Faith like a child...

I just wanted to share a story with you that makes me very proud to be a father!

Last Monday morning, Chloe woke up and came into the living room where I was having my quiet time. She sat on the love seat next to me and we chatted for a couple of minutes. She told me about her dream the night before (she was riding her horse up and down some huge hills. What a beautiful imagination!) Then she pointed to my Bible where I have the word "Freedom" written on it in huge letters. She asked what that word is (she's learning how to read, so she's very interested in big words but often asks what they are rather than trying to sound them out.) I told her what the word was, and she asked what it meant.

Hmmm... how do you explain the concept of freedom to a four year old? (Side note: the word is on my Bible referring to spiritual freedom, not political... just in case some of you were wondering about the mixed message.) I asked her if she knew what a slave was. She said, "Yeah, isn't that a bad person like a thief or a witch?" Not exactly sure where the correlation came from, but I did correct her. I explained that a slave isn't a bad person. I gave her a brief lesson on US History, and told her about how some mean people used to own slaves and made them do their chores for them because they were too lazy to do it themselves. But the difference was that they didn't get paid to do the work and many times they were treated very badly by their "owners". I explained to her that at one point all the slaves were let go from their owners and were able to live their own lives. They were set free, and free to live life for themselves. This is what freedom means.

I told her I had written the word on my Bible to remind me that because Jesus lives in my heart, I belong to God, but I am free to live the life that He wants me to live and that in the Bible I can find all the keys to living that life of freedom. I told her that people who don't belong to God belong to Satan and they are Satan's slaves. They are not free at all. They have no choice in how they live their lives because they do what Satan wants them to do. But if they ask Jesus to live in their heart, and they want to follow God, that they can belong to God and be free and live a very happy life that He wants them to live.

I asked her if she had ever asked Jesus to live in her heart so she could belong to Him. She simply said, "No." So I asked her if she wanted to. She said, "Yeah, but not right now. I will someday though." Gotta love her independent spirit! I told her that was just fine, and that if she ever wanted to Mommy or I could help her pray to ask Jesus into her heart. She said, "Okay" and ran off and that was that.

I sat there and thought about the moment for a while... I didn't want to scare her with the whole "turn or burn" theology, but I couldn't help but think that perhaps I hadn't made a convincing enough argument. Why wasn't she sold? I mean, I'm a born salesman, and I couldn't even "close" my own four year old daughter? I must be losing my touch.

Well, the next day when I came home from work, Cami and the kids were around me and we were playing around and Cami asked Chloe, "Isn't there something you want to tell Daddy?" Chloe looked at me and practically screamed, "I asked Jesus into my heart!" She was smiling so big and her face was shining so beautifully! I asked her, "Really? Did Mommy help you?" And she said, "No, Mommy was in the shower. You were at work, so I just sat on the floor behind the couch and prayed to God and asked Jesus to come live in my heart!"

I thought I knew what the joys of fatherhood were all about. But I realized that until today, I didn't have a clue. The image of her, sitting on the floor, behind the couch, all alone. The sound of the shower running in the background from the bathroom down the hall. And those words, whatever they were, the simple prayer with her hands folded and her eyes clinched shut. The most important prayer she will ever pray in her entire life. She did it on her own terms, at her own time and place and after she had taken the time to think it over. She wasn't impulsive, she wasn't pressured... and best of all, she wasn't sold. She believes. With faith like a child...

Should theology play a role in forming public policy?

This is a question that should be in the forefront of every Christian mind in America right now. With the upcoming elections in the next year, we need to carefully consider how we are going to use our vote and who we're going to let influence us in this decision. I'll give you a hint: if you hear it from a pulpit, then you need to do two things: first, reject whatever advice is being given and second, never return to that church again. The pastor has proven his inability to teach, let alone understand scripture.

So how do I feel? You guessed it, I believe theology (and the Church for that matter) has no place in forming public policy, especially within the political realm. Please allow me to explain myself...

