SandyinTex
Mayor
I have to believe if Christ were here today he'd be mighty ashamed of the slobbering rightwing [so-called] Christians who claim to represent him. Do they exhibit the love and forgiveness he entreated everyone to strive for? He set the perfect example yet man seems to neglect that fact altogether.
Franklin Graham is a perfect example of what I'm talking about. Does he set a loving and forgiving example for the Christians today who hang on his every word? Of course not. He goes on national television espousing divisive political rhetoric about the President. None of this is new he's done it before. Weren't we warned about judging others? Are we willing to be judged by the same standard in which we judge? If so, there are a lot of so-called Christians who are in serious trouble.
Today I ran across a bit of encouraging news showing there are still loving Christian leaders who try to set the same example Christ set for them.
Better Witness
..
February 22, 2012
Speaking A Word of Truth
As Christian leaders, pastors, and most importantly followers of Jesus Christ, we are greatly troubled by recent attempts to use faith as a political weapon. From Rick Santorum’s claim that the President’s theology is “not a theology based on the Bible,” to Franklin Graham’s implication that the President may be a Muslim, to the drum beat of false claims about Obama’s so-called “war on religion,” these cynical attempts to use faith as a weapon of political division are bad for our country and especially harmful to the Christian witness.
We can disagree about what it means to be a Christian engaged in politics, but Christians shouldn’t bear false witness. And the teachings of Jesus and the prophets call us in our imperfection to put the most vulnerable among us ahead of our self-interest. As the President said at the last Easter Prayer Breakfast, Jesus “took on the sins of the world – past, present and future – and he extended to us that unfathomable gift of grace and salvation through his death and resurrection.” This gift of grace should remind Christians to enter the public square with a spirit of humility and respond to all we’ve been given (and forgiven) by serving our neighbor and protecting the vulnerable. That’s how we strengthen our witness. Using faith as a partisan tool weakens it.
No politician or government will ever reflect God’s will perfectly, but we prayerfully call on political leaders and members of the media to return to the issues Jesus and the prophets were most concerned about and to stop using faith as a weapon to advance partisan politics and self-interest.
To read the list of over 100 signators go here...
Franklin Graham is a perfect example of what I'm talking about. Does he set a loving and forgiving example for the Christians today who hang on his every word? Of course not. He goes on national television espousing divisive political rhetoric about the President. None of this is new he's done it before. Weren't we warned about judging others? Are we willing to be judged by the same standard in which we judge? If so, there are a lot of so-called Christians who are in serious trouble.
Today I ran across a bit of encouraging news showing there are still loving Christian leaders who try to set the same example Christ set for them.
Better Witness
..
February 22, 2012
Speaking A Word of Truth
As Christian leaders, pastors, and most importantly followers of Jesus Christ, we are greatly troubled by recent attempts to use faith as a political weapon. From Rick Santorum’s claim that the President’s theology is “not a theology based on the Bible,” to Franklin Graham’s implication that the President may be a Muslim, to the drum beat of false claims about Obama’s so-called “war on religion,” these cynical attempts to use faith as a weapon of political division are bad for our country and especially harmful to the Christian witness.
We can disagree about what it means to be a Christian engaged in politics, but Christians shouldn’t bear false witness. And the teachings of Jesus and the prophets call us in our imperfection to put the most vulnerable among us ahead of our self-interest. As the President said at the last Easter Prayer Breakfast, Jesus “took on the sins of the world – past, present and future – and he extended to us that unfathomable gift of grace and salvation through his death and resurrection.” This gift of grace should remind Christians to enter the public square with a spirit of humility and respond to all we’ve been given (and forgiven) by serving our neighbor and protecting the vulnerable. That’s how we strengthen our witness. Using faith as a partisan tool weakens it.
No politician or government will ever reflect God’s will perfectly, but we prayerfully call on political leaders and members of the media to return to the issues Jesus and the prophets were most concerned about and to stop using faith as a weapon to advance partisan politics and self-interest.
To read the list of over 100 signators go here...
