Quote from Forum Archives on November 6, 2006, 3:11 pm

Posted by: bhfbc <bhfbc@...>

I LIKE BEING RIGHT

November 5, 2006

Text: James 1:19-27

I’m going to be upfront and honest about something today. I have heard preachers single out a particular church or denomination or organization and deliver a sermon against them. I do not like that sermon approach and tend to stay away from it myself. At least, I think I do. I believe it is much better to be proactive and concentrate on bringing the Word of God to life in our lives instead of being overly concerned about what the “other guy” is doing. This morning, however, I am going to violate my own general principle. Like I said, I want to be upfront and honest.

I’ll set the stage for you. As I have shared in some of the Sunday evening services, I began receiving about a year ago the magazine Church and State, which is the official publication for Americans United for Separation of Church and State. This is one of the organizations in America that seeks a radical and complete break between religion and government; at least, that is their claim. What they actually seek is a complete break between one certain religious expression and government. Here’s why I believe this. Americans United is one of the organizations that supports the prohibition of sectarian opening prayer in our Indiana General Assembly. In reality, the limit on prayer that the ruling imposes is the specific injunction against praying in the “name of Christ.” In other words, Christian prayer is the prayer forbidden in this ruling. I’m getting off track a bit, but I want you to understand how this organization believes and what they are trying to do.

Anyway, I began receiving their publication mysteriously about a year ago, so I give it a quick read when I get an issue. After all, it does not hurt to see what they are saying - and they are saying a lot. Advertised in the last two issues is a new book written by the executive director of Americans United, the Reverend Barry Lynn, entitled Piety & Politics, with the sub-title The Right-Wing Assault on Religious Freedom. The ad reads, “In his new book Piety & Politics, Americans United Executive Director Barry Lynn speaks boldly and without apology in favor of secular government as the best mechanism for defending the rights of all Americans. A strong rebuke to the Religious Right, Piety & Politics offers a powerful defense of the separation of church and state by a Christian minister. Topics examined include religion in public education, religious symbols on public property, ‘faith-based’ initiatives, religion and politics, family-life issues and censorship.” Again, from their ad, Barry Lynn writes “a strong rebuke to the Religious Right.”

Then a few weeks later, I received a regular mailing from the National Council of Churches, NCC. Within our denomination, we are one of many churches on record not supporting the NCC, but we are still privileged to receive their mailings. The dominant material in this report from General Secretary Bob Edgar was a promotion for - you guessed it - his new book. And any guesses as to what two words we might - just maybe - find in the title of his book? Let’s find out. His title is Middle Church, with the sub-title Reclaiming the Moral Values of the Faithful Majority from the Religious Right. It pops up again, the Religious Right. Among the endorsements about this book is one written by former President Jimmy Carter. Listening carefully to his endorsement, we begin to get a sense of how the Religious Right is perceived: “Middle Church is a stirring call to American believers who resent their spiritual beliefs being co-opted for a political agenda contrary to their faith. Bob Edgar reminds us that faith belongs in the public realm - not to advocate war, privilege and environmental degradation, but to promote peace, the eradication of poverty, and the preservation of our fragile planet.” And, in the book’s description, I read, “In this hard-hitting book, Bob Edgar… explains why the extreme religious right has failed to grasp the true moral issues of our time - poverty, peace and the Planet Earth. Showing us how and why progressive politics and religious faith fit perfectly together, Edgar explains both the challenge and urgency of reaching “Middle Church” (“Middle Synagogue” and “Middle Mosque”).”

Another recently crowned spokesman for the Left, and I use the term because he does, is the Reverend Jim Wallis. His newest book is entitled God’s Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn’t Get It. Are you discerning any theme going on here? Don’t tune out yet; I’ll show what the Scripture from James has to do with all this. In an interview with Motherjones.com, published in March, 2005, Reverend Wallis said, “I think people who are religious or, say, even spiritual, have not felt like there’s much of a home on the Left… The connection the world’s waiting for is to connect the hunger for spirituality with passion for social change. Because spirituality, when it isn’t disciplined by social justice, in an affluent society, becomes narcissistic…. So spirituality has to be disciplined by social justice.” He was then asked, “And the Left’s big mistake is that it has ignored that potential?” Reverend Wallis responded, “Not just ignored; they’ve ceded the territory. They’ve ignored it at their peril and they’ve turned it over so that the Right gets to say, “Okay, we’ll define it our way. Abortion, gay marriage. That’s it. That’s all. Nothing else.”

(www.motherjones.com/news/qa/2005/03/gods_politics_jim_wallis.html)

My brothers and sisters in Christ gathered here this morning: according to these three spokesmen for the Religious Left, you are, or certainly most of you are, the Religious Right. I am the Religious Right. We are the Religious Right. If you are concerned about the continuation and expansion of legalized abortion and the legalization of same-sex marriage, you are the Religious Right. And, friends, we have no other agenda. We have no other ministry. We have no other Biblical mandate, according to these gentlemen, than to take over American politics and impose our morality on everyone. And that, according to them, would be a disaster.

What a bunch of shallow gobbledy-gook! (Technical theological terminology there). After receiving all these ads for their new books, and reading the descriptions and endorsements and comments, and reflecting upon them, I reached the old Popeye limit: “I've had all I can stand, I can't stands no more!” I’m not sure how these three ordained clergy leaders miss the tons of humble, sacrificial social-type ministries that the Religious Right engages in, but they do. I’m not sure how these three ordained clergy leaders miss God’s instruction straight from the Bible, but they do.

