Freedom. A very strong word that many have died and are dying for.
What do I know about it? I’ve visited southeast Asia twice in the past three years, holding children who are or have been enslaved to human trafficking in my arms. Last month I visited the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati with a group from our church, and last night I finished watching Lincoln (a great film that shares just how hard it was for our government to grant freedom to African Americans). I have moved my family to attend an intentionally multi-ethnic church plant these past two years. There are many other things I have done to educate myself on the different forms of slavery / hatred.
My view of this country is what has shifted the most. Men and women have fought for it, and refugees have fled their country to find it. But WHAT EXACTLY IS IT?
There is no such thing as a “Christian” country. That’s a lie that we’ve believed for far too long. Somehow Christians have fallen for the lie that God is more interested in the freedom we are providing, or that He has blessed us because we’ve embraced it more than others have.
It might shock you, but if this country wants one type of freedom it had better be ready to give all of the other types of freedom away as well. That’s where I stand at the moment in my view on the equality of marriage for homosexuals. Is it a sin – I strongly believe it is. Do they deserve the same freedom to choose and the respect from our government – I believe so. Unlike Rob Bell (listen to the 42:40 mark of this recent speech) – I don’t believe that I need to affirm their actions. In this land of freedom, I have a choice to believe what I believe as much as they do. And unlike Rob, I can stand against something without falling for it.
If my faith is as strong as it is, and judging each other is something I want nothing to do with, I will accept their freedom to choose just as much as I will accept the freedom for women to vote and equality throughout the different races in our country.
That to me is the new civil war in this country. Some in the church want to hate, they want to judge. But they don’t realize they are being completely hypocritical. How can we enjoy the freedom of speech or of religion and be at war with homosexuals who want freedom? That’s a situation where I am glad I am not the President! Both righteousness and sin have existed in all countries from the first man and woman until now.
There is another civil war that I believe deserves just as much (I believe MORE) attention than the marriage equality war. Unborn children deserve freedom just as much as I do. For some it is a past that is hard to deal with when it’s a choice that has been made, but we have the chance to change the course of history for these children just like President Lincoln had for African Americans. How is that freedom any less important?
Heaven is our home, not America. Remember that Jesus didn’t die for the freedom of this country. He died for the freedom from this world. That is something worth fighting for.
