America: Divided We Fall

Ahh… again, it happened.

I was tired when a well-meaning friend called to ask, “why are you wasting so much time blogging on the issues that you do?” Apparently my [Christian] friend is “offended” that I am against the Obama administration… after all, he “can’t do any worse than Bush did….”

[What I hear:]

“Judi, it doesn’t matter whether you speak against abortion – people are going to get one whether Obama is President or not! Give him a chance…”

Oh me oh my, this administration has certainly created tension with many of my [Christian] friends….

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If we, as Christians, are who we profess to be then why is there so much strife and division amongst us?

For those of us who have chosen to become a “voice” for righteousness, we must be certain our cause is for the Lord and not ourselves. As humans, it is easy to become consumed with “who is right” but, as Christians, we must remember the glory must go to Him and not us.

And…

we must remember that God is the same God of yesterday, today and tomorrow.

I have personally chosen to remove myself from the country’s upheaval because I do not want to be angry. Is there reason for anger? You bet, but I have to remember who is in control and nothing will change until hearts change.

Am I naïve? I don’t think so. As I have written, I am convinced that America’s healing will only occur with repentance. America’s danger far exceeds a turbulent economy and liberalism – America is rapidly selling her soul to the devil at the cost of our children, and many are “buying into” the charismatic charms of our leader.

The polls were in once Obama was elected. Sadly, many Christians compromised their beliefs for “short-term” solutions. [For me] the writing was on the wall beginning with Obama’s stand on abortion. Right is right and wrong is wrong and it is naïve to think that this administration’s beliefs would change after the election. Our leaders are “power-seekers” and it is my belief that America is in the fight of her life against the principalities of darkness:

12For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. —Ephesians 6:12 (KJV)

I especially am convinced that now is the time for all Christians to unite regardless of differences and be reconciled with each other. Sometimes it’s easy and sometimes it ain’t but let’s look at Matthew 5:22-24:

“But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, ‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the hell of fire. So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift.”

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The gospels were written to preserve a record of the lived faith of the apostolic church. Not every saying or deed of Jesus was set down in writing (John 20:30; 21:25). Rather, the gospel evangelists selected those teachings of Jesus that provided guidance for the ongoing life of the church. The teachings of Jesus that deal with relationships should be understood as instructions for how Christians should relate to one another within the Church.

The teachings of Jesus place a great stress upon unity among His followers. At the Last Supper, Jesus prayed for his disciples, “that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent Me” (John 17:21). Their unity was to be so profound that it would be a sign authenticating Jesus’ mission from the Father.

Jesus not only prayed for unity among His disciples, but He instructed them about how their unity was to be preserved. He told them -- and He tells – that there must be no limit to forgiveness: “not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times” we must forgive a brother or sister who wrongs us (Matthew 18:22). We are to slow in judging others, paying more attention to the log in our own eye than to the speck in another’s eye (7:1-5).

It’s all too easy to let seeds of division grow in our midst. We can notice that others do not live out their faith in exactly the same way we do and feel that they are somehow less committed than we are. We can mistrust those we are not in steady contact with, simply because we don’t understand the reasons for their actions. But Jesus’ words to us are as plain as they were to John: “John answered, ‘Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name and we tried to stop him, because he does not follow with us.’ But Jesus said to him, ‘Do not stop him; for whoever is not against you is for you” (Luke 9:49-50).

If we are aware of a conflict with another, we must interrupt even the important duty of worship to bring about unity again. Jesus seems to make others the judges of our actions: if someone has something against us, it is up to us to take the first step to be reconciled.

The unity of the Church is something we should be striving for and, actually, are responsible for. If the words of Jesus are to make a difference in our lives, they must guide us in our relationships with each other, warning us of the perils of disunity, commanding us to repair disunity whenever it occurs.

If we are to be true “Ambassadors for Christ” let us be conscious of our relationships and begin to ‘let go and let God.’ Let’s face it, America, ‘divided we fall’ and we have a mighty God that America surely needs right now.

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The following video, Let Go and Let God, courtesy of You Tube.