Why Should I Care?

Recently comments from the lone responder to my posts have grabbed my attention and forced me to re-think my initial position in writing this blog.  I started off thinking I could perhaps add to those who wanted to have a reasonable defense for conservative Christian positions of all kinds.  For those who are not Christians and who do not want such a defense I thought maybe I could demonstrate that there is a logic and wisdom in the positions for which conservative Christians argue.  But, Anonymous got me thinking, perhaps I should have entered this discussion with an introduction.  Instead of saying what I think, perhaps it would be better if I state why I care, and thus why those who read this blog should care.

First off, I care because I really do love this country and the many people I have had the opportunity to meet and to know so far.  I do not love every action of my country, and I do not love every action taken by the citizens or the leaders of my country, but it is the country I was born in, and it is the culture that God placed me in.  I love the rich history of these United States, the drive for liberty and freedom that was present in the average man's mind.  There are horror stories that could be told, slavery, violence, oppression, but those horror stories exist in every culture and in every people.  At the same time as there are these horror stories though there is the greater reality of a drive for excellence, a desire for a better life, and the goal of somehow being good people.

Because of my faith in Christ I have come to the conclusion that the goals of America cannot be achieved by Americans.  What I mean is that we will never have a perfect society.  Logic and knowledge will never carry us across the threshold of sinful behavior and immorality.  People do not do wrong because they lack opportunity or because they don't know better, they do wrong because it is easy, it is gratifying, and it is what we want to do.  But that does not mean that we should stop trying to be a better people, it does not mean that we should stop trying to build a perfect society.  For many people, hopefully still the majority of people, our goals are noble, even if we cannot agree on what the ultimate outcome should look like.

However, because of our sin, immorality has crept into our nation.  I believe that abortion, the murder of unborn children, and homosexuality are morally wrong.  I also believe that a nation that promotes promiscuity and reckless sexual activity in all age groups will always have the problems associated with that behavior, such as unintended pregnancies and disease.  Therefore I write to try and encourage Christians to look at culture, to acknowledge the problems of culture and to try to reach out and better that culture.  I do not want to address the mere symptoms, but I want to address the underlying diseases, and the system that promotes the rampant immorality of our times.

I'm not a fool though.  I do not somehow think America has never had problems with sexual immorality, drug and alcohol abuse, and other problems throughout its history.  Of course our parents struggled with many of the same problems we had, but they also had a guiding moral compass.  The cultural Christianity that took hold of America in the Great Awakenings acted as a deterrent to many of the behaviors that today are common.  I do not want us to return to a cultural Christianity so that the gospel is watered down to mere moral commands, which I know is far too often our easy response.

I want to encourage Christians to be aware of the real power of the gospel.  But I want them to be aware that our arguments are based in observable reality.  That is, the moral order of God and the commands of Christ are not just good in theory, but they have real consequence in a fallen world.  Likewise, as I tried to demonstrate with some of the earliest posts on this blog, the arguments against immorality also stem from logical and philosophically sound positions.  We are not constrained to simply say, "Well, if you don't believe the bible I guess I can't prove this is immoral."  Christians serve the God who created all things, and therefore the order of our God is woven into the tapestry of reality.

I care because Christianity is real.  I do not mean just that there was a man who lived and died some 2000 years ago who became known as the Christ.  I do not mean mere historical facts are real.  God really is the creator of all things, he really did put things into a wonderful order, and we really can understand that order based on what he has revealed to us.  And we really can be free in Christ, we can change the world with the power of the gospel, not because of what we have done, but because the gospel is the power of God to save those who are lost.

I believe that in the last times there will be a falling away, and faith will grow cold.  But, why must we resign ourselves to say that those times must be now?  God has given us revival before, and God can give us revival again.  There is no reason to look and say that our nation or our culture is lost and we cannot make a difference.

Culture is not just some universal entity out side of our ability to control or manipulate.  Culture is people.  When we right off culture and say that we have given up on trying to reach into a fallen culture to change it, we are giving up on millions of people.  In America alone we are giving up on hundreds of millions of people.  I know we cannot save them, I know that is the work of God, and I know that the reality is that we will not save everyone, but each person we save, and each person we can get to start walking according to the obedience that comes by faith, is one more part of culture we have snatched from the jaws of Satan.

I am a Christian, I love my nation because I believe that this is a nation that God wants to save.  I believe that Christ wants to save every person, and the only way for a man to be saved is if he faithfully accepts the gospel of Christ.  That means I have to be able to engage culture.  I need to be able to see where culture has gone wrong, and what it should look like.  As I can point out to people the things that are wrong, perhaps I can get them to ask, "What can be done to make this right?"  And from that question I can point these people to the grace of a loving God, and hopefully some will be saved.

Introductory Matters

Welcome!

I have finally decided to enter into the blogging world.  My hope is that I can be informative and my thoughts can will be useful to those who visit here.  I will try and do regular updates, so please check back often for additional thoughts and comments.  I promise you, as things currently stand, I have plenty of opinions I am willing to share with anyone who will take the time to read them.

I invite you to post any complaints or disagreements you may have with me.  If you have recommendations on how I can improve this blog, feel free to contact me and let me know.  If you wish to interact with the comments of others, please feel free to do so, but be aware, I reserve the right to remove any comments for any reason.  I intend to keep this blog as "family friendly" as possible.  I may comment on things that are mature subjects, but I will always try to keep my language appropriate and avoid linking to anything that may contain explicit language or images.