How Safe Is Your Faith From The Government?

Not sure how you responded to the election last night, at some level it really does not matter.  What matters is how believers respond.  The reality of the situation is that there are going to be major changes in this country in the next few years, in fact history suggests that would be the case regardless of the results of last night’s election.  The US has outlasted all other republics already.  Throughout history, and especially in the first century there was significant resistance from the government against the spread of Christ’s disciples.  That is certainly the case now in China, most of North Africa, and a great portion of the Middle East.  A cursory reading of the Bible reveals that resistance and suffering is the normative state of the Church.  For the most part that has not been the case in the US.  We may be due.

2 Corinthians 2:14 – 17 seems to me to give us a good model for our actions.  Paul tells us that regardless of our surroundings, our culture, our government, whether we are surrounded by believers or unbelievers we are be led by Christ in triumph.  In so doing we will be a sweet aroma of the knowledge of God.  Then Paul expands that by saying that we are that fragrant aroma to both the believer and the unbeliever.  However to the unbeliever we are an aroma of death.  That conjures up thoughts of repulsion, resistance, distance.

Bottom line as believers we do not follow polls, culture, or political consultants.  We are to be led by and trust Christ and allow our lives to speak into the lives of those around us.  It is not an easy or necessarily pleasant assignment.  It is ours nonetheless.