Are We Hiding Something?

[DonKeesee]

Once Paul told people he was “innocent of the blood of all of you.” And then he says why: “For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27, ESV) Are we evangelicals doing this, or is there something we are holding back from telling people part of what God has said?

This morning I saw something God said through Jeremiah about the corrupt people of Jerusalem. He said this pretty amazing thing: “They know no bounds in deeds of evil; they judge not with justice the cause of the fatherless, to make it prosper, and they do not defend the rights of the needy” (Jer. 5:28b, ESV). Yes, we speak out about obvious evil: abortion and many other things. Yet for some reason we have the tendency to align ourselves with secular leaders who seem to be set on doing almost nothing for the fatherless and the needy. Yes, they say their system will work for them, but some of these words seem pretty empty if we are honest about it. Yet here God Himself speaks about the “rights of the needy”! Some of us wholeheartedly follow commentators, etc. who appear to make a clear point that poor people have no rights to anything.

What are we doing? We believe the Bible. We take its words to be words inspired by the Holy Spirit. So why would we get ourselves caught in a system--political or “spiritual”--that takes such stands on the basis of some philosophical creed? I believe there is a very simple answer to this problem: God and His Kingdom first, political ideologies second. I truly believe that some of us cannot see clearly because we have too tightly grasped knee-jerk political stances. We need to be free, which we can be by grasping God above all else.

 

[tobethebest]

We are not of the world, but we certainly do live in the world. To separate ourselves entirely the things required of us as men; voting, environment, charity, protecting family, defending our amendments, earning a living, maintaining home and transportation needs, health care, various insurance responsibilities, all of the above, does not change the fact that we are human, in the flesh, doing our part to stave off the wicked from encroaching on our lives and the lives of our family........

As for the poor, the Bible does say that they will always be with us. Individually we do what we can to improve their lives, we sacrifice what we can to make their lives more comfortable. At least I speak for me and my family.

We give to the Paralyzed Veterans Association of America on a monthly basis, we give generously to the Red Cross, and we care for the stray animals in our neighborhood until homes are found for them.

Politically, we are conservative and believe in the second amendment, we are in no way liberal, though we wrestle with issues related to abortion. To say that we are free of the responsibilities of this life is to become a monk and John Michael Talbot's manastic world is exactly that. They demand complete solitude, prayer and quiet living. Quite an approach and one not many of us are willing to take up.

Contributing is all important and that should be the focus for today.

 

[Purge187]

God has always frowned heavily upon ignoring orphans, widows, the elderly and the needy. Most people don't know that the Word equates oppressing the needy with blasphemy:

'He that oppresses the poor blasphemes his maker, but he who is gracious unto the needy honors Him.' --Proverbs 14:31

 

[Albion]

...and a lot of people love to think that if they can get the government to take from one person to give to another, they themselves are being charitable! It absolves you from the responsibility of giving from your own wealth--which is what the Bible teaches us to do, in both the Old Testament and the New.