More than 900 people have now died in the coronavirus outbreak as tens of thousands of people in China have been infection by the virus. There have been horror stories of the handling of the outbreak. Last week, videos were posted on social media which showed Chinese citizens apparently being forcibly taken into quarantine.
In Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, Christians have taken to the streets to hand out masks and share the love of Christ with those in a city who’s been ravaged by the virus. (more…)
Sri Lankan citizens in the aftermath of Easter terrorist attack: Twitter
If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.
-John 15:18
A series of coordinated terrorist attacks rocked Sri Lanka on Easter morning. More than 290 people lost their lives in the attacks, with hundreds more wounded. The attacks were carried out against churches during Easter services while other bombings targeted hotels.
Many of the details are still being sorted out. According to the BBC, at least 24 arrests have been made but the Sri Lankan government has not yet identified suspects or a group that they are representing. Extreme measures such as a governmental shutdown of social media sites and an imposed curfew were enforced in an attempt to regain control of the situation.
Sri Lanka is an island nation located to the south east of India. It’s a country with a population of 21 million. Christians make up about 7% of the population.
Thanks for reading! I’d love to hear what you think, and don’t forget to subscribe!
Josh Benner has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He has served churches in Minnesota and Illinois. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in St. Louis.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons @Frank Licorice
Pastor and theologian Tim Keller had an op-ed in the New York Times last week entitled “How do Christians fit into the two-party system? They don’t.”
In the piece, Keller outlines the complexity of the situation for Americans in the political arena. Keller argues (and I agree) that neither political party perfectly encompasses Christian teaching. This can be a challenging view for people because the temptation can be to look at whatever their party is and think “THIS is where real Christians belong. Honestly, I don’t even know if a person can be a Christian and vote for the other side.”
The conservative platform certainly has elements which more closely align with Christianity including traditional marriage values and a pro-life stance.
It is problematic that the democratic party holds to unbiblical beliefs on these issues.
But they’re not entirely wrong and the republican platform is also not perfectly aligned with Biblical teaching. For instance, the Bible does have much to say about care for the poor, those who society looks down upon, and aliens. Now there is room for disagreement on the extent to which social welfare programs should go, but it’s a conversation where there is often greater empathy on the left side of the political aisle.
Both parties have major flaws. One of the unfortunate issues in our society is that we’re losing the ability to see anything good or any redeeming qualities in the political party we oppose.
That’s why I like Keller’s article (and he’s said similar things elsewhere). Because Christians are doing life in a fallen world and that fallenness most certainly carries over into political philosophies.
Some have opted to go a third route which is to remove oneself from the political process. But even being apolitical is to be political. Not taking a stance on major moral evils is taking a stance.
I’ve been saying for a long time that political values are a common idol in our society. Politics matter. But they’re not the end all, be all. And politics are not our hope for a better world. The gospel is.
Again, the point isn’t to totally withdraw from politics. But I think we need to keep our priorities straight. And for Christians, the objective is not to politically conquer our enemies but to love and serve, to spread the gospel and make disciples. And for those who politically disagree, I think we must be respectful and humble. Another key point that Keller makes is that if we get too concerned about prioritizing political beliefs and giving them gospel importance, we are then adding requirements to the gospel. And that’s wrong.
At the end of his piece, Keller says:
The Gospel gives us the resources to love people who reject both our beliefs and us personally. Christians should think of how God rescued them. He did it not by taking power but by coming to earth, losing glory and power, serving and dying on a cross. How did Jesus save? Not with a sword but with nails in his hands.
Thanks for reading! I’d love to hear what you think, and don’t forget to subscribe!
Josh Benner is the associate pastor at Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Fergus Falls, Minnesota and has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in Minnesota.
