Here's is an email we received yesterday: As I was listening to a news program last night, I watched in horror as Barack Obama made the statement with pride. . .'we are no longer a Christian nation; we are now a nation of Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, . . . As with so many other statements I've heard him (and his wife) make, I never thought I'd see the day that I'd hear something like that from a
presidential candidate in this nation. To think our forefathers fought and died for the right for our nation to be a Christian nation--and to have this man say with pride that we are no longer that. How far this nation has come from what our founding fathers intended it to be. I hope that each of you will do what I'm doing now--send your concerns, written simply and sincerely, to the Christians on your email list. With God's help, and He is still in control of this nation and all else, we can show this man and the world in November that we are, indeed, still a Christian nation! Please pray for our nation!
Here is Dad's response:Perhaps the writer of the original e-mail never read how Jefferson excised from his Bible all of the passages he did not like, or how Jefferson's
concern about the "wall of separation" between church and state was based more
upon the concern that the church not dictate to the state as it was upon the concern that the state would run the church. I would exercise caution in attempting to place on any nation the label of "Christian nation." If we are going to place that label on ourselves, perhaps we need to go back to Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy to see how a nation bearing God's name is to treat its citizens and
the foreigners in its midst. May I suggest that we remember that the early church experienced explosive growth in the midst of an empire, Rome, that attempted to exterminate the church. In fact, after Constantine made Christianity the "in" thing, the empire and the church became increasingly weaker and the western world eventually entered a period we now call the "dark ages," a period in which the established church became indistinguishable from the state, a period from which the reformation, thankfully, delivered us. May I also point out that the areas of the world today where the church is rxperiencing exponential growth are areas where the governments are not all that friendly toward the church. Perhaps it is because the church in those nations operates in the realization that it's future growth is based not upon the favor of Caesar, but rather on the grace and favor of the King of kings. My concern is not so much that my nation be known as a "Christian nation," rather that my nation be one in which the Christians are living out the kingdom of God in the midst of all, whether they be the nominal Christians, or Muslims, or Buddhists, or Hindus, or atheists. My concern is that the Christians in my nation be the living embodiment of Micah 6:8, "To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." History has shown us that the church has been most powerful and effective when it has not been busy trying to control how people live, but rather has been totally focused on HUMBLY being the Body of Christ. While this will certainly lead us to support laws that reflect
kingdom values, let's make sure we are not selective about which kingdom
values we wish to support.While we will always live in a nation that at times will support kingdom values and will at times not support kingdom values, the church is free, unfettered by any political alliances with the government, to FULLY live out the values of the kingdom in the midst of every generation.Mike
I guess I've always been one who said, "We should be a Christian Nation." But after reading what my dad wrote, I have to say that I agree with him. Maybe we should worry less about being a "Christian Nation" and more about being a "Christian Church".
By the way, Dad, I hope you hit "Reply All" when you sent your response.
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