March 14, 2018
“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.” – Matthew 24:35
Today, March 14th, many students across the country will be organizing a walk-out at their schools in order to protest gun violence. As followers of Jesus Christ, how should we respond to this? Actually, there is a larger question here; how do we respond to any of the multitude of political issues that we face in our day and time? That is a very complex question that I do not have the space here to fully address. But I do believe we can talk about the proper priority in every situation; and that priority is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
I believe it is good and healthy for American Christians to be active and have a voice in politics. However, we cannot fall into the trap of lost-world thinking. To those outside of Christ, politics, governments, and laws are their only hope for better living. However, we, as followers of Jesus Christ clearly understand that this world is passing away. The government structures in place and the laws we pass will not rescue us. All they do is simply make our time on this earth more bearable. The core reason children are killing one another in schools is not a lack of laws, but the presence of sin. The evils we see in our society always have sin at their core. And since this is the case, the Saving Gospel of Jesus Christ is truly the only solution to these problems. Everything else is just a band-aid. So vote, protest, write to your congressman, or whatever else you feel led to do. But brothers and sisters, all of that work is empty and meaningless if you are not first and foremost sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which is the only thing that holds the power of God for the Salvation of everyone who believes (Romans 1:16).
In Christ’s Service,
Pastor Shane Cannon
