A War of Bullet Points

There is an incredible amount of contention for the truth of the Scriptures in our culture today, and while we are certainly not engaged in a physical war, there is a war in the culture - a war of ideas,
ideas inspired by Biblical truth challenged by ideas that are not. We read in Ephesians 6:
12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness...

There will certainly be disagreements over actions, ideas, and attitudes, and we should always strive to be people who communicate with compassion, as well as conviction.  And, we can always make sure our conviction is consistent with the truth of the Scriptures.  The question is not "what do we think," but "what does the Bible say?" And, when we encounter God's truth, then we can make it our aim to align with it; but we should always strive to make sure that God's Word is informing our beliefs - not allowing our beliefs to govern an incorrect rendering of the Word.

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We need the guidance of the Spirit of God to direct our thoughts and our words.  We have to make sure that our declarations are consistent with the heart of the Lord.  In John 16, we can find these
words of Jesus:
13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.
14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.
15 All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.

The advancement of this non-stop attempt to remove President Donald Trump from office continues, and has escalated now with the so-called "impeachment inquiry," which has not been authorized by a vote of the House, which has been the practice in previous instances, and is fixated on one particular phone call about which those who read the transcript disagree regarding its meaning, with supporters saying the President did nothing wrong and opponents saying that this is a so-called "high crime and misdemeanor," which joins treason and bribery on the list of impeachable offenses.  The White House has basically said it will not cooperate.

Now keep in mind that a significant percentage of Trump supporters are evangelical Christians.  And, in the midst of the give-and-take over the personality of the man, you can she how he has delivered on policies that have been consistent with the desires of many in the Christian community - pro-life, the protection of religious liberty, and even to a limited extent, acting in a manner consistent with the Christian ethic on LGBT issues.  For instance, the Administration has stood against efforts to redine "sex" in civil rights law to include sexual orientation and gender identity and has reversed the previous Administration's actions on forcing boys and girls in schools to share bathrooms and locker rooms.

And, don't lose sight of the motivation for evangelical support for Trump, even though he certainly had visible flaws.  A Politico piece quoted Tony Perkins, President of Family Research Council:

Evangelical Christians, says Perkins, “were tired of being kicked around by Barack Obama and his leftists. And I think they are finally glad that there’s somebody on the playground that is willing to punch the bully.”

Now, fast forward to the current situation.  Prominent evangelical leaders are voicing concern about the nature of the action against the President and the response to it.  Religion News Service did a piece on Franklin Graham, in which he is quoted as saying: “Our country could begin to unravel if an elected president is thrown out of office because of lies and the media,” adding, “It could be a devastating thing. We’re in very dangerous territory. I would encourage all the politicians to look very carefully at where we are and first of all make sure that truth is told.”  He believes the impeachment inquiry to be "nothing about nothing."  The article notes:

Graham’s defense of the president echoed that of fellow evangelical Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Church Dallas, who has warned of a potential civil war if the House votes on impeachment and who has accused Democrats of worshipping the pagan god Moloch.

Well, let's examine that just a bit.  Ruth Graham, who is not to be confused with Franklin's sister of the same name, which she shares with their mother, wrote a comprehensive piece on the Slate website, albeit with a liberal slant.  The story was centered on Pastor Jeffress, and she writes that the Dallas pastor "warned that if Democrats remove Donald Trump from office, it would lead to 'a Civil War–like fracture in this nation from which this country will never heal.'"  She goes on to say:

The Civil War comments took off when Trump repeated them on Sunday evening, threading them into a four-tweet warning against impeachment. The specter of a president obliquely predicting violence in response to an investigation caused predictable consternation in Washington. But Jeffress, for his part, has only doubled down. The next day, in an interview with Todd Starnes on Fox’s Todd Starnes Show, he said he had chosen his words carefully, and was neither predicting nor advocating for a new civil war.

