OUR NATION AND THE ISSUES IT FACES: Retaining Our Nation’s Freedom of Religion

In today’s world it is becoming harder and harder for Christians to live out their faith and lifestyle. We are bombarded with pressure from the world to conform and change to its ways of thinking and living. The moral barometer of the world has fallen so low that It has become like Isaiah 5:20 “evil is good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.” Homosexuality, same sex marriage, legalizing drugs and prostitution, nudity and profanity on tv, and in the movie theaters, transgender surgeries, gender identities, transgender athletics are just some of the areas of contention that we as believers face ridicule and scourging and strife over today. Christians today are restricted from speaking Jesus, sharing the gospel, wearing clothing that expresses our faith, or singing praises in public just to name a few.

The biggest threat facing the Christian community’s “religious freedom” is intolerance. Intolerance is the unwillingness to accept views, beliefs, or behavior that differs from one’s own. In the United States people have become more and more obsessed with telling each other how to live. There is very little respect given to people with different views. Being politically correct or “woke” on a certain subject is all that’s important. God’s morals and views take the back burner and are not relevant anymore. Using Bible truths and views has become hate speech! Our own government is at the forefront of this attack. Taking prayer out of school, instead of educating our children they are indoctrinating them into this LGBTQ agenda. Laws restricting the expression of our faith through our speech, prayer, and singing are in place. What we wear and where we wear it is even prohibited.

In Galatia, the churches Paul founded, they were being pressured by the Judaizers to embrace the false gospel of being “justified by works of the Law.”  This is the polar opposite of being “justified by faith in Jesus.” The Law kept them in slavery to it, but Paul told them to do two things we must also do today in the midst of a world trying to get us to give up our liberty in Christ:

1. Stand: the Greek word ‘steko’ here means to stand fast, stand firm, persevere. Stand on what? The liberty (freedom) Christ has given us to live as He has called us to. We are to reject world views and trust in God. This standing takes courage on our part because we will “suffer persecution” for it.
2. Don’t get entangled again: We are now saved, children of God. We have the truth and should not go back to worldly thinking and giving in to the pressure. Paul calls the entanglement in worldly issues a “yoke of bondage”. Yoke shows us that we can become attached to these world views and they can become a part of us. Bondage lets us know we can become a slave to these things if we let it consume us.
3. Pray: Remember to pray for believers who are in place of authority and influence. Those who are in our legislative and judicial areas of government need our prayers and support. Also our civic leaders, business leaders and leaders in education and churches need our prayers so that they may continue to uphold the standards of God and influence other by their presence, practice, and voice.

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, remind us that we are temple of the living God.  You told us, “Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.” (II Corinthians 6:13-17). Remind us Lord, that we must put God’s people in places of authority that they may be people of influence in our government. To uphold the sanctity of the Word of God and keep it in our society. You said that we are “spiritual house,” a “holy priesthood,” “a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” (I Peter 2:3-9) Let us live in the freedom God has given us and be a witness for You! Amen.
By Min. Arnell Carter