One commenter recently asked an EXCELLENT question…one that is pretty easy to answer.
“…what about all the non-Christians in America? Will there be a place for us in your ‘return to biblical values’? Should my husband and I pack up and move, or face an inquisition? How freeing is that?”
There are several misconceptions about religion.
One is that some people “aren’t religious”. Which is untrue. ALL people serve a religion, worship something and ascribe to a creed, even if he’s not aware. (We were created that way!)
An atheist worships himself–the religion of humanism–believing that he is god of the universe and therefore can make the rules.
Humanism is probably the most followed religion in the country–followed by many, even, who claim to belong to a more organized group.
The second misconception is that everyone’s religion should be equally tolerated and equally respected. Which might be true if they all “worked”.
But they don’t.
“Oh and you think Christianity is the one that works, right?” All the anti-Christians protest.
Yes, I do. And not only I, but, as Demographic Winter so clearly points out, secular academia is finally being forced to admit that the Bible has a thing or two to say about society and its ills.
“Studies are showing that the best environment for children is a traditional home with both the mother and father present.”
I’m laughing at this point because this stuff is so obvious and yet they are speaking as if it’s a Nobel Prize discovery! It’s just as absurd as if they’d said…”research shows that breathing extends the life expectancy of humans”. 😉
My suggestion is that, despite what others think, God created the universe, which makes Him the only One who knows how to run it.
For naysayers, the proof is there if one is only willing to see it.
God’s principles work, whether you’re a believer or not.
The Bible says debt is bad; live your life based on that principle and you will reap the benefits of following it.
The Bible says love your neighbor as yourself. Practicing kindness reaps rewards.
I know other religions have similar tenets…but which came first? They all reflect biblical principles to some degree because they all admit those principles work!
A return to biblical principles is good for everyone…not just Christians.
14 comments
Do you think that we need the Bible to tell us things like “don’t have debt” and “be nice to other people”? That’s fairly obvious to people of almost any religion, including “humanism”. Is it Biblical wisdom, or is it innate human wisdom/common sense? The Bible isn’t the only book with those claims, and it isn’t the only way in which one can arrive to those same conclusions. It seems absurd to me that you call these Biblical values, when they seem to be, in fact, fairly common. As for people practicing those values, well, that’s a different story, but I don’t imagine that the percentage of Christians carrying debt, for example, is significantly lower than people of other religions/creeds carrying debt.
A return to biblical principles is good for everyone…not just Christians.
The problem non-Christians have with statements like this is not in things like “debt is bad” or “it’s better for children to have a mom and a dad,” which most people would deem universal human truths. But what you consider “biblical principles” doesn’t stop at a broad form of morality — they are religious Fundamentalism.
What non-Christians want to know is, where do we fit in to your world? You yourself say, “The second misconception is that everyone’s religion should be equally tolerated and equally respected. Which might be true if they all “worked”. But they don’t.” How does your intolerance and disrespect of my worldview actually play out in a society that has “returned to biblican principles”? Are non-Christians allowed to limit their family size through use of contraceptives? Are women allowed in the workplace? Are our state and local governments allowed to provide public schools in which to educate our children? Are those schools allowed to teach evolution and safe sex?
I’m not being snarky, I really want to know how this plays out on a practical standpoint. You believe that what is right for Christians is right for non-Christians, too. How far do you take this stance? Is your reformed society at the expense of my rights to practice non-belief?
Lisa
Some of it is more common sense than others; but, since you bring up common sense, it SEEMS like common sense to NOT impair a normally function body part…i.e. reproductive organs. BUT, not so obvious to most people. So, the Bible says “be fruitful and multiply”. We didn’t listen. According to Demographic Winter, we’re in big trouble.
You’re right…most Christians are in debt (we’re still getting out of it ourselves.) That’s my whole point on this blog…most CHRISTIANS aren’t even practicing Biblical principles (see my last comment in “Obama…”.)
Last response was to Amber…
Lisa,
Maybe I’m insisting on an over-simplified view of things, I just know that you can take any social ill in society, and the Bible has an answer that works.
Nothing good has come out of “tolerating” homosexuality. Nothing good has come out of divorce. Nothing good from government education–drug use rate is higher, teen pregnancies higher, suicide higher–all is higher than ever. We’re even getting less educated!
Nothing good has come out of legalized abortion–not even what they hoped for (less of them).
When people, regardless of their “faith” act against biblical principles, there are negative consequences. And no one can argue differently.
