Questions about rights and responsibilities by Meri Ford
In this time when things are changing by the day, I have way more questions than I have answers as relates to the what and why and when.
One of the questions I have stems from something I remember being taught back in the 70s. If you are focused on your rights you are probably aren't fulfilling your responsibilities.
We live in a country that extended certain "rights" to its population through its Constitution. In the news and in conversation I often hear people talking about demanding their rights, defending their rights, and blaming a variety of circumstances and people for the loss of what is believed to be their "rights." And at the top of those "demanding"to exercise their rights in the face of "governmental declarations" are a lot of those who would call themselves "believers in Jesus Christ" defending their governmental right to freedom of assembly and freedom of religion. And each time I hear these things, I find myself wondering, "Is this matter of "constitutional rights" something foundational to our faith in Jesus Christ, or is it something tied to the "babylonian system of governance?"
I hear folks say who often quote an old saying...if good men sit back and do nothing.....
or to quote John Stuart Mill (not Edmund Burke) more precisely Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing.” So I wonder does that justify some of the "fighting for our rights" in 2020 and in years gone by?
A question that some of you will answer yes to and some of us are still wondering about.
As believers what inalienable rights do we have? NONE as it represents the "babylonian system of governance" or modern day governments. As believers we have one right that no one can take away and that is to live in Christ Jesus....and whether I live or die physically, my life is hid with Christ. Beyond that, do I have any rights? I see none in the record of the Word of God or any of our foundational "theology" but I do have responsibilities and obligations totally independent of what "human government" might impose but based in who Christ is in me.
When Peter and others preached the gospel of Kingdom of God they didn't wait for the approval of ruler authorities nor did they justify their preaching based on some inalienable right. Rather they simply were obeying the Word of God as their personal responsibility before the Lord and were willing to pay the price. They knew the price that each could pay if they were arrested for continuing to preach the good news of Jesus Christ.
I do question today if having the right to congregational meetings constitute the same foundational "obedience" to preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ that Paul and Peter and others throughout history often given their lives to doing.
A local pastor has "renamed" his congregation Relocation Church....and saw 10 years ago in a vision that they wouldn't be able to meet in the church building in his small town.
So they relocated to an area that allowed cars to drive up and appropriately space and continued what they "normally have" with some alteration as a normal church service out of doors. My question, "Is this the kind of "change" in congregational life that God is calling for amidst this global Sabbath Rest, just a physical change in location of the congregations so they can continue to worship and gather together as they always have?" It is my question...and I'm not sure of the answer but this seems to be the same thing we have always done in a different dress of maybe a different color and style. I appreciated this same pastor's sermon that I heard on Facebook and his heart cry was that we seek the Father and his heart and be drawn closer into relationship with him, a message I hear Holy Spirit resounding across the globe. But do we just "put that message of intimacy" into the same basic format of congregational gathering than we've had for years in the USA and maybe the western world? What would Holy Spirit really want of us as He calls us to intimacy with the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ?
Recently I listened to a Sunday service by another local pastor...who had been my personal pastor 30 years ago who has returned to this area. I admit that I didn't listen to the whole service because the first 25 minutes was service as usual as if it were 30 years ago. I was disappointed. The ecclesia is generally considered irrelevant to the majority of Americans and much of the world, often no longer even presenting a "threat" to their self-centered lifestyles or idolatry. And how else could it be when much of our congregational gatherings are centered around the life style of the congregation itself, save maybe 20 min or so of the "preaching"?
Is our fighting for our rights as Americans a godly act, or could it be rebellion in a very disguised role for us who are called Believers in Jesus Christ?
Is the "conservative stand" taken by many evangelical and charismatic churches (or on the other hand liberal stands by other groups of church people )and others more a proclamation of their right to their own moral thinking, than it is a matter of living out a personal intimacy with Christ Jesus?
Is the "church" in China and in Islamic countries suffering because they don't stand up for their "rights" or because they are living out their personal responsibilities to their Lord and Saviour? Are the thousands of believers dying in Nigeria and other parts of Africa experiencing the result of their failure to "have rights" or is it the result of them living out their personal relationship in Jesus Christ to the death? Is the "church" and the message of Jesus Christ growing in those countries or is the "church" dying due to their lack of rights...dying like we're seeing happen in the USA and much of the West?
Perhaps you have the answers to some of these questions...I'm not sure that I do.
But hopefully you will seek the Lord and be open to hearing what He is saying about these things as they apply to you.
Meri
