I hear a symphony.

Many of my friends express concern about the fact that "God is being forced out of the public square." It's become a favorite pastime for People of Faith (yes I'm guilty)--lamenting the "sorry state" of the Nation.

What concerns ME?  

It's this: People of Faith have come to embrace the notion that the symbolic presence of God is the same thing as the authentic presence of God.   

Here is a short list of hot buttons, not intended to be exhaustive, but illustrative.

• Do we want God in our schools--disciple your children to know and love Jesus. 
• Do we want our Nation to understand that marriage is a beautiful metaphor, designed by God, of a much bigger relationship--and for this reason, it is a sacred estate. Love your wife selflessly and trust your husband implicitly.
• Do we want values to govern our economy, greed to be disdained--choose simplicity and invest our resources on behalf of the poor, widows, and orphans; be seekers of justice for all the disenfranchised.  
• Are we befuddled by the national obsession with abortion rights, perplexed by the disdain modern cultures have for human life, and the high regard they show for endangered species?  Find your voice and speak passionately-forcefully for the Little Ones, consider...adoption, Foster parenting, and Mentoring programs.

For too long, too many of us who profess to be followers of Jesus have routinely "phoned it in."

• We've been content to build private school sanctuaries, teaching Bible courses, that will disciple our children for us.
• We've turned a blind eye to the failure rate of marriages in our churches.
• We've justified selfish ambition and the boastful pride of life as "what's ours is ours" and left justice to government inefficiency and the dehumanizing impact of its one-size-fits-all insanity.
• We've ceded the heavy lifting for protecting the lives of unborn children, and the quality of life for born children to others "called" to a missional lifestyle.

Consider this: God's plan has always been to "show up" via the beautiful music being played through lives well-lived by those who are His devoted followers--the Scripture makes clear that no law can stand against such purposeful, selfless living, "...the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." Galatians 5.22,23 NASB

Lives lived this way will produce a breathtaking symphony that will bring relevance back to our Mission as His Church--no longer engaged in managing a kingdom but compelled to build HIS Kingdom. 

WHEN we take seriously our empowerment, from God, to add value to the lives of people, to make hard lives easier, to speak the truth of the Gospel into the brokenness of life without Christ, to model the transformational reality of the Gospel through the choices and investments we make--with our lives and resources, THEN they won't be able to lock God out of the public square. There is no law that can stand against this kind of authenticity.

"Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, 21 to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen." Ephesians 3.20,21 NASB

I hear a symphony.  

Through Christ, let it be.

One life.

Burn bright...

Liveitwell!