Lay down your weapons

I've been thinking again about the so called "culture wars." Abortion, gay rights, evolution, prayer in public schools, the "war-on-Christmas," public monuments and displays of faith... It just seems to me that so much of it is not really about rescuing a lost world as it is about desperately trying to exert control over a society that seems out of control. Jesus already won the victory, all we have to do is stand- not attack and demolish.

I end up in an awkward position because some conservative Christians think that I'm a traitor fighting against them, when really I think of my self as a conscientious-objector and a non-combatant. If there's a battle, isn't it one for hearts and minds, even souls- not for authority or control or power or vindication? Isn't the goal to bring souls into the family of God and under his grace and forgiveness- not to kick people out, not to engage in some kind of religious ethnic-cleansing?   

^"For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world." ~2 Corinthians 10:3-4. 

Today's weapons are words, laws, court cases, sound bites, arguments and debates, movements and organizations. But the weapons that I believe Jesus wants us to use are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control. The tactic I believe He wants us to use are to heal the sick, feed the hungry, defend the widows, orphans and aliens, to visit those in prison, to turn the cheek, go the extra mile, give the shirt of our backs, to love our enemies and to pray for those that persecute us. Positive not negative, faith and love, not fear and anger, freedom not tyranny, progress not regression. You  might say that God's strategy is to fight smarter, not harder.

So brothers and sisters who are confounded by my political and social stances, please know that it's not that I'm fighting against you or failing to stand with you on issues that you are so passionate about- it's that I don't understand why you're so zealous about fighting when the outcome has already been decided. It was won on the cross. My God and His truth doesn't need feeble me to defend Him. Not by might, not by power, but by His Spirit reigns the Lord.

'Weapons' by Jars Of Clay
From their new album, The Long Fall Back To Earth

Halleluiah, we can finally hear
It's a miracle we feel anything at all
The things we planted on the worst days of the year
Grow to fingers that rip at the joy
And set our backs against the wall

LAY YOUR WEAPONS DOWN
LAY YOUR WEAPONS DOWN
THERE ARE NO ENEMIES IN FRONT OF YOU

Halleluiah, we can finally see
How the bitterness was bruising on our skin
We didn't notice that grace had run so thin
'Till we're falling apart
And the cracks in our hearts let the truth sink in

LAY YOUR WEAPONS DOWN
LAY YOUR WEAPONS DOWN
THERE ARE NO ENEMIES IN FRONT OF YOU (repeat)

Halleluiah, we can finally hear
It's a miracle we feel anything at all

So lay your weapons down
There are no enemies in front of you
There are no enemies in front of you

LAY YOUR WEAPONS DOWN
LAY YOUR WEAPONS DOWN
LAY YOUR WEAPONS, THERE ARE NO ENEMIES IN FRONT OF YOU (repeat)