Christian?

Every made thing has a beginning. Many good and thoughtful discussions rightly begin with a definition of terms. As I hope and pray that this blog will fall into the “good and thoughtful” category for many if not most of its readers, I think it only proper to begin here today by clearly defining the term around which revolves this entire online project.

The concept under consideration is that codified by the word Christian.

What is a Christian? More specifically, what does the term Christian mean in a political context, since much of what is written here will deal with that particular sphere of life.

Contrary to contemporary secular pseudo-wisdom, it is quite possible to objectively define the term.  All Christians, by definition, completely acknowledge Jesus Christ as God in the flesh. He is their personal savior and Lord. All Christians submit to the Scripture as the authoritative Word of God. Submission to Christ as Lord and His Holy Word as the final authority in all things is essential. Without this submission, there simply is no Christian life. All expressions of and claims to a Christianity detached from the complete submission to Christ and His Word are flagrant and easily identifiable counterfeits. They are not of God. They are of the enemy.

And yes, Christ has enemies.

While we mustn’t presume to play the role of determining the salvation of another, we are called to test all things, hold fast to that which is true and in doing so seek the counsel and leadership of genuinely godly men and women. This is not optional, by the way. It is a divine command.

The truth that Christians must hold to is that which is revealed in Holy Scripture. In the essential pursuit of identifying good and godly men and women, we are not significantly more limited in assessing the validity of one’s claim to Christianity than we are in coming to a determination with regard to one’s professed adherence to a variety of worldview shaping systems of belief.

Let’s take the example of vegetarianism. If we hear a person loudly proclaim to be a vegetarian, yet we see that their daily diet consists almost exclusively of deep fried Bambi burgers, we can rightly dismiss their claim to be a serious, practicing vegetarian. Logically, we must dismiss it. It matters not what they say if their life in practice exhibits a proud, ongoing and open contempt for the core components of the system of belief with which they seek to verbally associate themselves.

This is not to be confused with a sincere person’s occasional failure to fulfill or honor the high standards for which they strive as a part of their espoused system of belief. Far from it! What we are describing here is a clear, flagrant and willful deviation from essential components of a professed statement of faith or belief. Put another way, if a professing vegetarian slips up and gives in to the urge to kill and eat just one Bambi every now and again, but he feels deep shame at this and subsequently redoubles his effort to conform to his advocated system of belief, he has not at any point in this process ceased to be a vegetarian. But if he kills and grills Bambi after Bambi all while professing an abiding love for a philosophy that would see Bambi protected from all such killing and grilling, then he is a fraud and we would be fools for believing his professions of belief.

So it is that Christianity, just as vegetarianism, can and must be defined in order to have any meaning and application. It is no coincidence that the same forces seeking to remove the objective meaning of Christianity routinely seek to redefine terms of consequence at odds with their stated goals so that these words might be left as empty, meaningless husks. These politically incorrect and problematic terms are being redefined out of existence; their formative attributes erased and removed from consideration.

We live in a time when the once foundational concepts of family, love, honor, Christ and Christianity are all actively undermined by the Democrat Party spearheaded cult of liberalism so that they might one day lose their power altogether, and that day draws nearer with every vote cast for a political party in open rebellion against the God of Scripture.

At this point, many readers are certain of what they merely suspected earlier on, namely that I am a complete and total nutcase. I must surely be the most unhinged of right-wing fanatical kooks in order to say such a thing about the American Democrat Party. I only ask that those with such an inclination take a few moments to consider the following:

“I am the way, andthe truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Jesus

 

“The difficult thing about any religion, including Christianity, is that at some level there is a call to evangelize and proselytize. There’s the belief, certainly in some quarters, that if people haven’t embraced Jesus Christ as their personal savior, they’re going to hell.”

Barack Hussein Obama  

 

For the Christian, Christ is God, savior and Lord. Jesus is the exclusive path to eternal life.

For the antichristian, Jesus is…any alternative to these things.

 

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent,equippedfor every good work.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 (ESV)

 

“Which passages of scripture should guide our public policy? Should we go with, uh, Leviticus, which suggests slavery’s okay? …Or we could go, uh, with, uh, Deuteronomy, which suggests stoning your child. …Or should we just stick to the Sermon on the Mount, a passage that is so radical, that it’s doubtful that our own defense department would survive its application?

Folks haven’t been reading the Bible.”

Barack Hussein Obama

 

For the Christian, the Holy Bible is the perfect word of the all powerful and sovereign creator of the universe. It is divine rather than human in origin and our submission to its clearly reveled truth is essential to any successful pursuit of peace, prosperity, happiness, fulfillment and joy. Apart from this submission, there is no Christianity.

For the antichristian, the Bible is confused, confusing, cloudy, self-contradicting and simply cannot serve as an absolute guide to anything of significance – certainly not as an authoritative standard by which we must define our political thoughts and actions.

 

Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves,because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

For this reasonGod gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

Romans 1:24-27 (ESV)

 

“I am not willing to have the state deny American citizens a civil union that confers equivalent rights on such basic matters as hospital visitation or health insurance coverage simply because the people they love are of the same sex—nor am I willing to accept a reading of the Bible that considers an obscure line in Romans to be more defining of Christianity than the Sermon on the Mount.”

Barack Hussein Obama

 

The Christian submits to the Holy Bible as authoritative, true, and the only possible means by which we can honor and glorify God. Through seeking and encouraging the conformation of their will to His, the Christian finds the only path to genuine truth, peace and happiness.

The antichristian subverts and submits the Bible to his will, as it is his will that dictates terms and defines reality. It is the will of man that reigns in an antichristian worldview, and it is the will of man that ultimately sifts every considered thought and action through a filter of self-exaltation, self-gratification and self-glorification. The murderous narcissism of the God-hating mind knows no bounds; there is no depth beneath which it will not plunge.

For the antichristian, man defines god and therefore man is god.

 

“I think I have an ongoing conversation with God. Throughout the day I’m constantly asking myself questions about what I’m doing, why I am doing it.”

Barack Hussein Obama

 

We have easy access to scores of Barack Hussein Obama’s crystal clear pronouncements regarding the nature of Christ, the Holy Bible and the role both play in his approach to life. The place that he has allowed them is this: Submission. They are to be submissive to him. Insofar as he deems them useful, he will use them. When they stand in opposition to his will, they will be ridiculed, mocked and dismissed as obviously and annoyingly irrelevant.

Put another way, in the clearly expressed worldview of Barack Hussein Obama, we see the unambiguous spirit of antichrist.

Some may say that this is all a bit harsh.

Okay, more than a bit.

They may be surprised to hear that I agree with them on this count, and completely so.

But what matters here is not so much whether or not what I have said here is or is not harsh. What matters is whether what I have said here is or is not true.

Of course, this perspective requires a belief in objective truth, which is another problem for another blog on another day…

In the meantime, I encourage you to prayerfully consider these things. Test every word…every concept…

…and then act accordingly.

To those who may disagree with what I’ve said here, I respectfully challenge you to state your case. I welcome the opportunity to learn and grow through such a distinctly American blessing as the free exchange of ideas.

Thanks for taking the time to read this, and remember: As Christians, we are commanded to love the Lord with all our body, mind, spirit…and vote.

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Copyright 2009 Scott Alan Buss