part of our liberty...
As Christians, one of the terms that is frequently bandied about is "Christian liberty", but what we mean by it is often obscure. We often use teh term to excuse our behavior, or the lack thereof, but it is all too seldom that we use it to excuse that behavior that we should already be engaged in.
Realizing that this sounds more than a little cryptic right now, let me elaborate. We say "Christian liberty" so that we can either have an excuse to do something which we know we shouldn't, or to excuse us from doing something that we know that we should be doing. There is a problem with this attitude, but it is not my intention at this time to rebuke this anti-nomian sentiment. It is however my point hat we should intsead use Christian liberty as an encouragement to engage in those things which we ought to have a part in. Notably, it comes to mind, our involvement in our community and environment, both on a local and national, if not global, scale.
Driving in the car this morning, a comment was made about the presence of evangelicals in the US. I retorted, with an immediacy that precludes the truth of the situation in my mind, that there were evangelicals in Canada, but that the problem is that they are too busy trying to be good, quiet, polite Canadians to ever bother voicing an opinion.
Think about it, as Canadians, we grow up under the impressionthat quiet and polite is the way to go about everything, which is not a bad thing necessarily. We often chide our loud, arrogant cousins to the south, considering them to be rude and ill-mannered, while failing to recognise that at the very least they do not hesitate to share their opinion.
Not to warrant their attitudes, but their is something to be said sometimes about frankness, and the willingness to tell others when they are wrong, and there is certainly a place and manner to do this within the gentleness and humility that needs to accompany Christian conduct.
One cannot help but wonder though, since there are allegedly so many evangelical Christians in canada, why is it that we never, or at least ver seldom, hear from them? Is it that the media in Canada is so far gone that whatever voice we do have is utterly silenced outside of certain circles? Maybe, but this seems unlikely given that there is always some reporter or newspaper willing to listen to the evangelical perspective if only to take a shot at the government and established authorities. No; I would suggest it is because when something comes up, we either fail to stand united on an issue, or because we feel that things will go how they will go regardless of our imput.
By this point, if you are still reading, you're either wondering what my point is, or have already figured it out. We have a Christian liberty in this matter; in fact I would argue that we have a Christian duty in this matter; and that is to have a voice in the things that affect our country and cities. We as Christians have a duty to represent our faith in all things, not just in personal afairs or church life, but also politics and all aspects of life. This is not to say that we ought to take up arms and storm parliament, but that we ought to use the means that are available to try to affect change.
The time of sitting back as evangelicals and conservatives in Canada and simply complaining about what's going on must come to an end. If we do not start taking some action in this country, we are going to find things becoming a lot worse than they are now.
Realizing that this sounds more than a little cryptic right now, let me elaborate. We say "Christian liberty" so that we can either have an excuse to do something which we know we shouldn't, or to excuse us from doing something that we know that we should be doing. There is a problem with this attitude, but it is not my intention at this time to rebuke this anti-nomian sentiment. It is however my point hat we should intsead use Christian liberty as an encouragement to engage in those things which we ought to have a part in. Notably, it comes to mind, our involvement in our community and environment, both on a local and national, if not global, scale.
Driving in the car this morning, a comment was made about the presence of evangelicals in the US. I retorted, with an immediacy that precludes the truth of the situation in my mind, that there were evangelicals in Canada, but that the problem is that they are too busy trying to be good, quiet, polite Canadians to ever bother voicing an opinion.
Think about it, as Canadians, we grow up under the impressionthat quiet and polite is the way to go about everything, which is not a bad thing necessarily. We often chide our loud, arrogant cousins to the south, considering them to be rude and ill-mannered, while failing to recognise that at the very least they do not hesitate to share their opinion.
Not to warrant their attitudes, but their is something to be said sometimes about frankness, and the willingness to tell others when they are wrong, and there is certainly a place and manner to do this within the gentleness and humility that needs to accompany Christian conduct.
One cannot help but wonder though, since there are allegedly so many evangelical Christians in canada, why is it that we never, or at least ver seldom, hear from them? Is it that the media in Canada is so far gone that whatever voice we do have is utterly silenced outside of certain circles? Maybe, but this seems unlikely given that there is always some reporter or newspaper willing to listen to the evangelical perspective if only to take a shot at the government and established authorities. No; I would suggest it is because when something comes up, we either fail to stand united on an issue, or because we feel that things will go how they will go regardless of our imput.
By this point, if you are still reading, you're either wondering what my point is, or have already figured it out. We have a Christian liberty in this matter; in fact I would argue that we have a Christian duty in this matter; and that is to have a voice in the things that affect our country and cities. We as Christians have a duty to represent our faith in all things, not just in personal afairs or church life, but also politics and all aspects of life. This is not to say that we ought to take up arms and storm parliament, but that we ought to use the means that are available to try to affect change.
The time of sitting back as evangelicals and conservatives in Canada and simply complaining about what's going on must come to an end. If we do not start taking some action in this country, we are going to find things becoming a lot worse than they are now.
posted by dohmnal at 1:19 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home