waltondammerung

Here is a weaker quote from Mr. Parkinson: "Instead of straining to coerce biblical behavior upon society, the bulk of our effort should focus on blessing the nation in which we are resident aliens. Doing so will cause the church to 'enjoy favor with all the people' and expand our influence yet further."

Living godly lives in a fallen world has only allowed the church the "enjoy favor" for very brief moments. That quote ("enjoy favor with all the people") from Acts is quickly followed by the martyrdom of Stephen. Stephen, who served as a deacon, "waiting tables," serving the widows and the poor, per the Apostle Peter's description of a deacon's responsibilities. If we live our lives as Mr. Parkinson, and Scripture, propose, we will be an aroma of life to some, and the stench of death to others. Those others will seek to destroy us, whether by physical persecution, or by propagating lies and half-truths, such as the media half-truth that the evangelical church is interested only in homosexuality and abortion, a myth perpetuated by Mr. Parkinson in this interview.

Why is this myth so strong that it is even repeated here as truth? Because the courts, by their rendering of decisions, have made these political issues. We would have preferred they remain outside of politics. Evangelicals were dragged kicking and screaming into the political arena during the decade after Roe v. Wade - most wanted to live quiet, pious lives and ignore politics. But the loss of 1.5 million lives a year could only be stopped by political action, because the courts had effectively changed the law without the consent of the governed (ditto homosexual marriage). And the media only pay attention to politics, not to the daily lives of the adherents of particular political points of view.

The fact that evangelicals are far more generous than any other groups in their giving to a wide variety of charitable causes (including flood reflief, homeless shelters, and drug rehabilitation, to name a very few) is ignored because the POLITICAL voices calling for change in these and other areas are generally not evangelicals. Evangelicals tend to view these things as individual responsibilities, not the purview of government. We like to not let the left hand know what the right is doing. Christ admonished us to beware of practicing our piety before men.

That gives an opportunity for great press to those who loudly champion the rights of the poor at the expense of the taxpayer, without taking on any responsibility of their own through charitable giving. (Remember Al Gore's 1999 -I think- tax return? His family had given a total of around $600 that year to charity - but he was a champion of the poor in the eyes of the media, because he was looking for political, not personal, solutions.) Interesting that evangelicals not only give by force- through taxation, but also freely, driven by the grace of God. The typical American, according to Barna Research, gives away about $1232 per year to nonprofit of all types (take that, Al Gore!), while evangelical giving to churches alone averages $3250 per person annually. While church giving results in many ministries of the type noted above, Barna makes no note of evangelical giving to parachurch and other organizations. I think we can assume, given the growth of parachurch ministries such as Samaritan's Purse, that evangelicals are giving additional resources there as well.

I think that Mr. Parkinson is right in at least one way - we must always hold out grace, recognizing our own debt to it. But we must also not believe what the world around us is saying about us, and about our lack of grace, because it cannot be trusted to tell the truth. This we must each examine for our selves and within our local body of believers. Christians simply speaking the truth, even with grace, will be understood and described by those outside the faith as fault-finding, intolerant, judgmental, and worse. They cannot accept that "no one comes to the Father but by Me (Christ)." And if we fail to communicate that truth, we have not extended true grace.