13for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.14Do all things without complaining and disputing,15that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,
Our motivation for all that we think, say, and do is to glorify Christ, to represent His name well. We recognize the work of God in our lives, as He gives us the power of His Spirit in order to live an effective Christian life. He also calls us to display action that is consistent with what we say we believe. We can shine in this world and make a strong statement for the presence of Jesus by allowing His work to progress in our hearts and lives.
Jesus never intended for the practice of our faith to be solely a private matter. Sure, He wants us to spend quality time with Him one-on-one, but He also calls us to act according to what He shows us in our private time. Here's a great passage from the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew 5:
13"You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.14You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.15Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.16Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled yesterday that the policy of the town of Greece, New York, allowing for prayers at the beginning of public meetings, was constitutional. The justices unanimously voiced support for the existing precedent, set in Marsh v. Chambers 31 years ago, when the high court upheld legislative prayers. According to an editorial in USA Today by attorney Evan Young, who defended the New York town's prayer practices, in the Marsh case, a Presbyterian minister was the longtime and state-paid chaplain of Nebraska's legislature. Young points out those prayers, unsurprisingly, were often identifiably Christian. In Marsh, the court found that this practice was entirely constitutional. As Young states, in the same week that Congress approved the First Amendment, it also provided for paid congressional chaplains.
But the high court yesterday still had to determine if the case at hand was constitutional, presumably under the Marsh standards. That resulted in a 5-4 decision. Attorney Young goes on to say:
If anything, the town is more inclusive than the Constitution requires. The town could have simply appointed a local minister. Unlike the paid, permanent, Presbyterian chaplain in Marsh, the town has unpaid, rotating, volunteer chaplains. They can be clergy or lay, of any faith or none. The town's pursuit of diversity is praiseworthy.
True, some prayers will inevitably contain theological references with which some listeners disagree. And cities certainly are not required to have invocations at all. But if they do, the Constitution does not demand that prayers address God only as a vague, generic concept, as those who sued the town demanded. Government tinkering with prayer contents would be an intolerable, unconstitutional intrusion into religious freedom.
But while courts may not regulate individual prayers, the Supreme Court reaffirmed Monday that no government may exploit its overall prayer practice by aiming "to proselytize or advance any one, or to disparage any other, faith or belief."The Alliance Defending Freedom website lists some of the quotes from the decision:
- “The tradition reflected in Marsh...permits chaplains to ask their own God for blessings of peace, justice, and freedom that find appreciation among people of all faiths. That a prayer is given in the name of Jesus, Allah, or Jehovah, or that it makes passing references to religious doctrines, does not remove it from that tradition.”
- Plaintiffs are asking that federal courts “act as supervisors and censor of religious speech, a rule that would involve government in religious matters to a far greater degree than is the case under the town’s current practice….”
- “Marsh nowhere suggested that the constitutionality of legislative prayer turns on the neutrality of its content.”
And the one I like the best:
- “Our tradition assumes that adult citizens, firm in their own beliefs, can tolerate and perhaps appreciate a ceremonial prayer delivered by a person of a different faith.”
It's been rightly pointed out that just because a person disagrees with the speech of another, including prayer, that doesn't make it unconstitutional. Even is someone is offended or claims to be offended by religious speech, that doesn't mean the purveyor of such speech should be shut down. Expressions of religious faith should not be lumped together with types of speech that are truly offensive and detrimental to community standards There are legitimate instances where such standards and even laws will limit truly offensive content, such as sexually provocative material, pornography, or racially-charged speech, that have no place in a civil society.
Be encouraged, the practice of our faith, rooted in the Scriptures and reflecting the character of Christ, has the opportunity to make a distinct difference in the fabric of our communities. Certainly, I hope we have not reached the point where the mention of the name of Jesus should have some sort of "trigger warning" attached, like we have begun to see on college campuses with respect to curriculum. By the way, there's a piece on the WORLD News Group website dealing with the subject of such warnings. But, there are some that act as if the Christian faith is SOOOO offensive that we should be relegated to the privacy of our church buildings, not daring to come out and actually do what Jesus says.
We cannot allow ourselves to be intimidated! While Jesus taught against saying prayers in public for show, He also taught us to let our light shine, so they would - what - see our good deeds and glorify our Father in heaven. The Court said that public prayers, even in the name above all names, is OK. The challenge for us is to pray privately or corporately in our houses of worship, and then go forward in His name to touch the world for Him!
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