James 1:27, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” Now the first part of this verse, as well as the bulk of verses 19-27, will no doubt find the Religious Left in agreement. And in that, we are in agreement. We have no conflict with one another with regard to “doing and not hearing only.” The Religious Left and Right engage in ministries that feed the hungry, clothe the naked, help people struggling in poverty. We have no contention regarding our respective ministries that “look after orphans and widows in their distress.”

The points of contention, and obviously the points of false accusations, occur because of the second part of verse 27, “…and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” The Religious Left does not believe that social movements that are clearly at odds with God’s instructions found in His Word are worldly pollution. Whereas we are in complete agreement that born-again Christians have God-mandated responsibilities to minister with compassion to those in distress and need, we go our separate ways with regard to the same God-mandated responsibilities we have been given to oppose sin, corruption, and evil in both our personal lives and in our culture. Whereas the Religious Right opposes the legalization of social immoralities such as abortion and same-sex marriage, the Religious Left embraces it. Whereas the Religious Right accepts the truth of the commands from God’s Word, the Religious Left rejects it.

Consider these realities: liberal theologians reject the literal virgin birth of Jesus; they reject the literal resurrection of Jesus from the tomb; they reject the Bible - God’s Word - as complete, true, and accurate; they even reject Jesus Christ as “the way and the truth and the life” of God’s gift of salvation. For them, we find religious equivalency and salvation in Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and about every other -ism you will run across. Recall the description of Reverend Edgar’s book Middle Church: “Showing us how and why progressive politics and religious faith fit perfectly together, Edgar explains both the challenge and urgency of reaching “Middle Church” (“Middle Synagogue” and “Middle Mosque”).”

It is certainly true that politically the Religious Right opposes abortion and same-sex marriage; opposes the monopoly of evolution theory in science education; and supports the public display and expression of Christianity. We do so because we believe that Christians are supposed “to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” In a representative government, we have a duty to express the values of our Christian faith at the ballot box, in letters and editorials, and even by running for public office at all levels of government. The Religious Left calls this an “assault on religious freedom.”

If you recall, the description of Piety & Politics reads, “Americans United Executive Director Barry Lynn speaks boldly and without apology in favor of secular government as the best mechanism for defending the rights of all Americans.” “Secular government” means a government that is completely devoid of religion. That plays out in our society today to mean that all influences from Christianity are to be removed. Americans need to be very, very frightened by this concept. Recorded world history includes some very major attempts to establish secular government, and in all the cases in which I have familiarity, the outcome has been very bad. I am not suggesting that there was no need to reform the also bad practice of not separating government and religion, such as the 18^th century monarchies of Europe. But consider the results of the polar opposite; that is, secular government: (1) The French Revolution. The French revolutionists decided to reject and eject the power of the religious leaders as well as the French monarchy. In place of an orderly society with Christian moral boundaries, society gave way to the reign of terror where there was no protection from the bloodthirsty mobs. This is the period of history, you may recall, where the guillotine attained its prominence as the capital punishment instrument of choice. (2) On the heels of the French Revolution came the Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. He rejected the moral authority of God and proclaimed himself ruler with no authority other than himself. The result was his attempt to create a French Empire from Spain to Russia. (3) Those nations in our day espousing communism reject religion. Officially, they declare themselves atheist. Again, there is no submission to the moral authority of God. Morality is derived only from humanism. With the possible exception of Islamic theocracies, there are no citizens as enslaved to totalitarian government as those living in communist nations today. Where political leadership recognizes and practices the moral law of God, the citizens flourish in both freedom and opportunity. Where political leadership rejects the moral law of God, the citizens lack both freedom and opportunity. In spite of historical reality, the Reverend Barry Lynn and Americans United for Separation of Church and State “favor secular government as the best mechanism for defending the rights of all Americans.” Frightening.

The important difference between these two divergent groups of American religious philosophy rests, I believe, in the belief and application of God’s Word. James writes, as we well know, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” The Religious Right clearly believes in the instructions from our Lord to be compassionate to those in need. We know that the ministries of Samaritan’s Purse do just that. We know that our own American Baptist missionaries seek to correct social injustices occurring around the globe. Lois and I visited Dick and Cindy Ames not too long ago for the first time since they moved from here. They showed us some of the churches in their immediate vicinity. Some of them are clearly affluent churches. One in particular struck me, a Southern Baptist Church, I believe. It is a new building; an obvious multi-million dollar facility. It is a church consisting of all those dangerous Religious Right folks - the people who the Reverend Jim Wallis accuses of caring only about abortion and same-sex marriage. Yet, in their parking lot were three or four truck trailers. One was outfitted with a portable CTScan that is taken around Atlanta, maybe even farther, to provide this service to those who cannot afford the medical procedure. The other two or three trailers are outfitted like our Indiana American Baptist Men’s emergency response trailer so that born-again Christians from that church can go into regions devastated by disaster. So much for the Religious Left’s declarations that the Religious Right cares only about abortion and same-sex marriage or “war, privilege and environmental degradation.”

The difference is that the Religious Right, in addition to looking “after the orphans and widows,” accepts the authority of God’s moral law and believes in doing the right things, including the implementation of public policy, that “keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” Nowhere in God’s Word are we told to sacrifice one for the sake of the other. We are to be faithful in all matters. Personally, my brothers and sisters, I like being Right.

Rev. Charles A. Layne
First Baptist Church
Bunker Hill, Indiana

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