There are some things that would seem to be so obviously wrong that I hate to give them any credibility by addressing them. At the same time, there’s always a danger that the uncontested falsehood will be taken for truth.
A few weeks ago, I mentioned that someone had commented on a post I wrote a while back on bilingual ministry. This person expressed concern about the existence of a plot to latinize the United States. (Some extremists call it “La Reconquista”—the reconquest). The implication was that by offering worship in Spanish, we are making it easier for those who scheme to transform this nation.
First off, I know that there are such extremists. I’ve seen them on television. I also know there are white supremacists, anarchists, separationists, etc. The person who wrote urged me to search the Internet; I know that the lunatic fringe is well represented on the Internet. That doesn’t keep them from being the fringe.
Secondly, I have yet to meet anyone in the church with such views. I’m not saying that there aren’t any people like that; the body of Christ is made up of human beings, and you can find just about anything you are looking for. But the typical Hispanic in the United States has no more interest in “latinizing” the U.S. than the average person here has in seeing the United States expand its territory. There are nationalists and tribalists among all groups.
Thirdly, if the people we are reaching out to have such nefarious goals, won’t converting them to Christ help? Especially if we can teach them what so many here in the U.S. seem to miss, the fact that our primary allegiance is to the Kingdom of Heaven and not a nation of this earth. Once they get a grasp on what it means to be a citizen of heaven, any dreams of political coercion of others will fall by the wayside.
All of that fails to mention the biggest and most obvious point: the outreach of the Kingdom of God should never be limited by the interests of a kingdom of this world, neither those of the United States nor any other country.
All wonderfully well-made points, Tim. Blessings to you and others who have committed the time, effort, and resources to be able to proclaim Jesus bilingually and advance the Kingdom across national and cultural borders.
Tim P.
“the outreach of the Kingdom of God should never be limited by the interests of a kingdom of this world, neither those of the United States nor any other country.”
Elegantly stated–cuts like a knife, this one.
–guy
Huzzah! Well said. Keep that prophetic voice coming. I’m afraid there are an abundance of North American Christians holding xenophobic ideas.
The blessing is, those who are bought with the blood of Christ are no longer bound to citizenship of one particular country (nation) or another. In fact, we are not to be known by our alliance to a flag or pledge, but we are to be known for our love because of our citizenship to the true King. (Remember – we call him Lord) Our brothers long ago who were held in high esteem throughout the lands for their honesty, truthfulness, boldness in their faith, yet were they not mowed downed because of nationalistic fever. They did not bow down to the Caesar, nor the kings of the land, or the leaders of the synagogues and were servilely dealt with.
As for the question about those who “cross the border’ and are evangelized, give our lord Lord praise that HE uses HIS people of HIS KINGDOM to call more souls to be saved from the father of lies. We live in a fallen world, we should not act as part of this world and bound ourselves one nation or another , but be bounded to the kingdom of our Lord, so we may be blessed enough that He can use us to show the world His truth, His Spirit, His generosity, His kindness, His love, and in response, there may be some who see the light of Lord shine in us – and they will not care what nation we belong to.
I couldn’t agree with you more, Ed. Thanks for sharing.
In my opinion, you can’t speak out enough on this topic. I’ve just seen a compilation of Facebook status updates where people are saying all sorts of things like “God hasn’t forgotten about Pearl Harbor” regarding Japan’s recent event. I’ll spare you the link, it’s just very saddening the horrible things that are said in God’s name. But, you know this. Thank you for your blogs, they are encouraging.
Dana,
That’s amazing and really, really sad.
Grace and peace,
Tim Archer
I am honored and proud to be a citizen and part of the family–all over the world–of God’s kingdom! I just don’t get why some Christians, who claim to read God’s Word, are still so partial and prejudice. What a priviledge we have to learn about each other’s cultures and languages. Teaching and encouraging each other and learning to live obediently like Jesus did is what it should all be about. I love it! And want more of it! Like Heaven!!