Let me just say before I get going that I love my country. I love the freedoms we have had that have gone beyond anything the world has ever known. I love its beginnings in freedom of religion and Christianity. I love that we have had the freedoms listed in the First Amendment.
However, I want to take a little time to say something that has been brewing in me for a while. I was reminded of it recently when I received an article about the ongoing legal case before the Supreme Court regarding homosexual marriage. (This is not going to be a political post, so don't worry about that.)
Since when has God promised us that practicing Christianity was going to be easy? When did we Christians start thinking that the privilege of living for the Lord is to be bought for a song? Don't get me wrong. I cringe at the idea being uncomfortable or persecuted or having any more of my money taken by the government in taxes. But the Lord promised us trouble in this world (John 16:33); He promised us that the world would hate us (Matthew 10:22). The very fact that the world hates us is a sign that we might just be doing something right. If the world didn't hate us, then I think it would be an indication that we are compromising too much and are not different enough from the world to be in line with Biblical precepts.
So is it possible that the Supreme Court decision could do more than simply allow homosexuals to marry and could put churches and other religious institutions in danger of losing their tax exempt status? Is it possible that we are at the end of the religious freedoms we have enjoyed for so long? Is it possible that we will have to choose between what is right by God's law and what is easy or what will keep our taxes low? Yes, of course it's possible. But the early church never had those freedoms, and even Constantine's legalization of Christianity did not give the freedoms we have now, Believers around the world do not share the freedom of religion, but Christianity grows even under the iron hand of Communism. What we do have is freedom from sin and from the fear that the world can outwit God. There is absolutely nothing anyone, no matter how powerful, can do to undo or change what God plans. He has overcome the world, and that will be fully realized when He returns again. Until that time, the Lord will provide, even if our taxes are raised, even if our churches lose tax exempt status, or even if our contributions are not tax deductible. Jehovah Jireh will take care of us.
Now, as far as I know, there isn't a human on earth who knows all of God's plans. From a comprehensive reading of Scripture, one can, however, postulate that God will do what is part of His plan of redemption, for the spreading of the Gospel, and will do what brings Him glory. Down through the ages, one can see where even the "bad" things have been tools to spread the Gospel. For example, the Jews who were part of the earliest Church after Pentecost stayed in Jerusalem until they were forced out in what is referred to as the Diaspora. This took the Gospel out of Jerusalem and into the rest of the world. The Assyrians and Babylonians accomplished God's discipline of Israel by taking them into captivity, and the Persian ruler Cyrus the Great accomplished God's plan to bring Israel back to the Promised Land. The descendants of those who remained behind in Persia were possibly those from whom the Magi learned about the Messiah.
Please don't misunderstand. I'm not at ease with what's happening in our country today. I can be terrified sometimes of what is happening, and that's because I do like my creature comforts and I don't like pain. I shake in my boots when I read or see examples of the decline of our culture of freedom. But I don't see anywhere in the Bible where it says that we will have a Republic with all its freedoms or a capitalist society with all its worldly wealth.
I don't have all the answers, but I know that we need to pray for the broken world, pray for the spread of the Gospel, give for the spread of the Gospel, and go spread the Gospel. That is the one and only hope for us and our world.
