Something has been bothering me recently… and today I’m going to address… THAT….
What’s missing in America…?
We ALL tend to blame someone else… and let our own choices slide….
Then… we complain about our “enemy’s” lack of accountability….
THAT… is HYPOCRISY….
What’s missing in America…?
1. We’ve lost our belief in the Sanctity of Human Life….
2. We’ve lost our ability to be civil towards those with whom we disagree….
I can only think of one word that describes both of those Virtues….
Love.
We’ve lost it.
I’ve lost it….
Because… accountability starts with ME!!!
America may CLAIM to be a Christian nation… but when even other Americans… even members of my own family… cannot see God’s Love shining through me… then my witness means nothing… good….
Right to Life does not mean Right to Brutalize Others for believing differently than I do….
God’s People honor God by following God’s Commandments… not inflicting our beliefs on others….
Not through imposing our will on others through the political process….
How can I say that…?
Check this out:
Matthew 22:15-22 King James Version (KJV)
15 Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might entangle him in his talk.
16 And they sent out unto him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any man: for thou regardest not the person of men.
17 Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not?
18 But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites?
19 Shew me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny.
20 And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription?
21 They say unto him, Caesar’s. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.
22 When they had heard these words, they marvelled, and left him, and went their way.
Must be kind of an important concept… because the Holy Spirit made sure it was written down twice….
Mark 12:17 English Standard Version (ESV)
17 Jesus said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they marveled at him.
In context… Jews… and even Roman Citizens… did not vote during the Roman Empire… so Jesus was not speaking about voting….
He was talking about paying taxes….
He was talking about God’s Sovereignty… of the most powerful man on Earth… the Emperor of Rome….
Jesus was defusing talk of rebellion… against an unjust government… because God is Sovereign….
Read Paul’s writing… if you think I am off track….
Now… the Bible doesn’t say anything about abortion….
Or… does it…?
Deuteronomy 22:6-7 English Standard Version (ESV)
6 “If you come across a bird’s nest in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs and the mother sitting on the young or on the eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young. 7 You shall let the mother go, but the young you may take for yourself, that it may go well with you, and that you may live long.
Two things:
1. This is a commandment….
2. This commandment is important enough that it comes with a promise… just like the commandment to honor your father and your mother….
Ok….
WHY???
As far as I can see in Scripture… God’s Will is defined primarily by Glorifying himself… and secondarily via the Salvation of man….
The chick…. The egg…. The fetus…. The baby…. Has not reached the Age of Accountability… so even though Original Sin and being Born in Sin applies… Accountability does not….
Accountability DOES apply to the mother….
She will be judged….
But… not by me….
God says judgment is his… not mine… and that by judging others… I am usurping God’s Authority… and attempting to place myself in a position of superiority over God….
And… THAT… ain’t gonna work….
This is a rather long passage of Scripture… but look at the flow… and reflect on God’s Sovereignty….
Matthew 7 English Standard Version (ESV)
Judging Others
7 “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.
6 “Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.
Ask, and It Will Be Given
7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
The Golden Rule
12 “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
13 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy[a] that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
A Tree and Its Fruit
15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.
I Never Knew You
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
Build Your House on the Rock
24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
The Authority of Jesus
28 And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, 29 for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.
Footnotes:
[a] Matthew 7:13 Some manuscripts For the way is wide and easy
I do not… cannot… know the mind of God….
How then… can I stand in Judgment of others…?
I am unworthy myself….
I am not suggesting Abortion is a good thing. Not at ALL….
But….
Romans 6:22-23 English Standard Version (ESV)
22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
We have ALL sinned. The wages of sin is Death. Separation from God. Eternally….
We have ALL earned Death….
God judges. And… God chooses whom HE chooses….
I am also not suggesting that Christians should not participate in the political process….
I am simply suggesting that Christians… not allow ourselves to be led astray by false prophets… who seek political power for themselves… by preaching a message of hate… rather than a Gospel of Love….
Check your political beliefs… against Scripture….
You are free to vote your conscience….
However….
Galatians 5:12-14 English Standard Version (ESV)
12 I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!
13 For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Read that again. Understand it. Resist those… even those within the Church… who unsettle you… and stir you up….
Act in LOVE towards your neighbor….
Because THAT is your witness….
Because THAT is my witness….
THAT… is what I will be held accountable for….
As a Christian… I should hold MYSELF to a higher standard….
And… not judge others….
But… forgive… as I am forgiven….
Human life is Sacred.
America has lost our belief in the sanctity of Life… because we have lost our appreciation of God’s Love….
I do not believe that American Christians can Glorify God via a message of hate….
Neither can we Glorify God through usurping God’ Authority… and pushing a message of cheap Grace… and lack of personal accountability based solely on Scripture… not the evolution of man towards godhood….
Choosing the correct path towards Glorify God requires American Christians to be shrewd….
Many will be misled….
Many will fall away….
In the End… God will only save his Remnant….
And… that Remnant… will be defined… through our witness… via our Love….
In the End… Faith… Hope… and Love… will abide….
Being a great orator… while spewing hate… doesn’t get it….
1 Corinthians 13 English Standard Version (ESV)
The Way of Love
13 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned,[a] but have not love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;[b] 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
Footnotes:
[a] 1 Corinthians 13:3 Some manuscripts deliver up my body [to death] that I may boast
[b] 1 Corinthians 13:5 Greek irritable and does not count up wrongdoing
the Dark Mirror: Reflections for Flawed Christians 
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