serious moms: brenda's blog

Did you all know that it will soon be considered a hate crime to say that homosexuality is wrong? It's interesting to me that the whole concept of "separation of church and state" was originally written (and not in any of our country's most important documents, mind you, simply in a letter by Thomas Jefferson) in order to protect the church FROM the state. In other words, Jefferson feared that the rules of the state would begin to infringe upon the churches--or that the state would create a designated religion and that would harm the churches. The whole concept has been completely twisted and now most liberals and many people in charge of things at the higher levels truly believe that it is their duty to do away with anything that looks "Christian" in order to separate church and state. And so--saying that homosexuality is wrong (which the Bible clearly states) is a hate crime...and disciplining your children with the rod is child abuse...and I could go on and on....We REALLY need to be in prayer for our nation, ladies! If it is a hate crime to say that homosexuality is wrong, will pastors not be allowed to preach truth from the pulpit?

There are some verses that are standing out to me today, and I plan to ponder them and pray over them throughout the day. I was discussing with a friend last night the concept of "rules" and setting up boundaries around our family that protect us from the world, and whether this is good or bad. Here are the verses I have found:

2 Timothy 2

¹You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. ²And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others. ³Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. ⁴No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs–he wants to please his commanding officer. ⁵Similarly, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor's crown unless he competes according to the rules. ⁶The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops. ⁷Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this.

The highlighted section is what stands out to me the most. No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs. Interesting. See, we were talking about the balance between not allowing too much worldly influence on our kids, and yet being a witness to those in the world. I know there are people who set up such boundaries and rules that non-Christians would not even be allowed in their home and they would not dare spend any quality time with a non-Christian because of the influence that such a person might have on their kids or family. My friend and I, in our conversation last night, disagreed with this idea. Here are my thoughts about this:

A soldier most certainly does have a lot to do with civilians, his entire job and the training he endures have everything to do with protecting the lives of civilians. Everything he does, in fact, is about the civilians. The soldier just can't let down his guard around the civilians...He can spend time with them, and most certainly live among them, but he cannot become buddies with them in the same way he would another soldier--this would be letting down his guard and potentially endangering the fruitfulness of his soldier-ness. Do you understand what I am saying? We can and OUGHT TO be friends with non-Christians--but they cannot be our closest friends. If our best buddy does not care about pleasing the commanding officer (God), what will we really have in common with that friend? And if we have much in common with that friend (so much in common that we are comfortable spending lots of time with that person) then we have likely let down our guard and have to question our own life--are WE pleasing the commanding officer?

But I don't think that this excuses Christians from hosting an unbeliever in their home. In fact, I think we are called to. I will share one more thought and then paste some more Scripture here for you to be pondering. My friend mentioned that she would love get to heaven someday and have God say to her "wow, your life was amazing, look at all of the people who came to Me because of you!" What she WOULDN'T want to get to heaven and have God say is "wow, you lived such a good life and followed so many rules and kept to yourself while you did it..." In other words, is it all about changing our own life or the lives of our immediate family to become "good" people, or is it about the impact we can have on *many* other people as ambassadors of Christ? Ok, here is the Scripture:

The Parable of the Talents

¹⁴“Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. ¹⁵To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. ¹⁶The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. ¹⁷So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. ¹⁸But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money.

¹⁹“After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. ²⁰The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’

²¹“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!’

²²“The man with the two talents also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.’

²³“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!’

²⁴“Then the man who had received the one talent came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. ²⁵So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’

²⁶“His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? ²⁷Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

²⁸“ ‘Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. ²⁹For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. ³⁰And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’