Re: Shock on NBC this morning

People who believe America is "one nation under God" may be inclined to view government as the handmaiden of God and inclined to rely on it to carry out the work God has called the church to carry out. More specifically, as with most other Americans, many Christians assume it's the church's job to take care of people's spiritual needs and the government's job to take care of people's physical needs. We preach the gospel while government is supposed to care for the poor, the homeless, the oppressed, the disabled, or the sick. Many deny they believe this but based on how the church acts which is always a better indication of true belief than profession the point is undeniable. With some exceptions, the Church of Christ as a whole is not known for its willingness to assume responsibility for these areas. I believe it fair to suggest this is due to the fact that we trust government to carry out these duties.

It is good for government to take care of people's physical needs but it is not a good thing for Christians to rely on government to carry out this function and thus limit themselves to ministering to people's spiritual needs.

Many Americans turn to the Old Testament more than the New Testament in their understanding of America and of the role of the church within America. They turn to models of Old Testament "watchmen" as in Ezekiel and of John the Baptist to understand what they are supposed to be doing in the culture instead of to the model of Jesus. Instead of living to sacrifice for others, we become the official "sin-pointer-outers." Instead of gaining a reputation of being humble servants who manifest Jesus-quality love, we gain a reputation for being moralistic and self-righteous. Thus as the Pharisees did,we drive off the prostitutes and tax-collectors rather than attracting them, as Jesus did.

There is no biblical basis for separating a person's physical needs from their spiritual ones.

Since Jesus did not fight to maintain Israel's place as God's people we cannot presume he has switched his favoritism to the United States.