Did I get everyone's attention yet? Good! Maybe I’m completely wrong about this, but I am just using my “freedom of speech” to capture some scattered thoughts. My whole life at church, conferences, and youth retreats, I remember hearing the same words over and over again:“I thank God that we have the freedom to worship and pray...” blah, blah blah... (rolling my eyes). I remember wearing the same phrase like a badge of honor on my chest. As I look at the current darkening condition of the American church I realize one of our biggest problems is actually our “freedom”. As a result of our freedom from the government we have defaced the very nature and essence of the Church of the living God. This is not America’s fault, but is a direct result of the church walking with a dual citizenship mentality. This dual mentality has helped to scramble our understanding of words like freedom, peace, happiness and rights. So, we have the freedom to pray in public. Why is everyone so happy about this??? There isn’t even prayer inside our country clubs (aka “church buildings”) Yes, you hear a prayer here and there,or there may be an hour prayer service. Or, even better, you might come across some small group of intercessors. I’m not trying to downplay any value these events may hold, but merely pointing out how we have allowed the freedom we have to diminish the powerful and unceasing prayer culture in Christ's church. Okay, I forgot. We do pray before we eat and/or overeat, which often is not a prayer of thanksgiving at all, but rather a cold-hearted, legalistic ritual: “God is good God is great...”. I wonder what the prayer life of Youcef Nadarkhani and the saints in Iran look like as Youcef sits in prison charged with apostasy for sharing Christ and is now sentenced to death.
Worship has also fallen prey to our freedom. We set our alarms, jump in our cars, complain about parking, temperature settings, losing our favorite seats, and than watching our clocks hoping this is the last point to the pastor’s internet sermon. In contrast there are countries where people are waking and walking for hours in the cover of night to sneak in to a dark shed, sitting on a crowded dirt floor and listening to the word of God read for hours. What an enormous gap between the two worlds.
Now when it comes to freedom of speech in America, you would think that evangelism would be at an all time high. I would visualize people sharing the Good News everywhere to everyone but sadly there could be nothing farther than the truth. Where is the Good News being spoken? Listen to the silence as it slays us with guilt. Let’s face it. When it comes to gossiping or criticizing, you can hear the voices of many like hungry sea gulls spotting a neglected lunch basket. In the Book of Acts Peter was told by the rulers not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. What did he do? He prayed for boldness that he may speak the word. So we can clearly see we are walking in the wrong freedom. We look at our American “freedom” as a responsibility and our freedom in Christ as some kind of option.
In our country, church leaders are often selected on the basis of their educational resumes and not on the reality of their call and proven character, or based on the way they have suffered for the gospel or suffered because of the love of the saints. Even more, it’s so easy to be a hypocrite in the America church we have nothing to fear. Just sign up for the “I’m New Here” class and promise 10 percent of your income and you are in. Then we have those spending the majority of their emotions, energy and resources trying to pressure the government here to legislate Christianity (aka morality) for us. The shame of it all is that it is the same Christianity that we refuse to legislate in our own lives and churches. Yes, I said it! We have helped blur the line between the church and the world. Prayer in school??? Most of our children don’t know how to or don’t care to pray anyway. Do we really believe forcing our Christian values on others will save them? Our signs will not save them. We must preach Christ. Rights and responsibilities are not the same. The Bible says that we are to pray, submit and suffer against (when they seek to force us to oppose God’s word) government. Maybe I will save that topic for another time.
This world is not our home and neither is this country... I am thankful for this country and the soldiers who fought and died for law and order. My father the late Kirt D Gittens Sr. and my father-in-law Gary G Weyant served this country with dignity and honor to which I am grateful. God created government for law and order and the church for love and grace. But the freedom that Christians should brag about is the freedom that came from a Savior, not a solider. Once again, I'm not saying not to be thankful for our American freedom, but to make sure it is placed below the reality of the freedom that the cross of Christ has brought us. I pray for the day that we may be shaken, when the complacency and lukewarmness of the American church would come to an end and we would no longer boast about a freedom that we enjoy as Americans, but about the freedom purchased by the precious blood of Jesus, and that we would truly live in that freedom. Galatians 5:13-15 Is not talking to Americans only but those in Laos, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, Yemen, China and the entire world. http://www.persecution.com/public/restrictednations.aspx?clickfrom=bWFpbl9tZW51
Galatians 5:13-15 For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another.
Philippians 3:20-21 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.
