet, and being "green"?
Whether out of a misguided effort to be relevant or as a result of pagan infiltration into the Church, some Christians have gotten completely into green theology. A couple of years ago, for example, some Australian clergy issued a declaration that believers should have fewer children because large families rob resources from future generations. I cringed when I heard that on the news. Pure paganism, to my mind. Still, there needs to be a Christian response to environmentalism, and I think there is one, if we'd just look at Scripture.
I think the Christian answer to pagan, the-earth-is-god, environmentalism is Biblical conservationism, or "eco-stewardship". It's right there in the book of Genesis, if we'd open our eyes to see it. The first book of the Bible tells us that God created man in His own image and gave him dominion over the nature. That dominion, however, is NOT a license to rape the planet for Scripture also informs us that "the earth is the Lord's." Man is not the creator, God is. Man did not make nature and, consequently, has no right to destroy or misuse nature. Nature is God's gift to man for his survival. Man can use nature to meet his needs but he can't abuse nature as it is God's possession, just like man himself. God put man into the Garden of Eden to care for it, not destroy it. Therefore, I feel that it's obligatory on believers to love and protect nature out of gratitude to God for His provision and not to serve nature itself. That, in a nutshell, is my view of Biblical conservationism or "eco-stewardship". Yes, Christians can "save the planet" without worshiping it.
Happy Earth Day.
Whether out of a misguided effort to be relevant or as a result of pagan infiltration into the Church, some Christians have gotten completely into green theology. A couple of years ago, for example, some Australian clergy issued a declaration that believers should have fewer children because large families rob resources from future generations. I cringed when I heard that on the news. Pure paganism, to my mind. Still, there needs to be a Christian response to environmentalism, and I think there is one, if we'd just look at Scripture.
I think the Christian answer to pagan, the-earth-is-god, environmentalism is Biblical conservationism, or "eco-stewardship". It's right there in the book of Genesis, if we'd open our eyes to see it. The first book of the Bible tells us that God created man in His own image and gave him dominion over the nature. That dominion, however, is NOT a license to rape the planet for Scripture also informs us that "the earth is the Lord's." Man is not the creator, God is. Man did not make nature and, consequently, has no right to destroy or misuse nature. Nature is God's gift to man for his survival. Man can use nature to meet his needs but he can't abuse nature as it is God's possession, just like man himself. God put man into the Garden of Eden to care for it, not destroy it. Therefore, I feel that it's obligatory on believers to love and protect nature out of gratitude to God for His provision and not to serve nature itself. That, in a nutshell, is my view of Biblical conservationism or "eco-stewardship". Yes, Christians can "save the planet" without worshiping it.
Happy Earth Day.
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