It's Not Too Late for America!

Election day is very close and it looks like it will bring good news for a change. I hope you’re all planning to vote, work the polls and encourage others to take their responsibility as well. Our eldest son, Rick, is running for Clerk of Court in our county as most of you know. We think our man will win, but it’s been a hard-fought campaign. He has three opponents and the strongest one has definitely given us a run for our money. Win or lose, we’re not going anywhere. The Boyers and other conservative Christians of Campbell County, Virginia are in it for the long haul. As part of that blessed group known as We the People, we have a responsibility to make our voices heard. We have, and we will.

This brings me to the main point of this posting. For many years I’ve heard people say that the church must prepare for persecution because the freedoms that we now have are slowly and inevitably being eroded. Someday soon, the church in America will suffer the same fate as the church in ancient Rome. We will be imprisoned, tortured, murdered, driven underground, fed to the lions in the coliseum for the amusement of the emporer and the pagan crowds. It’s only a matter of time, they say.

I say, go soak your head.

This is America, people! Land of the free, home of the brave. We are Americans! Endowed, as the Declaration says, with certain unalienable rights. We have inherited the most wonderful nation in the history of the world and I say it is a sin to squat on our haunches and bewail our shrinking freedoms instead of fighting with every weapon, spiritual and natural, at our disposal to restore her to her early promise.

We’re on our way down, you say? I don’t believe it. But if you’re right, it’s because of millions of people who name the name of Christ, yet would rather spend their time watching drivel on television than taking responsibility for the culture around them. Are you aware that three out of every four professing evangelical Christians don’t even bother to vote? And voting is about the easiest of our responsibilities to fulfill.

But politics is a dirty game, you say. Christians shouldn’t be involved.

Baloney! Politics is dirty because we have left it in dirty hands. It is those of us who have been cleansed by the blood of Christ who have the greatest responsibility to be involved in choosing our leaders.

But we’re supposed to be praying and winning souls, you say. Not getting into political sqabbles. The business of the church is the Gospel.

There you have a point. And I say, if the church was serious about spreading the Gospel, there would be a lot more praying and soul winning going on. But there’s not. The average believer has done no more about getting Gospel tracts into his neighbors’ homes than he has about giving them political flyers. The fact is we’re loafing!

"There’s nothing we can do", you say. "These are the 'last days' of II Timothy 3:1 and things are just going to get worse until Jesus comes. The only thing we can do is circle the wagons and play defense, hoping the enemy won’t hurt us too badly before Jesus gets here to rescue us."

Baloney again. Check out Hebrews 1:2 where the writer talks about how God has communicated with us through His son in “these last days.” This writer, as every generation since the resurrection, thought that his generation would see the return of Christ. The Greek for “last days” here is exactly the same as in II Timothy 3:1. So get off it. Yes, Jesus could come today. I hope He does. But He could also come a thousand years from now. When He comes, will he find us "occupying til He comes (LK. 19:13) or sitting around whining about how tough life is? Look up the Greek for "occupy" in that verse and you'll find it means "to busy oneself." In other words, the master gave the 3 servants funds to invest for Him and told them to get busy making Him a profit. We're to be doing His business when He returns. Working.

I won't weary you with my replies to the many other whining excuses I've heard for non-involvement. Just let me leave you with this little thought: Jesus promised that God would provide our food just as surely as He does for the birds of the air. But the Bible also tells us that he who will not work should not eat. God has provided a million blessings for us as Americans. But he still expects us to work to keep them coming. Sitting around, moaning about the blessings we're sure to lose, is the best way to be sure we lose them.

I hope a lot of you will reply to this post, agree or disagree. Let's start a dialogue on this blog and keep it going. The issues of our day are of life and death importance to our children and grandchildren. Let's talk about it, and let's do something about it. Now.

~Rick