Leftists sound like really good Christians
Leftist liberals have stolen a few pages right out of God's playbook! Before you go and get all mad, let me explain what I mean. I mean that throughout Scripture, we see that Satan uses what God creates and abuses it. The devil is not creative so therefore he only ever offers cheap counterfeits of what God meant as a blessing for men. For instance, look at how Satan has abused sex in our society. Even Christians have to bow their head in embarrassment when the word is mentioned. Why is this? Hebrews 13:4 says, "Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled:". In our world, this thing that was originally meant for the purpose of reproduction and to be an expression of love between a married couple (man and woman) has become a taboo subject. Just a quick glance at the world around us and we can see how that it has been marketed, distorted and abused. Now we view it as shameful, carnal, and dirty. Satan has won in creating a false paradigm in our minds in this area.
In a similar fashion, I believe he has done some of his best work in allowing groups of people who stand on platforms as opposed to God as darkness is to light, to steal God's language and to appeal to the masses much more effectively. See if you don't agree with me.
1. They have taken ownership of "Love"
When the left uses the word "love" we should really question what they mean. The reason for this is because the God that we serve is an expert in this field. In fact, He is the author of love. He is LOVE! So if any group of people should be able to use "love" as their rally cry it ought to be the followers of God. Instead, we are seen as haters. These people that picket and protest would say that we are the people that need to love everyone or that we should allow people to love who they love. Obviously, we have very different ideas about love.
The thing that we fail to communicate as well as we should is that we do love everyone. So too does God -- Romans 5:8 - "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." We cannot make people listen. If they choose to ignore us when we try, to the very best of our ability, to tell them that God loves them in the very same way that He loves us, then we cannot change that. If we were honest with ourselves though, Christians have not done a good enough job of extending love. Whether that is to unsaved people who are different from us or even to people of faith that are different from us. We should and can use "love" as our rally cry. We should probably just do a better job of implementing it to the lost leftist and to the Christian brother who believes just like we do.
2. They cry out for equality
This an interesting thing because equality from the leftist perspective is extremely broad. Equality is used in terms of race, gender, sexual orientation, and even religion. We are privileged to live in America which still has plenty of problems but I believe is the greatest country in the world. We have made huge strides in terms of many of these categories. Consider that slavery has long been abolished, women can vote, and nobody can directly limit your potential in terms of occupation or success regardless of most of the potential characteristics. Many are still crying out and saying that at least some of these (or possibly others) are unfairly treated and opportunity is not equal for all. From a political stance, I'll keep my opinions in these matters to myself, because 1) you don't care what I think and 2) that's not what this blog is about.
From a spiritual stance, God is all about equality. Not in a delusional sense where everyone is equally gifted, able, and successful. There is a parable in the Bible that teaches that one servant received five talents, another two talents, and the final servant received one talent. It is found in Matthew 25:15 and one small part of that verse says that the master distributed these talents, "to every man according to his several ability;" The reality is that we are not all equally gifted. I will never shoot a basketball like Steph Curry nor will I ever be able to sing like Josh Groban. Despite the disparity in ability, all of these servants received something from the master. So what are we equal in? We are all equally able to access the benefits and the kindness of God:
2 Peter 3:9 - The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Galatians 3:28-29 - There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
One of my favorite ways to convey this principle is by saying that, "God is a whosoever God." (John 3:16 & Revelation 22:17) We all have equal access to the greatest gift ever given and that is eternal life through the blood that Jesus shed on the cross.
3. They have stolen the rainbow
This is probably the most perplexing one. This quote is from a Washington Post Article and it was said by the designer of the flag (Gilbert Baker) you see in the picture: "We needed something beautiful, something from us. The rainbow is so perfect because it really fits our diversity in terms of race, gender, ages, all of those things. Plus, it’s a natural flag—it’s from the sky! And even though the rainbow has been used in other ways in vexilography, this use has now far eclipsed any other use that it had."
I would venture to guess that Mr. Baker and I would not agree on many things but I take exception to his final statement that I have underlined. Even the most novice Bible student ought to realize that in Genesis 9:8-17, God told us that the rainbow had a very meaningful purpose. It was proof that God would never use a world-wide flood to destroy mankind again. So for any group of people, no matter how noble or awful the cause, to reassign the purpose or redefine the meaning of the rainbow I just cannot accept. The sad thing is that as I was writing this piece, my young daughter peered over my shoulder and exclaimed, "a rainbow!" I believe it is natural to be attracted to something so beautiful and mystical but as she grows older, she will no doubt be made aware of the worldly meaning behind this particular flag.
The rainbow is a sign between God and His people. It was given to Noah but it speaks a great deal about the grace of God. Because as he viewed the world that had become almost entirely wicked and reprobate, He did not lump Noah into that group and destroy him and his family too. He instead, judged Noah individually and found him to be righteous and the Bible says, "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord" (Genesis 6:8).
Isn't it awesome that God knows us individually? To the man who desires to follow after God and love Him, God will bless Him and prosper Him. To the man who follows after his own heart and is wicked, the Bible says that he will reap what he sows. God judges every man according to his own works.
In summary, leftists are not terrible people. They are not the Christian's enemy. They simply have not come to a saving knowledge of Jesus. Therefore, we have very different world-views. We will not agree on very much at all because as we become more like Christ, we become less like those who are in the world. We should consider this thoroughly, but I also believe that we should seek to claim these words and symbols that have been stolen from us as children of God. They are rightfully ours.
In a similar fashion, I believe he has done some of his best work in allowing groups of people who stand on platforms as opposed to God as darkness is to light, to steal God's language and to appeal to the masses much more effectively. See if you don't agree with me.
