The Enemy?

I was reading the blog of an old friend from Harding School of Biblical Studies and was happy to see something written that has been on my mind quite a bit lately. Non-Christians. How to deal with them once we realize that they are not the enemy. They, like us, are in desperate need of God's love and grace. So, if we know that, why do we bash them? Because we've got it all wrong. Look at the words of my friend, Brian Tipton:

Entanglement

I hate Christian radio. At least I did yesterday. I was listening to the radio yesterday while driving home, scanning for something interesting, and found something I did not expect. Each station, that wasn’t playing music, had someone on their giving the world around us a tongue lashing. One person said,

“These people are evil.”

Another sound byte was,

“They are the problem with America.”

And I could multiply the quotes on and on and on. I don’t think this is how Paul engaged the world. I know it is now how Jesus engaged the world. It is true that Jesus and Paul and Peter and every other prophet in the Bible did engage the world and call them back to God. It is interesting to note, however, that the only vitriolic attacks in the Bible initiated by a prophet of God, to my knowledge, were directed at the religious leadership of God’s community and not the people in the world.

There is a mistaken notion in some Christian circles that our mission is to evangelize the world’s systems, i.e., political, social, etc., so that those systems become subservient to the sovereign reign of God. People, in the name of Christ, support other countries political activities or fight against them, endorse political candidates, invade school boards so that Christian ideals can be taught, and work feverishly to change the world in which they live through the systems in place in the world. But that is not our mission.

Our mission is not to change the world. Our mission is to change the people in the world. We are to lead people in the world to know Jesus. As people change, the world changes, but only when people in the world come to know God and live their lives accordingly.

John wrote,

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him, because all that is in the world (the desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes and the arrogance produced by material possessions) is not from the Father, but is from the world. And the world is passing away with all its desires, but the person who does the will of God remains forever. (1 John 2:15-17 - emphasis mine)

The way the world will be conquered is by God and only by God (try reading Revelation some time). The only thing that will transcend this world is “…the person who does the will of God…” (1 John 2:17) Perhaps the church would be better served by people who are concentrating their efforts on transforming their lives and leading others to Christ than those who have focussed their efforts on single handedly saving the world. The allure of political power is deceptive and leads to entanglement. The wise will resist the urge and follow our exemplar, Jesus.

What do you think?

First of all, then, I urge that requests, prayers, intercessions, and thanks be offered on behalf of all people, even for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. Such prayer for all is good and welcomed before God our Savior, since he wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2:1-4)