Church, We've Got Some Work To Do

Yes, the Church definitely has some work to do. However, this work isn't necessarily political. Former C&MA President Dr. David Rambo has a message from which you could benefit: http://ecommunity.cm...32-rambo-rocks/

Dr. Rambo's remarks are worth reading and saving - and I have done both. Janet, thank you for sharing it with us. I don't disagree with Dr. Rambo that evangelism is the first order of our calling. However, I don't agree with him that we are “...to divest ourselves of secondary messages and corollary causes, while reaffirming the life-transforming truth that Jesus Christ has come to save sinners regardless of their political persuasions and personal lifestyles. Let's get on with our calling.” Make evangelism the priority, yes, “divest ourselves of secondary messages” - I don’t think so. Just today I posted some thoughts on Dr. Franklin Pyle’s blogsite. He is the president of the Canadian C&MA. (Interestingly enough, his blogsite is entitled “Rebirthing Simpson’s Vision.) Franklin is exploring the issue of church and culture, something I have a great interest in as an ordained minister and advocate for the unborn. This is a subject I am wrestling with, attempting to gain the mind of the Lord as I serve the church in its attempt to respond to the abortion crisis in America and the world. Here is what I posted. “For the Christian, evangelism, political action and social reform operate in a spiritual context. A regenerated heart should give both momentum (motivation) and direction to political action and social reform. Historian Keith J. Hardman in his book, The Spiritual Awakeners, writes of the three Great Awakenings noting how these awakenings "energized the churches and poured countless new converts into them…In each of these three periods the church has poured its zeal for righteousness into the
bloodstream of the nation…Renewed and empowered Christianity has been the single most important moral factor in making America great." Hardman goes on to cite various areas that were affected by these energized Christians. "Regarding the impulse toward democracy, the history of American revivals shows that they have promoted equality and democratic ideals…Regarding the humanitarian impulse, antislavery, prison reform, women's rights, temperance, concern for the poor and downtrodden, and philanthropy of a hundred different kinds has flowed in abundance from the awakenings." Charles Finney, one of the great revivalists of the nineteenth century believed that evangelism and Christian activism went hand in hand. Hardman writes, "Since the late 1820's, Finney had been moving in the direction of including reform in his program for awakening, and his evangelism meant that converts would immediately be put to urgent work in the battle against sin. 'Every member must work or quit. No honorary members,' was a motto of his." Hardman discusses the results."During the first three decades of the nineteenth century, evangelical Christians organized thousands of societies toward what they were convinced would become an empire of benevolence that would begin alleviating every vice and problem...Finney entered zealously into the leadership of the movement, sharing it with reformers like Weld, Tappan, and many others. Almost no phase of life in America was untouched. Temperance, vice, world peace, slavery, education, Sabbath observance, profanity, women's rights, the conditions in penal institutions – all those and more had specific societies devoted to their betterment." My hope is that history repeats itself. I believe a spiritual awakening is the prerequisite to both political action and social reform governed by a Biblical worldview.” Perhaps I failed to communicate clearly my point in “Church - We’ve Got Some Work To Do.” Yes, it was a call for Christians to fulfill their political responsibility and vote with a Biblical worldview in mind. That is a Biblical mandate for any Christian living in a Republic like ours. (Listen to my message, “God, Government & Your Vote” (James P. McGarvey Romans 13) given at Pines Baptist church at http://www.pinesbapt...urch.org/media. I don’t get political, partisan that is, I get Biblical.) But it was primarily a call for the Church to lead the nation in repentance in keeping with the Gospel. I wrote, “The Church of Jesus Christ alone has the solution, and it is a message of repentance which leads to Hope in Jesus Christ. The repentance begins in the house of God. Church, we’ve got some work to do.” I meant for the emphasis to be on repentance in light of the judgment I believe we are experiencing as a nation for turning our back on God and the transcendent moral truth upon which our nation was founded. I don’t believe you can separate proclaiming the Gospel from what is happening down the street in the local government school (e.g. handing our condoms and promoting and normalizing homosexuality.) I would encourage you to read my previous blog "The Bloodshed Continues - How Do We Respond” and watch the Alliance Defense Fund’s video featuring several leading evangelical pastors who are grappling with this very issue.



God has never looked the other way when nations or civilizations have chosen this road. It is the height of arrogance for us to think He will do so in the case of America. The Church of Jesus Christ alone has the solution, and it is a message of repentance which leads to Hope in Jesus Christ. The repentance begins in the house of God.

Amen to that, James! Thanks for this timely reminder. Repentance must begin in the house of God.

Additionally, while the Church's primary calling certainly isn't politics, God's people will be accountable for how they voted and the extent to which they exercised their civic responsibility. As you rightly point out, being a Christian does not absolve us from this responsibility. We can't divorce our Christian witness from the public life of our nation.