A Waste of Time by Brady

Everybody knows that children reach a stage in life where their parents are no longer “cool” to be around. Early on, your parents are the most important thing to your survival and well-being. There is not even a formulated idea of “cool” or “uncool” in your world, and even if there was, your parents would definitely be cool. But then the stage sets in where you are asking to be dropped off around the block from school. You also begin to hate normally fun activities such as family vacations. You are at the beach, but you wish you were there with your friends instead of your lame parents and siblings. It doesn’t help that your dad is wearing pink sun block on his nose which he, of course, pulled from his JanSport fanny pack.

When kids enter this stage, usually 1 of 2 outcomes eventually occurs. The kid can rebel completely and never recover, or they can rebel but later in life realize how important their parents are to them. It seems that America is in this stage right now in respect to Christianity. It is hard to get around the idea that America as we know it was founded at least with Christian principles. I am not trying to blend politics or religion, nor am I saying all of our founders were professing Christians. Yes, I am even aware that the Native American Indians were here before us, but I am talking about the United States of America as it stands today as a country, not North America. The truth is that America was founded by people who wanted to practice their religion their own way instead of being told how to worship.

Today there is still great freedom to do this very thing. In fact, Baptists were one of the leaders in the formative years in our country that fought for separation of church and state if you go back and study history closely. But the truth is, America is becoming increasingly anti-Christian. This attitude is growing at a steady rate with the current President being so vocal about his faith. America is acting like the middle school kid who is rebelling against their uncool parents. Whether or not we will completely rebel is something only time will tell.

If you think I am being over dramatic or I am flat out wrong, look at a recent bill our House of Representatives passed and how it played out. A Republican-sponsored resolution was up for vote which called for “recognizing the importance of Christmas and the Christian faith.” This bill was a response to two resolutions which called for respect for Ramadan, the Muslim holiday, as well as Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights. Both of these bills passed with no negative votes, but the Christian “Christmas Bill” passed with a vote of 372-9. Nine representatives felt that their districts opposed Christianity more than Islam or Hinduism. On top of that, many talking heads on TV suggested that Congress passing this bill was a “waste of time.”

This bill was and was not a waste of time. In one sense, America is based on the principle of being able to worship how you wish. In light of this and how society is turning on Christianity, this bill did not waste time at all. This bill is necessary in America for the same reason Leonard Sweet reported in Soul Tsunami that a Jewish lawyer named Michael Horowitz represents Christians because he believes we could be the Jews of the 21st century (see Soul Tsunami, pg 62).

On the other hand, this bill was a waste of time because legislation will never solve the world’s problems. Passing a bill is not going to change the growing cynicism towards Christianity. Congress will not and should not be allowed to stop people from wearing “Jesus Save Me from Some of Your Followers” t-shirts. The rebellion is underway, and it will be interesting to see how it plays out.

As Christians, the most important thing to realize is that this wave is coming. We have been warned numerous times over the last decade or so, and when the full brunt of the wave hits there will still be many caught by surprise, sadly. A new era is underway in history, especially in American history, but this time can be met with an array of attitudes. You can meet it with fear, apprehension, denial, disgust, or excitement. I am choosing the latter. Christ has called you to be instrumental at one of the most exciting and challenging times in Christian history. He has called you to minister in a world that wants nothing to do with Christianity, but is thirsty for Jesus. As Leonard Sweet says in his book already mentioned, “You can be the last of a dying breed of ministers, those left standing on a burning platform. Or you can be the front-guard of a new breed of ministers.” (Soul Tsunami, pg. 55) Our message is essential to life, our culture is in need of Jesus, our society is hostile to Christianity, and our media is telling you how to think. Respond to the call, and please do not be surprised when the wave’s full force is felt.