The world keeps moving and things keep changing. Just last week America voted in a historic election. For the first time in history the United States of America has a black president-elect. He has been called, through all the ad campaigns, smear tactics, propaganda and fear mongering, things like “Barack Obama is a terrorist, the Anti-Christ, Santa Claus, the cause of Global Warming, the end of the world as we know it, the savior and messiah of the human race and the man who shot Liberty Valance.” I do not believe Barack Obama is any of those things. I do not care for the man as a politician because I disagree with his viewpoints and stances on a lot of things. But what I believe about Barack Obama is beside the point.
In this time of uncertainty for the future and after this historic election I have heard many Christians say things along the lines of “God is in control” or “It’s in God’s hands”. These are in fact true statements. I agree with those statements, but in effect what these Christians are saying is “I wash may hands of any and all personal responsibility and this is just a cop-out I use to get myself out of actually taking a stance, standing firm and possibly getting mud on my face if I am wrong.” My question is: when did Christianity become an excuse or cop out for a person’s personal responsibility?
People are so apathetic to actually work for something or to stand up for what they think and feel is right. They just use their religious beliefs as an excuse and a crutch to get away with not owning up to their personal convictions. They have this mindset in the political and cultural realm as well. They choose to not participate or have any sort of opinion or feeling about how this world is falling out of control politically and economically. They just mutter “God is in Control”. Yes God is in control, and God’s sovereign will will be accomplished regardless, but that does not mean that we as Christians can just sit back, relax, and do nothing.
Think about a Christian who has this viewpoint. How effective would that person be in evangelism if they just wrote it off as “God’s going to do all the work anyway, so why should I get involved or try”? God does and will save those whom He chooses. But, He also uses us to reach people, and if we just sit back and do nothing, we aren’t reaching out like God has called us to.
In short, stand up for what you believe in. Even if you turn out to be wrong or the person you voted for didn’t win, you at least took a stance. You stood for what you thought was right and did what you thought you could do to accomplish something you felt was right. You have become a responsible individual at that point, willing to work hard for something and see it through to the end. You don’t quit or back down because the road is hard. It is the road less travelled and the hard road that Christ has called us to travel. Being a Christian in this world is hard. If we are to live as Christ has called us to live and to preach the gospel to a fallen world we need to be bold and to stand firm in what we believe.
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November 13, 2008 at 2:02 pm
chappy
Who says its a cop-out? I mean fact is it is in God’s control and in Gods hands. We can’t do anything about the election results, but I think people still know there role as a Christian. I would be one of those people to say “God is in control.” I still know my role as a Christian and as a Christian I am instructed by God to act as a Christian and preach the good news, which I will continue to do. Does that make me a cop-out? I also don’t agree with a lot of Obama’s stances and viewpoints but his going to be the next President and we need to be praying for him. I just feel like this is more of an assumption then fact.
November 13, 2008 at 3:38 pm
Tyler Thayer
who called Obama “Santa Claus?”
November 13, 2008 at 4:18 pm
Tyler Thayer
I don’t know that it is a cop-out as much as Christians not having faith in God’s sovereignty prior to the election. (and I preface by saying that this does not necessarily apply to all people that say “God is in control.” But I do think that sometimes there are other tendencies…) Yes, God is in control and it is in His hands, but it was also in God’s control and in His hands before the elections. I think what many fail to understand (or choose to not acknowledge) is that God is always in control, yet we often choose to ignore it when we want things to go our way; then when things don’t go to our most intellectual and rationally understood way, we shift our understanding of it over to God still being in control. The problem isn’t the statement, the problem is the heart’s condition before we realize that we live in a fallen world and that God has bigger plans and is sovereign in ways we can’t possibly understand. By saying “God is in control” after the fact (as a response to your dissatisfaction) is basically saying that you didn’t believe He was in control before the fact. We should be a people that understand God is sovereign in all circumstances, and because of this we should be seeking Christ in all circumstances at all possible times. We should be saying “God is in control” before and after the election. If I was to make this true statement, I would seek to understand why I made it and my heart’s condition before I made it. Was it a statement as a result of this truth living inside of me, or am I trying to shrug off my lack of trust in God?
In essence, we are always in a constant state of uncertainty. The only certainty we have is the hope of Christ and him crucified. We have this hope that never changes (or as Ben would say, “the derivative of our hope is constant”) all because God made Christ the guarantee of our salvation and His promises (Heb. 6:13-20). This is our state of constance, and we should cling to it like we have never done before. We should have clinged to it well before the elections, through the elections, now, and hopefully we will cling to it in our future.
November 14, 2008 at 11:22 am
Matthew Lutey
I’m not sure I agree with this article 100% even though there are some very good points in it. I think the fact that Christians relax and do nothing about a lot of issues facing this world has to do more with our sinful nature rather than wanting to use our religion as a crutch. As we have seen in this world doing good works and being concerned about the state of this world can be done easily by non-Christians if not better. However, as Christians we should be more united to make a difference. My point is the reason why we dont do it. I know in my case it is not because I am just sitting back and waiting for God to take action because he is soverign. It is because I am lazy. That is something I am not proud am and hopefully will improve on.
November 14, 2008 at 12:59 pm
chappy
that is well said. And that is the point that I was trying to make, which I didn’t do a very good job of it. But my hope is in the sovereignty of God before the election, now and after Obama becomes president. My hope is not in Obama but in Christ! Thanks for the clarification!
November 14, 2008 at 2:50 pm
Tyler Thayer
Good point Matthew…however I would add that we should be more united in making Christ known! That is how we make the difference. If we focus on Christ first, all the rest should naturally occur due to the overflow of a changed heart!
November 14, 2008 at 4:50 pm
Jason Hiett
You all make great points that I either didn’t think about or wasn’t able to convey in the post accurately enough. I do think it is a tendency to be lazy as Matthew said. Not just in the case of the election but in all global events, all the way from the most obscure to the biggest dilemna. We as Christians should be the shining light of Truth and Grace and not just the lazy backseat riders we tend to be so often. Take the failing economy for example. It’s so easy for Christians as well as everyone else to get scared about the uncertainty of the situation, but Christians sit back and say “God is in control” as a way to ease the uncertainty. Which is a good thing to trust in God that He is in control but at the same time that doesn’t mean we should continue to be inactive as Christians. We should be the first off the starting blocks with the loudest voice trying to help the fallen world that we are in. As opposed to sitting back watching the world fall around us simply muttering platitudes. So this should have been more of a call to arms rather than a bashing criticism. However, criticism does have it’s place. How is anyone ever going to improve and be the best they can be if they don’t know that they are not doing their best. That is why and how I will support any president regardless of if I voted for them or not and especially if not. This is one way I am actively seeking to shape and change the world. By speaking up rather than being silent.
November 14, 2008 at 5:23 pm
Tyler Thayer
Hmm….this passage may be very applicable:
1 Corinthans 7:29-31
29 This is what I mean, brothers: the appointed time has grown very short. From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none, 30 and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no goods, 31 and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away.
What are your thoughts about that?