Wandering Crusader #261 Light

Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid... Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.   Matthew 5:14,16

Many people say that our country was not founded on Christian principles. I don’t engage them in debate mostly because, in part, this is true to an extent. Christianity is not a republic; it is a kingdom, so differences in thinking cannot help but exist.

That said, there are stunning similarities that are not accidental nor coincidental. As originally understood and interpreted, the Constitution, with its separation of powers, checks and balances, and rather unwieldy method of legislating, is based on the founders’ belief that humans don’t change. The desire to “be as gods” in Adam is central to human thinking and desire regardless of race, gender, or lifestyle choice. It cannot be erased by human effort. The best that can be done is to limit its effect, and that’s what the founders had in mind.

This idea of human constancy driven by selfish lusts is at the core of Christianity. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. In its natural state, the human heart is desperately wicked. Humanity in its natural state was the subject of men like Locke, Rousseau, Voltaire, and others of their ilk, was required reading for these men. If they believed in Christian salvation, they did not plan for a Christian utopia, only a country where salvation could be pursued.

Neither did they plan for their country, though built on commerce, to export its Constitution around the world. It was written for this country and this country only. What the world beyond our shores did was none of our concern except when it endangered our country. We would be an example, but no more. This is a Christian principle that is largely ignored in Christian practice of our day.

We are a light set on a hill, a beacon, an example to others, and not an imposer of our beliefs beyond the kingdom. That does not prohibit evangelism, on the contrary, it is the foundation for soul winning. Who is easier won, a man who comes to you with questions about your good behavior or the man confronted in the marketplace with his sin?

Peter offers a path to soul winning. But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: Living out the kingdom principles will result not only in our salvation, but in that of those who see the light it shines.

Maranatha