With the advent of the new national health care law this past week, I have noticed a marked reaction on the part of Christians. My Facebook news feed has erupted with posts from Christians mourning the state of our nation, determining to fight this law in the courts, and generally stating dissatisfaction with American politics and our current government. But in the midst of all these indignant statements I saw a status from a brother in Christ which really stood out: “If Christians were as concerned about the lost as they are about politics then we wouldn’t have to worry about politics.”
The New Testament has made it clear that the Christian has 3 duties to the government of his nation: 1) Pray – 1 Timothy 2:1-2, 2) Pay – Matthew 22:21; Romans 13:6-7, and 3) Obey – Romans 1:1-5. That’s it. That’s all we are commanded to do. The choice whether or not to participate in government further and to what extent lies with the conscience of each individual Christian.
The New Testament also gives us the command to share the gospel with the world (Mark 16:15-16). You may be beginning to think I harp on evangelism too much in this blog. Duly noted. I do want to be balanced. But the fact of the matter is, the word of God places a huge emphasis on preaching the gospel. The words “preach” and “gospel” both occur just over 100 times each in the New Testament. The Christian has one primary mission: To get to heaven and to teach as many other people how to get there as possible. Everything else must take a back seat to this mission. When it comes right down to it, we cannot expect national leaders to make good decisions if we haven’t taught them the word of God.
Make no mistake, I do not approve of this new health care law. But rather than spend their time and energy focused on fighting this law, God’s people need to be devoted to the spiritual health care of the lost. It seems so natural and so easy for people to get fired up about their political opinions. Why do not more Christians get fired up about telling people about the Savior who has given them eternal life? Sharing the gospel should be our priority. Here’s something to try which will help you determine what are your true priorities: For each person with whom you share your opinion about the new health care law, make a point to share something about the Lord’s church with one person and invite them to worship. We are willing to share our opinions about politics; we should be even more willing to share the truth of the gospel.
When the final judgment comes, it will not matter one iota what kind of health care (or lack thereof) people had while on earth. It will matter if people are unprepared to meet God because we didn’t wisely spend our time and energy to teach them how to be saved. Pray, pay, and obey – then get busy sharing the good news.
In Christ,
Jordan Wise
If you are a Christian, I do not see how you could argue with this post; good stuff.
Keep on harpin’ brother, but be careful because harpin’ almost cost David his life! ha.ha…
Seriously, keep on preaching the Truth brother! This has been another outstanding post, one that even I can follow!
You encourage me to press on!
Keep on Keepin’ on @ God-speed!!!