The Long Hard Road

 

The “church” has a long, hard road ahead of it.  But as you look at the words in the Bible, we, as Christians, are promised that long, hard road.  It’s really difficult to watch so many who have come to the conclusion that being a Christian is only about being “blessed.”  They drive fancy cars, struggle with first world problems like lines at Starbucks or whatever their trendy coffee shop is, they have to wait for something.  (Full transparency: I bought a “fancy” car this year.  This is after driving vehicles dated 1996 and 2001 for many years, and after a 2017 purchase which proved challenging for my back. This new fancy car helps me be able to drive and travel without pain.  So yes, I drive a fancy car- it is a Toyota and love it and am grateful for it.  But I work my tail off for it.) These are not the struggles we are guaranteed in the Bible. Not by a long shot.  What we are promised is a long hard road of self-discovery, redemption, continual transformation, AND… hold your horses here… having the world look different than you might want.

What does that look like?  It looks like having a policy you might not like. It looks like swallowing the fact that after Roe, the Southern Baptist Convention took no stand against abortion, and even, eventually coming to the 1971 Christian Life Commission’s statement, “work for legislation that will allow the possibility of abortion under such conditions as rape, incest, clear evidence of severe fetal deformity, and carefully ascertained evidence of the likelihood of damage to the emotional, mental, and physical health of the mother.”

It looks like choosing a leader based on the person and not the platform. Why? Because God’s concern is with our heart.  We all know it is a heart issue. 

 Matthew 12: 34 “You brood of vipers! How can you speak good things when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”

Proverbs 21:2 “All deeds are in the sight of the doer, but the Lord weighs the heart.”

Proverbs 4:23 “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.”

Proverbs 10:11 “The mouth of a the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.”

If you voted for a platform or a party over the person, I’m sorry, I truly am. You’ve been misled into believing that it is what God would want from you.  Faith informs your values; your values inform your politics, no matter how hard you want to separate it. We are triune beings:  heart, soul and spirit.  Everything we do is informed by those 3 things.  Which means, that every leader is informed by the same things. 

It looks like when “your guy” is losing, putting on your big kid pants and acting like a grown up, instead of throwing temper tantrums and waging war on democracy by filing frivolous, unfounded, unsubstantiated lawsuits that get thrown out over being ripe, moot, or having zero actual factual basis. 

It looks like supporting your COUNTRY over your party.

It looks like prioritizing all life, unborn all the way to that of the men and women who sit on death row.

It looks like loving and respecting someone who might look different than you do; love differently than you do; live differently than you do.

It looks like taking a stand for what is true, and honest and right.

It looks like losing friends over taking that stand.

It looks like not going to Christmas with 30 other people because what is right is for us to hold our horses and think of people other than ourselves.

It looks like leaving a church denomination that has prioritized their world-view over what is happening around them, ignoring the damage they are causing by their lack of love in action to others.

It looks like having church in your living room to keep others safe.

No political party is going to stop God.  He’s been around a lot longer than our completely failed two party system.  Just because one party is fighting for the religious liberties of a religion you do not claim, does not mean that your religious liberties are being trounced upon. 

We are not promised the easy road.  We are promised the long, hard road.  We are promised the Refiner’s fire.  Please Lord, burn away my dross.  Let me become more pure, truer, and more beautiful in your eyes.  And if I may be so bold, please continue to burn away the dross of our nation.  We are desperate for true authenticity.