Regardless of your background, it would be naive and innacurate to claim that the US was founded absent of a devotion and reverence to God. People battle and argue over specifics and phrases like “seperation of church and state” - for various reasons - but the founders of this country were clearly reliant upon the Almighty. Such a truth shapes all 50 state constitutions, our constitution, and much of our history. Not every founding father was a Christian, but many were and their lives and the foundations of this country were chisled from their faith. In modern times, the battles rage and the winner today is often various definitions of equality and relative truth, seperation, elimination, moderation, and most of all a concession of anything entirely “right or wrong” - they call this open-mindedness, etc. To draw too hard a line, is to step out in judgement, arrogence, etc.

The difficulty in Christianity today is the constant devotion to avoiding those taglines and not realizing that one cannot. It would be as though a mathmatician in his defense of 2+2=4 attempting to battle stereotypes of “narrow-mindedness” and “not being open to more answers” or “always stepping out against 2+2=5″ etc. The example is outlandish but the truth remains - namely truth. When something is true, it is not false. When something is naturally absolute, there aren’t other options. This is called narrowmindedness in modern culture. Christians attempt to avoid narrow minded accusations, instead of realizing that they are truly narrow minded. And that that is okay.

The problem lies in perception, and we all hate to be perceived the wrong way. Everybody does. The difficulty lies in our attempts to correct that perception. Do we conceed truth? Do we alter the un-alterable? Do we say 2+2=4 but that we will accept trains of thought that think it’s 4 1/2 or 40 or 44 or 5 in order to become socially attractive? Our purpose as Christians is NOT to become 1) socially attractive OR 2) judges and accusors of others. Is there a third place? Is their a more true and achievable goal for us?

As a Christian, loyalty and devotion to Christ should manifest itself in you - and the result is a God fearing, truth-wearing soul that puts on humility and love, not dedication to a human religion. We are to be like our king, not the world. God never said become socially more attractive so you can win people. He said to speak the truth in LOVE, not self-righteous anger or arrogence.

As a Christian, my desire is to speak TRUTH, never alter, falter, or malign it.  Never conceed to become attractive, never hold my position in Christ in front of others as though I earned it.  I didn’t.  I fell, faltered, and am fatally wounded - and yet saved in Christ.  My sins bought me death.  Christ gave me life, unearned, - the definition of grace.  Christians who wear pride on their backs destroy the faith, because then their Christianity becomes more about themselves and less about Jesus Christ.  Christ is the convictor, the way, the truth, the life.

These various national battles will not cease.  They won’t stop and the perception of Christianity may take walks down many different roads.  I can only pray we remember our first love, our first devotion, and hold it higher than every temptation to become socially attractive and desired.  The world will love, hate, criticize, destroy, malign, accuse - just like it always has.  The only question is whether we are firmly in the rock or shifting on the sands when the winds blow.