I'm staring fifty in the face. I am a reluctant member of the pain-of-the-day club. Tinnitus has been my constant companion for many years. Yet I wake up at the drop of a pin. While getting older isn't optional, getting wiser is, so it's worth asking whether I've learned anything in the years the Lord's given me to travel this earth that's made the trip worthwhile.
"The arrogance of Christians is astounding. How can Christians think their way is the only right way? All of these other religions think they're right, too. What makes Christians think they're special?"
It's a fair question, but it seems to come with an implied "they're not". That's because of a fundamental misunderstanding about the Christian faith.
Some years ago a skeptic made the oft quoted statement, "Science flies you to the moon. Religion flies you into buildings."1 Of course, we could fairly reply that science builds bombs and religion builds hospitals, but the truth is that a lot of evil has been done in the name of religion. Much evil has been done in the name of Christ.
How do we answer the charge that "faith" is a force that leads people to do awful, irrational things?
I know you feel like this sometimes: There are so many things that need to be done for the Kingdom. There's a world full of people who need to hear the gospel. There's spiritual warfare that needs to be fought. There are young believers who need to be discipled. There are children who need homes, hungry who need food, hurting who need comfort. But what can I do? I'm weak. I have no special gifts or talents. I don't know how to do things like that. I can't do anything.
As followers of Christ, we should want the word of God to inform our political views, and when we try to do that, one of the first things we are faced with is that there is no political party who gets it all right. Last time we looked at some things the Bible doesn't say. This time, let's look at what it does say and wrestle a bit with how we apply that in our world.