First, the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of The World are two distinctly different kingdoms. One is based on a model of a servant-leader, or a “Power Under” (that is, they get their “power” by coming under people and lifting them up through servanthood, love, etc). The other kingdom is exactly the opposite, it is a “Power Over” model. Whether that person in power is elected, self-declared, or born into their role, they still rule in a position of having power over the people. No government could succeed in a “Power Under” model, they would simply get destroyed. Because of this, the two kingdoms are like oil and water: they don’t mix, and no matter how hard we try, they never will.

Second, People (ie, Christians) are delusional enough to seem to think that this nation was once a “Christian Nation”. I hate to break it to you, it has never been one, and it will never be one. (The notion is as silly as saying there are such things as Christian Bicycles.) If you are of that train of thought, I would be interested to know when it was that you think this was a Christian Nation, and that we need to bring it back to that state? Was it before or after we shipped millions of Africans over here to be our slaves? Was it before or after we founded our country on the belief that slaves weren’t 100% human? Was it before or after we came into this country and raped and slaughtered the native people who lived here before us? Everyone seems to point to some “fact” that our country was founded as a Christian nation, but I see it distinctively different. I see it as a nation that was founded on religious freedom (which, by definition would mean not limiting things to Christianity). They were fleeing religious persecution, and pursuing religious freedom, but they made it a very clear point in the foundation of this nation to keep Church and State separate. How can we call this a “Christian Nation” when our founding fathers clearly wanted the opposite?

Third, just because a law that we have (as Americans) might align itself with similar laws found in the Bible (ie - murder, stealing, etc) doesn’t make it a “Christian” law. There are laws that can be broken without sinning. And there are sins that are not illegal. Follow? For example, no one doubts that someone breaking the laws of segregation set up by the Jim Crow Laws would be considered a sin? No, its an admirable statement of affirming someone’s worth to do so and that is what the Kingdom of God is all about. But was it illegal? Of course. Or how about Christianity? We are lucky enough to have the freedom to worship God, but what about countries who do not have this freedom? What about where it is expressly stated that it is illegal to worship God and to be a Christian? What do you say to those who break that law every day and risk their life to worship the One True God? Are they sinning? On the flip side, the Bible talks about sins such as gluttony, greed and lust which we as Americans struggle with on a consistent basis. Just because there are no laws set up against these, does that mean they are still sins? Of course it does. There are many sins listed in the Bible that we are not trying to turn into laws. And as if I wasn’t off on a tangent already, here’s another one. Why do we feel the need to impress The Bible on those who don’t believe in it? If I were in a restaurant enjoying a glass of wine with my meal and a Muslim approached me and asked me, “Don’t you know the Koran clearly states it is illegal to drink wine?” do you know what my response would be? Interesting thought, but the Koran is not my authority. Similarly, the Bible is not the authority of the nonbelievers. Why do we impose our laws on those around us? Note how Paul preached differently to the Jews than he did the Gentiles. When he preached to the Jews, he quoted the Old Testament - The Law. Why? Because they were under the authority of it… as Jews, it was written for them. But when he preached to the Gentiles, he never quoted the Old Testament. Why? Because it wasn’t their authority. It wasn’t their law. Notice how when Paul preached in Athens in Acts 17. Here you have a heathen society that worships many different gods, to which they have idols to all of them. He didn’t come to them and quote the Jewish Law and rub their noses in their “sin” of idolatry. No, instead he used their “sin” as an “in” to preach the Good News. (”Hey, I noticed your idol to the Unknown God over there… do you want to know who He is? Let me tell you about Him…)

Okay, I’ve got way more I could say but I just realized the mini-novel I’ve written here, so let me wrap it up with this: Theology and The Church have no place in politics. Jesus was not political, and neither should we be. His ministry operated outside the confines of public policy and political law, and so should ours. The moment we need to fall back on trying to pass laws is the moment we have shown our weakness and henceforth forfeited our efforts. I will dare to say this: You can pass all the “Christian Laws” you want, but they will not create a single Christian. And in the wake of such a crusade, what will the collateral damage be? We must weigh the cost…