Even the 6:00 news says we’re in a mess–it’s not just my opinion. But no one has answers that will work…except God.
You didn’t really answer my question, but maybe I wasn’t clear enough. Do you think biblical principle ought to be law? Because it would be better for people?
Lisa
I liked when they said that a married couple was the “gold standard.” So, God’s ways work? Like you said, what a discovery!
I think that so many people (Christians and non-Christians) can easily be caught up in making a list of what we can do, what others should do, what we ought not to do and so on. Being a follower of Jesus isn’t as much about that as it is about loving God with all of our heart and loving our neighbors as ourselves (Jesus said Himself this is the first and greatest commandmant and all the law can be summed up in this). So therefore we don’t need to bicker about laws, but figure out how we can most love others. We don’t need to make a list of things for Christians to do and not do, the Holy Spirit will take care of that in Christians. For non-Christians we’re just called to love them above all else, not degrade them by telling them their ways are wrong, but love them in action and in truth (and Truth). If we’re telling them that what they are doing is wrong doesn’t that mean we’re judging them? The Bible calls us to address sin within the church and confront that, but not the sin of non-Christians. Is any one of us sinless that we can judge another? Didn’t Jesus have something to say about that also?
Please understand that all of this is in love, in a search for Truth, and I don’t have all (or any really) the answers or claim to be without error myself, just trying by God’s grace to follow Christ the best I know how.
Shannon
Lisa,
Government has, for years, been based on God’s law (thou shalt not kill, etc.) It has just recently begun to ignore some of these basic commands.
In a nutshell, I’m talking about a return to biblical principles where government has VERY limited control (their primary function was to protect its citizens and maintain order), and “the church” at large handles issues of taking care of the poor, etc.
A “return to biblical principles” is aimed mainly at Christians, with non-Christians being beneficiaries.
When the church begins to live out these principles (making disciples of their own children, staying out of debt, reaching out to the poor and needy, staying together in marriage, etc.) society benefits and the government doesn’t have to play “The Nanny State”.
I’m not talking about enforcing any type of morality by law; just a government where its basic principles are based on the absolute laws of Scriputure, and the church fills in and does its job.
Someone said recently, if the government would back off the detailed affairs of men, a natural, better-working system would fall into place.
I can *see* what I’m trying to say much better than I think I am saying it!
We can’t wrap our brains around a society where the government has such limited control…but ultimately, I think the degree to which we are experiencing these social ills is directly related to the failure of the church to live out biblical principles.
Shannon,
I understand what you are trying to say, but unfortunately, I don’t think the church is loving God with all their hearts and their neighbors as themselves…not enough to make a difference in the way they live anyway. Our own homes are falling apart…we can’t love others until we love EACH other.
I’m not trying to degrade anyone by telling them they’re wrong; but “judge not” has been perverted. God sent prophets into the nations to say “tell them to turn from their wicked ways or be destroyed!”
That’s not the “don’t say anything offensive” gospel the church is buying into.
Just as I said in a recent comment on another post, if/when Christians start REALLY making disciples of our families first, living out the Scripture in our lives, THEN the lost will be knocking on OUR doors, wanting the kind of love we are living out.
I explained in my last comment here that I don’t have a list for non-believers; I am charging Christians to live out their faith and non-believers will benefit from that.
Hey! That’s my comment! Thanks for offering your view on it. No time to share more right now, just saying thank you for thinking about it.
-Shannan
shannan.platt@gmail.com
Thanks for your response. It’s actually comforting to hear. Believe it or not, I actually agree completely about having a very small, limited government that plays neither Morality Police nor Nanny State. 😉
Lisa
I would like to comment about the fact we as Believers should be loving God first and foremost (The Great Commandment). Jesus also said in John 14, “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (v. 15) and “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me” (v. 23-24).
As a Christian (not just professing–in name only– but born-again, regenerated), obedience is now a natural result of the change brought about in our lives by the Lord.
John discusses this at length in 1 John, giving many hallmarks of a Believer.
No, the Christian life is not about following a list of do’s and don’t’s. But an authentic Christian has been changed by the power of God and by His grace only now walks in the “light.”
Fellow Christians, this is not my opinion; read it for yourself. 😉
“The christians on this blog, of course, don’t maintain orphanages or run soup kitchens or display compassion for people other than those in their own narrow sect–those who they think haven’t sinned that is-“
This is not true!
First you have no idea what we do on a day to day basis to meet the needs of many around us, even non-Christians. Many of us DO help maintain orphanages and soup kitchens.