Many
news sources at this time of year publish “Top 10” lists looking
back on notable events of the past year. Many of these lists are
lighthearted or, at the very least, try to reflect on some of the
more positive events of the expiring year. I'm not saying that
nothing good has happened in 2012 but as I look back, this year seems
to have brought many challenges to the Church. I hate to throw a wet
blanket on everyone's New Year celebrations, but here are a few
things Christians need to think about and pray for in 2013.
Gay
Marriage
Chick-fil-A
CEO, Dan Cathy, suffered much political persecution after his
personal endorsement of traditional marriages. In a less publicized
story, Matt
Grubbs, owner of Maryland based, Discover Annapolis Tours, has
decided to close shop rather than facing a pointless legal battle
with Maryland's Commission on Civil Rights because Discover Annapolis
Tours does not offer its services to same sex couples. These are not
isolated cases. More and more Christian business owners are
discovering that their right to exercise their faith is subservient
to an unenumerated right to be gay.
The
tide is turning in America concerning gay marriage. In November,
Maine and Maryland became the first states to approve gay marriage
by popular vote, breaking a 32-state streak where gay marriage has
already been defeated at the ballot box. In some states where gay
marriage was defeated in referendum, it has still been foisted upon
the people by activist courts or liberal legislatures. Nine states
now allow same sex marriage.
Obamacare
Christian
owned businesses have also found their right to practice their
religion is being infringed upon by The
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
(commonly called “Obamacare”). In an editorial
last January, Catholic Bishop, David Zubik, detailed how the new
health care law violates Catholic doctrine by forcing Catholic owned
organization to pay for birth control and abortion-inducing drugs
as part of its healthcare benefit their employees.
The
new law doesn't just effect Catholics. Any Christian who owns a
business will be forced to offer these services to their employees
regardless of his or her religious conviction.
The
Obama administration has set forth guidelines in a weak attempt to
defend the religious liberties of Christian businesses but they are
so narrow they basically do not exempt anyone except churches.
By the
way, since when does the government get to decide which organizations
are religious enough to practice their faith?
The
DNC Booed God
More
and more often, we see God being pushed out of public discourse.
Prayer has long since been removed from schools along with the 10
Commandments. High school commencement speeches are scrubbed and
censored to insure no student makes any mention of God. In general,
any mention of God in the public arena risks swift reprisal from the
ACLU or the Americans for the Separation of Church and State.
The
recent election shed light on the current administration's attitude
toward people of faith. The Democrat
platform conspicuously omitted any mention of God and Jerusalem
as the capital of Israel (both of which had been included in the
platform in previous elections). Having long been seen as the
anti-God party already, the Democrats soon realized that omission was
a little too blatant and moved to amend the platform and add the
words. A voice vote was taken and the motion did not seem to have
the required number of “aye” votes to be adopted. In an awkward
moment of indecisiveness, former Governor, Ted Strickland, deemed the
motion had passed which prompted a round of boos from the delegates.
On
September 5, 2012, Democrats booed God!
Mass
Shootings
2012
was spotted with tragic murders in Colorado and Connecticut. The
senseless events serve to remind us that evil is real. John 16:33
tells us that in this fallen world there will be tribulation but we can
have peace in Jesus.
These
sad events have been made even more unfortunate as political
opportunists have shamelessly used them as leverage to infringe upon
our God given right to own guns. The war on God includes attacks on
our liberties.
IN
CONCLUSION...
There
were many things that happened in 2012 that I could discuss now but I
don't mean this to be an exhaustive list. Neither am I saying that
these are the “top” events of that past 12 months. I've merely
given these few examples to put the past year into perspective.
The
New Year is usually a time for celebration and optimism. People see
it as a turning of the page – an opportunity to start over on the
right foot. I'm not trying to take away from any of that. Instead,
I want people to think about some goals we could have for 2013 that
might be a little more important than losing weight or going to the
gym.
3 comments:
Thanks for the posts. Always enjoyable--keep them coming. I suppose the world is heading the way we would expect, but it's still disappointing to witness the downward spiral. It's inexplicable how many non-believers seem to think that we're actually advancing morally as time goes on.
Todd,
Sometimes, it's hard not to be pessimistic. However, we are the salt of the earth and it's our job to hold the line until Christ returns.
In Luke, Jesus gives the Parable of the Talents. As the master leaves, he gives his servants talents to steward. His command to them is, “Occupy till I come” (Luke 19:13 KJV). I always thought that “occupy” was an interesting choice of words. It's sort of like how an army, once they've conquered a city, will leave behind a small force to “occupy” it. It's the job of the occupying army to keep the city from falling back into the enemy's hands.
It's not our job to save people (only Jesus can save) but it's our job to occupy and keep fast that which He has won. It's sometimes daunting when it seems like the enemy is so strong but that's when we have to fight the hardest.
I always appreciate your comments. Please keep visiting!
God bless!!
RKBentley
Todd:
We have less racism, less homophobia, more freedom, we don't have slavery or Jim Crow, we can worship without fear, women are nearing equal rights, rape victims are not (directly) accused for what happened to them, we have a fairly just system of law (at least compared to the past and places like Italy), we at least appear to elect our officials and we have no legalized class system. I think we are doing better than the past by quite a bit. But we are no Finland, that's for sure.
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