Just days later, again on Starnes' show, Jeffress said likened the Democrats' support for abortion to the worship of “the pagan god of the Old Testament, Moloch, who allowed for child sacrifice."  Shortly thereafter, Starnes was dismissed from his position at Fox News, which was reportedly in the works for some time - and that has been borne out in that Todd seems to have not skipped a beat in his media exposure.  By the way, as Ruth Graham notes, a promotional copy of Starnes' book, Culture Jihad, "warns that 'America is on the verge of another Civil War.'"

The fact is, we are in a civil war, of sorts - a war of ideas that have polarized our nation.  The culture war is certainly not over, as some have contended, and Biblical truth has not been vanquished.  But, let's just look at the dynamics and the ideas at play.

There's the sanctity of life vs. abortion on demand...that is key; in fact, we see that people who are in favor of abortion tend to be more liberal and less Biblical on other positions, as well.  But, we are in a day where the taking of the lives of pre-born children has been redefined into a woman's right, and politicians and influencers have completely gone off the deep end in making sure this so-called "right" is preserved up until and perhaps even past the moment of birth.  A living human being cannot be reduced to a human right and this issue has generated passionate conflict in our nation.

Also, you see that God's view of sexuality is being challenged by the attempt to legitimize homosexuality and other forms of perversion, such as transgenderism. Those that pursue the LGBT agenda do not wish to consider the truth of the Bible and in fact, are attempting to soften the Church's stance on these sinful practices.  The legalization of gay marriage and other so-called "reforms," such as the Equality Act, stand in direct contrast to the Biblical worldview perspective, causing deep division in our nation.  Civil war?  Not bloodshed, but certainly a war of ideas and rhetoric.

The enemy recognizes that if he can keep Christians divided, then our witness is diminished.  There is a fierce conflict between identity in Christ and identity politics.  Our unity in Christ is threatened by division based on race, gender, and more.  Southern Baptists, at their annual convention this year, had a chance to repudiate Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality, which are ideas that divide people into oppressed and oppressor, victims and victimizers; rather, in a hasty procedure, they affirmed that these could be used as "analytical tools" that should be submitted to Scripture.

The Bible is a book of justice, but it is certainly not social justice.  Social justice seems to be based on blame and hostility, rather than the Biblical concepts of mercy and forgiveness.  You cannot legitimately people and groups alive today accountable for actions that were taken decades ago.  Rather than relive the past, we can seek God's help and apply His principles for the future.

The view of government is also a key issue.  As it's been pointed out on The Meeting House, the government does not grant rights, those are determined by God.  The government, through our Constitution, protects those rights that have been granted.  That's the beauty of that founding document.  However, there are those who, for some reason, believe that we need to try something else: socialism, which is a system that removes the concept of God our Creator and concentrates power in an authoritarian way.  Again, someone has to call the shots to determine how the resources are to be shared.  The Bible assigns government two responsibilites: to maintain order and to punish evil - the principle of limited government is consist with the Scriptural view.  However, there are those who would advocate for an overreaching government that would attempt to enter our lives in seemingly countless ways.

Back to the concept of the protection of rights now.  The Bill of Rights guarantees freedom of religion; not freedom of worship, as some have described it, where faith is practices in the four walls for church.  No, we are called to have a robust practice of our faith, which has been so influential in our nation.  But, there are those who would want to suppress the practice of faith or to suppress Christianity, because the teachings of Christ stand in stark contrast to the ideas that are being pushed that do not value the worth of the individual or the sanctity of marriage.  Again, a civil war, you might ask?  Not with bullets, but with bullet points.

There are other areas of contrast in this war.  To name a few:

Responsibility vs. Entitlement
Freedom of Conscience vs. Forced Submission
Belief in God vs. Belief in Humanity
Unconditional Love vs. Intolerance and Hostility Toward Faith
Limited Immigration and the Rule of Law vs. Open Borders
Surrender to God's Law vs. Redefinition of God's Law
Respect for Authority vs. Disrespect for Authority
Support for Israel vs. Opposition to Israel

Yes, there is a war of ideas, rhetoric, and even violent action in our nation today.  We need God's truth to be the standard around which we can unify.