The fact is that people in the United States may be christian, but our nation is not. In the way that our nation acts in the world, in the way that our culture and politics respond, we are much more like the Roman empire that killed our Christ than we are with the one we say we worship.
What did Christ teach? Here are 10 of some of his most famous teachings:
- Love your enemies. Matthew 5:43-47
- Do unto others as you would have them do to you. Matthew 7:12
- Love God above all else, and love your neighbor as yourself. Matthew 22:36-40
- Whosoever wants to be a leader among you must first and foremost be a servant. Mark 10:42-45
- If you love Jesus, you will feed the hungry, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, visit the sick and imprisoned. Matthew 25:35-40
- Blessed are the poor in spirit, the meek, the merciful, the peacemakers. Matthew 5:3-12
- Judge not lest ye be judged. Matthew 7:1-5
- If you want to be perfect in God's eyes, give away your wealth and serve the poor. Matthew 19:21
- If you live by the sword, you will die by the sword. Matthew 26:52
- Choosing not to forgive is almost as bad as murder. Matthew 5:21-26
But Jesus got mad and violent, too! some might say. Well, when did he do that? What made him angry? He got angry when people took advantage of other people, especially the poor.
How many of these lessons do you think that the United States exhibits in the world? As a nation? As a culture? Let's take a look at the Roman Empire.
Ancient Rome was a Republic, similar-ish to the U.S. They had "elected" representatives that would vote on behalf of the nation. Of course, elected is loose, as they could pretty much buy votes. And once elected, most of their votes were self-serving. Public office was one of the main roads to personal wealth. They would vote to move public services to the private sector so that they could benefit personally from the provision of these services.
As a result of this, elections became incredibly expensive. Caesar borrowed so heavily for one campaign that he feared he would be ruined if he weren't elected.
Rome was almost constantly at war, with only a few exceptions. They were either conquering or defending their borders. Much of the time, rulers would pursue war in order to avoid focus on domestic issues.
In the period just before the Roman Republic's fall, the middle class was devastated -- destroyed by cheap overseas slave labor.
Ancient Rome had religion as a central part of its society but was somewhat tolerant of other religions.
Rome was the most powerful country in the world, in its time. It had outposts in most of the known countries and regions. Trying to keep up such massive power drained its economic resources.
Does the United States as a people pursue power and wealth? Or do we pursue mercy and service? Do we turn away from wealth to help the poor? Do we live by violence or by peace?
American culture seems to have much more in common with Rome than with what Christ commanded. We idolize the wealthy and the powerful. We turn a blind eye to the poor, the disenfranchised, the people on the fringe. We take retribution on our enemies without mercy. We abhor weakness. We put up fences and defend our tiny piece of land against everybody including our neighbors. We make judgments about the way people look and act and call them enemy.
There are many individuals and families in this nation that are wonderful and do try to uphold the values of Jesus. But as a culture, we are the opposite. We act like what Jesus taught is something that we SAY we believe in, but we're too fallible to actually do all of it (unless you're talking about someone ELSE's life).
Jesus said, “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?" In Luke 6:46-49, he talks about how those who claim him as Lord but do not follow his words are fools.
This is why I believe that we are fools to call ourselves a Christian nation -- until we start following what Christ taught.
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