Monthly Archives: April 2008

National Day of Prayer — Hijacked by evangelicals?

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Tomorrow is the National Day of Prayer, which is held the first Thursday of May every year. Whether you participate or not is a personal matter. Your congregation may or may not have an organized event. Again, a matter for the leadership to decide.

Two and a half years ago a group named Jews on First (JOF) has questioned the application process by which one becomes an event coordinator affiliated with the National Day of Prayer Task Force. The issue in question is that in order to become a coordinator, one must affirm a commitment to Jesus by agreeing to this statement:

I believe that the Holy Bible is the inerrant Word of The Living God. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the only One by which I can obtain salvation and have an ongoing relationship with God. I believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, his virgin birth, his sinless life, his miracles, the atoning work of his shed blood, his resurrection and ascension, his intercession and his coming return to power and glory. I believe that those who follow Jesus are family and there should be unity among all who claim his name.

Since Jews wouldn’t agree to that affirmation, their claim is that the National Say of Prayer has been “hijacked by conservative Christians”1.

So if you’re reading this Christian blog, I’m assuming you’re a Christian (an assumption I realize may not be correct). I further assume you would agree with the above statement, though there are increasing numbers of those who call themselves “Christian” who would take issue with parts of it. What are your thoughts on this? Is the National Day of Prayer a Christian tradition? If your city held a National Day of Prayer Event and on the slate to lead prayers were Christians, Jews, and Muslims, would you attend?

References:
1. Critics: Evangelicals ‘hijacked’ National Day of Prayer. Adelle M. Banks, Religion News Service, published in USA Today, April 25, 2008. http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2008-04-25-prayer-day-protest_N.htm?csp=34

Christian license plate — a good idea?

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Proposed Florida license plateThe Florida legislature is poised to vote on whether to allow Florida drivers to display a Christian license plate similar to the one shown to the right. If approved, this will become one of over 100 specialized license plates to choose from. Drivers who choose this plate will pay an additional $25 fee, a portion of which will go to support faith-based schools activities.

Naturally the ACLU is opposed to the plate, so my reaction is to support anything the ACLU is against. On a deeper level though, we need to ask ourselves if this is a good idea. One idea in support of the plate is that it’s voluntary, and if I choose to pay the $25 fee and announce my Christianity in this way, what business is it of the state? An argument against the plate is that it opens the door for other organizations — such as the church of satan, and atheist groups — to propose plates of their own.

What are your thoughts on this? You can respond in one of two ways:

  1. Write and post a comment to this blog. To do that, click on the “No Comments”, “1 Comment”, etc. link below. To leave a comment, you’ll have to leave your name (it could be just your first name, or even an alias or a screen name) and your email address (emails aren’t kept or even checked for validity, so you can make one up — if you’d rather not make one up, use this real one, which is one of mine: bogus@afwings.net).
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For more information about the Florida proposal for a Christian license plate, see OneNewsNow.com.

People “who need no repentance”

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Is there such a person? Jesus made such a reference in Luke 15:3-7:

“I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.”

So to whom exactly is the Lord referring? Does He mean the 99% who are truly so righteous they literally don’t need to repent? Is He talking about the woman whose heart is in the right place, whose life is focused on Jesus, and has already repented? Perhaps He’s talking about the man who thinks himself righteous, and doesn’t feel the need to repent.

My initial hunch is the second of these three possibilities — the person who has already repented. I don’t believe this to be the true interpretation though, because although this person would certainly fall into the category of those “who need no repentance”, it’s a numbers thing. There won’t be 99 out of 100 in this category.

Actually there won’t be this many in the third category either — the self-righteous. Certainly there will be many more in this category than in either of the other two categories, but the truth is that Jesus didn’t include the rest of humanity in a single category. His point wasn’t to focus on the people who either don’t need to repent or don’t feel the need to. The point to the parable was God’s love for the lost and His joy when one of the lost repents.

If we’re talking numbers, and if Jesus meant for us to take His numbers literally, is it really true that one percent of humanity from the beginning of time to the end will indeed repent and be saved? I don’t know how many will be saved, of course, but it’s my opinion based on Scriptures such as Matthew 7:13-23 that it’ll be a small number. Nineteenth century preacher Charles Spurgeon had many insightful thoughts relating to Scripture, but I must disagree with him on this point. He said in a sermon titled Heaven and Hell that he doesn’t believe the words of Jesus in Matthew 7:14. Spurgeon, explaining why he did not believe that there would be more people in hell than in heaven, said

“Do you think that Christ will let the devil beat him? that he will let the devil have more in hell than there will be in heaven? No: it is impossible. For then Satan would laugh at Christ, There will be more in heaven than there are among the lost.”

I assure you my friend, satan will not be laughing at Christ or anyone else. Among all those in hell, he will be the one most tormented! (See earlier post on the subject.) I could easily get off track here, and I’ll leave the remainder of this study to you. Take away from this discussion the true point of the parable — God loves you, and he is pleased when you repent of your sin, whether it’s the first time, the 49th time, or the 490th time (Matthew 18:22 Open Link in New Window NASV).