May the mumbling commence!
In Buhler, a city seal that contained the cross of Christ is being redesigned to conform to the First Amendment of the constitution of the United States. I know some will be sad to see the Christian symbol removed from the sign. But, the sign itself means very little.
What matters so much is how the people of Buhler conduct themselves. You and I can wear all the Christian paraphernalia we want. We can have Christian bumper stickers and go to worship services regularly with the small church family. We can even be heavily involved in leadership in the church.
But, none of these things mean much, if we do not live our lives in a Christian way. And living our lives in a Christian way has much to do with our attitudes, thoughts, words, and actions. Everything we do needs to be soaked in Christian love. That is where Christianity will truly become known to all – not on some sign. If we refuse to make significant changes in our lives – be willing to sacrifice what many other people do not, all the tangible signs listed above are hollow. (You can cross-reference First Corinthians 13 on this face, if you like.)
There is no such thing as a “Christian nation” or a “Christian state” or a “Christian city” or a “Christian town”. To call a nation or a state or a city or a town Christian is to equate what they do as being Christian. That is a deception.
Nations and states and cities and towns – all of these things are built upon people. It is the people within these areas that make or break any Christian faith. Read from Psalm nine:
Arise, O Lord, Do not let man prevail;
Let the nations be judged in Your sight.
Put them in fear, O Lord,
That the nations may know themselves
to be but men. Selah (Verses 19-20)
Selah – whenever we see that word in the Psalms, we should meditate on what preceded it. Think upon these words is what Selah means. Nations are made up of nothing but people. Therefore, we should maintain our humility as we relate to the other nations of the world. Keep us humble or make us so, O Lord… Read from Psalm ten:
The Lord is King forever and ever;
The nations have perished out of His land.
Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble;
You will prepare their heart;
You will cause Your ear to hear,
To do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed,
That the man of the earth
may oppress no more. (Verses 16-18)
God will hear the humble. God will grant justice to the vulnerable – the fatherless and the oppressed. This is good news for the many children without fathers in our society. This is good news to those who are oppressed. It means hope for the hopeless.
And, for people like me who are blessed, it is a call to action. Let us humble ourselves and support the single parents out there – regardless of how they got in that condition. Let us humble ourselves and listen to the oppressed in our neighborhoods. Let us help give them a voice.
And let us search for hope together. Let us humble ourselves and realize that not only do we not have all the answers, we also do not know all the right questions to ask. Then, with the movement of God’s Spirit there will be hope.
Claiming wisdom only for ourselves is a great way to kill hope! Read from Proverbs chapter twenty-six:
Do you see a man wise in his own eyes?
There is more hope for a fool than for him. (Verse 12)
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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