““You shall not follow the masses in doing evil, nor shall you testify in a dispute so as to turn aside after a multitude in order to pervert justice; ” (Exodus 23:2, NAS)
Growing up, my father was no slacker when it came to using classic parental psychology. Especially the phrase "If everyone else jumped off a bridge, would you?" in response to a plea of "everyone's doing it!" Then he would extol the virtues of disregarding the crowd when the crowd was, well, stupid.
I think I've said before that Dad is getting smarter the older I get. I'll say it again. Here's even a case where he was presenting Scripture. He was contextualizing it and providing dynamic translation (buzz words for my seminary friends ), but still presenting God's Word to his children like a good patriarch.
Dad's wisdom and the Scripture at hand both speak into some of our current problems in America. For years, we Christians have appealed to our moral values as being "the majority" view. We continue to do so as we attempt to prevent the perversion of marriage and the family, protect the unborn, and defend our freedom of speech.
Yet do we really want to win those arguments based on the "majority" viewpoint? Would we submit to the "majority" if that view came to support, say, cat sacrifice? (Well, bad example. I would, perhaps.)
What we need to be is right. Not in the majority. Not in the minority. Right. And not in the definition of "as opposed to left." Rather, we need to seek what is immovably correct and stand at that point. No matter how popular or unpopular.
And I think we need to stop appealing to the x% of Americans agree with us argument as we try and stand for truth. That's our best argument? Are we sure we want to be approved based on majority agreement?
We've reached a point as Christians in this country, which has a Judeo-Christian ethical foundation to its laws but is not a "Christian Country," where we cannot keep seeking approval. We can no longer assume on or expect that our values will be shared by the majority. It's actually time to stop trying and start proclaiming the Gospel. We've got the time and energy to either fight the politics or preach the truth.
It's time to stop taking votes and polls and do that which is right.
Doug
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To deal with SPAM comments, all comments are moderated. I'm typically willing to post contrary views...but I also only check the list once a day, so if you posted within the last 24 hours, I may not be to it yet.