Speak with your Lives

As many of you know I do not really take a stance on things of the government. As I see it, I am to give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's. I am to leave no debt outstanding except for the debt to love one another. The government does not bear the sword for nothing, but as a believer in Jesus Christ I am to love my enemies and pray for those who persecute me. So when it comes to health care, I see that as the decision of the government. There is this idea that we MUST take part in government and we MUST vote and it is our human and Christian responsibility to be active in things of the government, but I think that these things are the lie of America, which we so often confuse with Christianity. My greatest responsibility is to the kingdom of God, which is not of this world, but comes about through the regeneration and sanctification of souls.

So, despite these convictions, I still try to follow politics to some extent. This is mostly because I go to a University that pushes politics in the classroom and, studying Sociology and Psychology, I often need to know what is happening in the public sphere. So I stay informed, I actually watched about 6-7 total hours on C-SPAN (which if you're unfamiliar, C-SPAN is not a typical news station, instead of giving small bits and clips they play whole entire events) concerning this health care bill.

Honestly, I do not take a stance one way or the other on health care and whether it should be passed or not. However, one interesting thing to me was the change in age for when young adults are kicked off their parent's insurance. There was a time when children because responsible adults at the age of 15, then at some point it became 18, in the more recent past it has become something more like 21. With this new health care bill we have now pushed the age for growing up back to 26 years old. The old system made sense, where you could stay on as long as you were in school, but now children can stay children until the age of 26!!!

This is a way that Christians can stand up to the culture that we find ourselves in. This is not a matter of fighting out against something or someone, but it is a matter of showing that in Christ we are different, that to live for Christ means to look different from the world around us. As our culture moves further from the morals of the Bible many Christians are fighting politically, but you look at their children and see that they are the same as the culture their parents are fighting against. Rather than try to change the politics, lets raise a generation of Christians who believe in Christ, who are willing to be radical and stand out, who are willing to give up their house, car, iPod, computer, sex lives, career, and everything else in order to stand out for Christ. Lets raise a generation of Christians who are not children at the age of 26 but can show the world that through Christ we can be mature and responsible and not look out for our own interests but also the interests of others.

May you not become consumed with fighting our culture but only consumed with Jesus and his grace and love. May you be willing to stand up for Christ, not as a voice but as a life dedicated to him. May you look, act, walk, think, and speak differently from the world around you. May you not say things like, "Why would I want to pay for someone else's health?" or "If they're not insured it's their fault!" but rather show the love of Christ to those around you and be willing to conform to the government so long as they don't contradict Scripture. May you grow in your knowledge of the truth and therefore grow in a desire to raise children who do not speak the language of our culture or do the actions of our culture, but rather love the people of our culture so that they may lay their lives down for them even as Christ did for us.