Patriotism and the Covenant community.

In honor of the fourth of July I have decided to write about patriotism. This is spurred on by the way people try to hold on to the U.S as a christian government, community, and nation. This belief had lead to irreverent practice in the "christian" community.

I hear it all the time on the radio, out of the mouth of friends, in our churches, and in our communities. What is it? The phrase "God and Country", this phrase undermines what I believe to be a key value in Christian Theology. It equates a devotion to both entities, Christ when talking about money in Matthew 6 says that: "No one can serve two masters" it is within the context of money, but the point is there is no split devotion.

In the Old Testament, under the old covenants you have a national Covenant community, Israel were God's people following God's covenant and at the same time were one nation. Under the new and current covenant there is not one nation as the covenant community neither will there be before God's throne only one nation. Revelation 7 makes clear the ones before God's throne are "from every nation, tribe, people, and language" this excludes in the latter covenants superiority on ethnic or geographical grounds. America is not God's new covenant community that he will bless because he is obligated because we follow him. People say "well we were based off christian principles" but I know historians who are professors and have doctorates that would debate that the founders were Deists (a god separate from his creation), there are some who will say that founders were christian, but it is definitely not a clear part of history. So there is nothing better about America before God than Mexico or Uganda, or Iraq. There is not a special relationship between God and the U.S.

Having said that is there a reason that Christians jump to be all about God and Country?

Perhaps we are afraid that if we aren't the most patriotic we will be sent to a communist nation. I wish that were so, so that the gospel could spread. Or maybe we will be locked away, or who knows what irrational things run through our heads.

First I don't think the government cares if we have God and Country sundays there dealing with oil spill and war PR. Second I don't think we should disrespect the government we are to give to Caesar's what is Caesar's, so do not use this as an excuse to circumvent the law, or the government. For the most part I urge you do not commit patriotic Idolatry!

The purpose of my blog.

I will be honest, there are tons of blogs I will never read or even care to read. So I admit this is for me to yell into the great abyss. To say whatever I feel I need to, and not feel illogical. This gives me a place to vent. I hope it will enrich and edify the reader.

I may post songs, poems, musings, or even a philosophical argument(how boring). I would hope it finds an audience but I care little if it does. I may post scholastic papers if I think they are good. And for fun I am going to post my last blog like thing done blogless here.

The softcore gospel. Sunday, June 20, 2010 at 1:18am

We cannot just "bring people to church." I hear this all the time

and I'll say it works 10% of the time. We want to avoid an awkward

conversation so we hear people say just get them to church. But this

cannot be our sole evangelistic effort. So you may say: "well they see

how I live differently." But the truth is if we invite someone to church

and they agree, they have a reason for it, even if that is to feel good

about themselves, and they will most likely assume that is why you go

as well. They may have no clue it is real to you. This is why talking to

people is a mandate of the gospel, without it people will believe what

they want to about you and why you go to church. So I turn to the

gospel we commonly hear.

I have been struggling through why the message of the gospel

does not

elicit the desired reaction among southern individuals. Quite awhile

ago I came to the conclusion that everyone was desensitized to the

gospel. I now believe this to be false. This brings me to the point of

this musing.

I have been reading Francis Schaeffer's book "The God Who

is There" it talked about man having a protective roof over his head to

protect him from the realization of his being guilty. That you have to

reason with someone to the point that they realize they have infinite

guilt. This brings me to the title I chose. We have a gospel "clothed" in

a cryptic language and covered with vague ambiguities. But the true

naked gospel is something that must be grasped, in strong language if

need be. It shows man staring down the barrel of the gun of God's

wrath, God sending his son to take the bullet for the church, and

believing faith in mind, soul, and heart being the only way to have

Christ's protection. True guilt, guilt that is sending mankind straight to

the lake of fire.

But we recoil away from telling people they are guilty, we fear it,

the shear nerve of telling someone that before God basically they are

screwed. But I actually think that this is a good thing manifesting itself

in a bad way. We should fear, but out of love fearing that this image-

bearer, could spend eternity under the wrath of God. The gospel

requires us to give all, it is a message for the faint of heart yet the

calling it places on us requires the strength of God. We should ask God

for the nerve to sit someone down and truly show them their guilt.

We should not disguise or dress up the gospel in our terms that

strip it of its power. The true gospel shows our necessity, our

depravity, our hopelessness, our powerlessness, and our weakness. But

the true gospel also shows God's sufficiency, God's holiness, God's

provision, God's power, and God's strength.

Without true understanding of the true ramifications of the terms

we use like "Jesus died for your sins" people we just say: "Thats cool"

and continue to be depraved haters of God. They will continue to store

up wrath for themselves. Our gospel cannot afford to be vague. We

cannot play around with the souls of others for our fear of their

opinion of us. If we do this we put the way they view us in a more

important spot than their soul.