Precisely. He is only seen now as ‘overtly political’ because back int he time of his father, there was wide bipartisan agreement on the degeneracies confronting American societies today. You could find card-carrying Democrats coal miners in West Virginia who always voted blue but were as disgusted as any conservative over the idea of murdering children and sanctioning perversion.
Its now political because only one party (and lets be honest, barely one party) is standing by the principles of truth.
Same thing with the accusations of an increasingly ‘extreme’ Republican party. No, they hold the same positions they have for generations, but the other party and society in general have moved off in the direction of Marxism.
I applaud Graham for saying this at a time when it is increasingly unpopular to take a stand even among so-called Bible-believing Evangelical Christians, especially his line about how Christ was a target and so must we expect to be targets. It is written as such! Why would the lost persecute the master and spare the servant?
He takes a principled stand and is correct to do so. Many Christians are either tacitly accepting defeat and allowing the next generation of Christians to defect from the Word, or they are looking to just segregate themselves from public life. Some who are tired of the culture wars and churches that engage in them are part of a small phenomenon of a growing Orthodox community in the US, eager to be part of a church under the radar that still holds Biblical truth inviolably. I read an interesting article on this recently.
These are trying times to be Christian in America. Even more trying in Western Europe or Canada. By contrast it is becoming even more of a rich experience to be Christian in Central Africa, Eastern Europe, and many parts of Asia. Just as persecution has shown the steely resolve of some Christians in the Middle East, so it will here. The wheat shall be separated from the chaff. There are sunshine Christians just as there are sunshine patriots, but unlike patriotism that hinges on the worthiness of a nation to be patriotic for, the Christian has a faith he should always be willing to defend.
It doesn’t mean you have to put on armor to fight a culture war. You just have to know what you believe, and be ready to defend it rather than deny it, no matter the consequences.
It is a Christian duty to raise children with a message in this day and age. There is God, and there is the world. Some live for God, and most live for the world. But those who live for the world die with it. those who live for God shall live forever.
Well said!