Wednesday March 21, 2018

 

The fact is that the United States is not a Christian nation, it is a secular one. The United States however was founded on Judeo-Christian values. Because of this, we are the nation with the largest percentage of Christians in the world. The basis for our laws and our constitutional right to pursue life, liberty, and happiness are almost entirely based on Judeo-Christian principles. And for the vast majority of our history, Christians were esteemed as favorable, necessary, and a vital part of our society. But over the last few decades that has dramatically changed. Organizations like the ACLU for years have been suing to remove the Ten Commandments (the basis for our laws) and any other Christian or Biblical symbol from public display. The Mayor of Houston demanded that pastors’ turn over a copy of their sermons to review them for hate speech. In school and at school sponsored sporting events praying is no longer allowed and in the National Football league you can kneel down to protest the flag but you cannot kneel down to thank God. How did we get to this place?

 

To be fair, I want to present the other side of this equation. We have more than 50 thousand Christian denominations and churches in every community spreading the word of God. There are approximately 2,400 Christian radio stations and at least 100 full-powered TV networks dedicated to sharing the world of God. Add to that all the radio stations and all the pastors who transmit live via social networks. The truth is that we have more of the word of God being disseminated than at any other time in the history of the world. So why such a steep downfall in the perception of Christianity?

 

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth…  …Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. – John 1:14-16 NIV

 

John did not describe Jesus as a perfect balance of grace and truth, he described him as the fullness of grace and truth; not 50% grace and 50% truth, but rather 100% grace and 100% truth. The problem with Christianity today is that we have an abundance of truth but lack grace. And the truth without grace is not God’s truth, just as grace without truth is not grace.

 

Grace is always given as an unconditional gift. A gift of such high value that its recipient would never be able to earn or deserve it. It is a gift that costs the recipient nothing but costs the giver everything. The problem in this generation is that we see the truth as being so powerful, and rightfully so, but we see grace as being weak. Yet when grace precedes the truth, grace is anything but weak. When the truth proves its point, if it is not administered with grace it has the potential to break relationships, and cause divisions, and wars. But when grace is administered, it has the potential to take people at war and unite them. It has the potential to heal broken hearts. It has the potential to break social, doctrinal, ethnic, and racial barriers and it has the potential to heal friendships, marriages, families, churches, communities and even an entire generation.

 

Questions:

1. Do you believe that there is a war on Christianity? Do you believe that society has lost respect for Christians?
2. Have you noticed or ever been a victim of the war on Christianity? Give some examples.
3. Why do you believe that Christianity has become so unappealing, while at the same time communicating and preaching the word of God more than at any other time?
4. Why are we more inclined to defend the “truth” than we are to share God’s “grace”?
5. How do you feel about receiving God’s grace? And how do you feel about giving God’s grace?

 

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank you for your grace; a gift I do not deserve that cost my savior his life. Jesus, the word made flesh, the fullness of grace and truth by which we are blessed with grace upon grace, I can never thank you enough for your incredible love. Father, I want the world to see your loving kindness in me so that I can lead others to encounter your goodness, your mercy, your love, and your grace. I want to be the light of Jesus to this generation. Help me to always precede truth with grace so that the world could see that Jesus is love and the solution to the needs of this generation and every generation to come. In His name I pray, Amen.