1. They have taken ownership of "Love"When the left uses the word "love" we should really question what they mean. The reason for this is because the God that we serve is an expert in this field. In fact, He is the author of love. He is LOVE! So if any group of people should be able to use "love" as their rally cry it ought to be the followers of God. Instead, we are seen as haters. These people that picket and protest would say that we are the people that need to love everyone or that we should allow people to love who they love. Obviously, we have very different ideas about love.
In my opinion, the key difference is between whether love is with or without boundaries. Does love permit anything and everything? It seems that when the extreme political left uses the term love, they mean that if you feel love for someone or something you should be allowed to express that because love supersedes everything else. In one sense, love is allowed to dictate my pattern of life regardless of any other influence. When a Christian uses the term "love" we believe that the love of God (our example for love) crossed all sorts of boundaries and tore down some huge barriers when Christ loved us enough to die on Calvary to restore fallen man to God. We do not believe, however, that love allows anything. God loved us enough to die for us and save us, but that same love was not given to us so that we might experience and enjoy it and then abuse it. 2 Corinthians 5:14 & 5:15 says, "For the love of Christ constraineth us;...that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again." Love does have boundaries. Love must have boundaries even in a atheistic society. Surely, if a man loves an animal (in an inappropriate manner) there must be certain boundaries regardless of his love. If someone loves a minor (in an inappropriate manner) we cannot surrender to the idea that his love should be the determining factor in his actions. That is non-sense. Love does have boundaries. It is just that people do not want to accept what the boundary has traditionally been or the boundary that God has put into place.
The thing that we fail to communicate as well as we should is that we do love everyone. So too does God -- Romans 5:8 - "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." We cannot make people listen. If they choose to ignore us when we try, to the very best of our ability, to tell them that God loves them in the very same way that He loves us, then we cannot change that. If we were honest with ourselves though, Christians have not done a good enough job of extending love. Whether that is to unsaved people who are different from us or even to people of faith that are different from us. We should and can use "love" as our rally cry. We should probably just do a better job of implementing it to the lost leftist and to the Christian brother who believes just like we do.
2. They cry out for equality This an interesting thing because equality from the leftist perspective is extremely broad. Equality is used in terms of race, gender, sexual orientation, and even religion. We are privileged to live in America which still has plenty of problems but I believe is the greatest country in the world. We have made huge strides in terms of many of these categories. Consider that slavery has long been abolished, women can vote, and nobody can directly limit your potential in terms of occupation or success regardless of most of the potential characteristics. Many are still crying out and saying that at least some of these (or possibly others) are unfairly treated and opportunity is not equal for all. From a political stance, I'll keep my opinions in these matters to myself, because 1) you don't care what I think and 2) that's not what this blog is about.
From a spiritual stance, God is all about equality. Not in a delusional sense where everyone is equally gifted, able, and successful. There is a parable in the Bible that teaches that one servant received five talents, another two talents, and the final servant received one talent. It is found in Matthew 25:15 and one small part of that verse says that the master distributed these talents, "to every man according to his several ability;" The reality is that we are not all equally gifted. I will never shoot a basketball like Steph Curry nor will I ever be able to sing like Josh Groban. Despite the disparity in ability, all of these servants received something from the master. So what are we equal in? We are all equally able to access the benefits and the kindness of God:
2 Peter 3:9 - The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Galatians 3:28-29 - There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
One of my favorite ways to convey this principle is by saying that, "God is a whosoever God." (John 3:16 & Revelation 22:17) We all have equal access to the greatest gift ever given and that is eternal life through the blood that Jesus shed on the cross.
This is probably the most perplexing one. This quote is from a Washington Post Article and it was said by the designer of the flag (Gilbert Baker) you see in the picture: "We needed something beautiful, something from us. The rainbow is so perfect because it really fits our diversity in terms of race, gender, ages, all of those things. Plus, it’s a natural flag—it’s from the sky! And even though the rainbow has been used in other ways in vexilography, this use has now far eclipsed any other use that it had."
I would venture to guess that Mr. Baker and I would not agree on many things but I take exception to his final statement that I have underlined. Even the most novice Bible student ought to realize that in Genesis 9:8-17, God told us that the rainbow had a very meaningful purpose. It was proof that God would never use a world-wide flood to destroy mankind again. So for any group of people, no matter how noble or awful the cause, to reassign the purpose or redefine the meaning of the rainbow I just cannot accept. The sad thing is that as I was writing this piece, my young daughter peered over my shoulder and exclaimed, "a rainbow!" I believe it is natural to be attracted to something so beautiful and mystical but as she grows older, she will no doubt be made aware of the worldly meaning behind this particular flag.
The rainbow is a sign between God and His people. It was given to Noah but it speaks a great deal about the grace of God. Because as he viewed the world that had become almost entirely wicked and reprobate, He did not lump Noah into that group and destroy him and his family too. He instead, judged Noah individually and found him to be righteous and the Bible says, "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord" (Genesis 6:8).
Isn't it awesome that God knows us individually? To the man who desires to follow after God and love Him, God will bless Him and prosper Him. To the man who follows after his own heart and is wicked, the Bible says that he will reap what he sows. God judges every man according to his own works.
In summary, leftists are not terrible people. They are not the Christian's enemy. They simply have not come to a saving knowledge of Jesus. Therefore, we have very different world-views. We will not agree on very much at all because as we become more like Christ, we become less like those who are in the world. We should consider this thoroughly, but I also believe that we should seek to claim these words and symbols that have been stolen from us as children of God. They are rightfully ours.
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