Are you a Christian? Do you behave according to God’s laws, or man’s? Are you accepting of other’s choices to the point that you are tolerating sin in and around you and your family? Do you pick and choose which parts of the Bible are “relevant”? Who are you more afraid to offend: your friends, family, and colleagues, or God?
We have become a world of “rights.” I have the “right” to be “happy”; I have the right to … fill in the blank. God has clearly said, “ I am the Lord your God” and “Have no other gods before Me.” Jesus taught that to Love God is the greatest commandment and to love thy neighbor as thyself is the second greatest. But loving thy neighbor does not mean accepting or tolerating behavior and acts that are against God’s teachings.
“Religious freedom” has come to mean keeping God out of public life … and arguably our private lives. We have more violence in the schools, and we want less freedom and more metal detectors in our schools but no prayer, Ten Commandments, or other acknowledgment of God. Any theory, belief, absence of belief in anything is acceptable … as long as it is not Christian. What are we becoming when we have no need of God because we can solve it ourselves? The argument of some Christians that they are willing to keep God out of the school so other faiths are not taught doesn’t hold water. The void created by teaching “nothing” is leading to the absence of faith and reliance on man as the biggest religion of our times.
I see the offenses against God committed daily. No man is without sin. As Christians we are called to hold each other accountable. We are called to monitor our own behavior and that of our neighbor, friends, family, communities and leaders. We are required to lead by example and to not tolerate ungodly behavior. To tolerate evil is to condone it, and to tolerate sin is to open the door more widely to evil. We are either of man or of God. We can love our neighbors and find their behavior unacceptable. We can stand on God’s word or we can accept the standards of the world. We cannot stand for God and accept the world. If I must offend then I will choose to be scorned by man and loved and welcomed by God.
Author: Lea A. Strickland, MBA CMA CFM CBM GMC
Copyright ©2012 Lea A. Strickland
All Rights Reserved
