A while back, I wrote about the idolatry of religious freedom. The subtle seduction of this standard is hard to overstate, especially for those of us who grew up in the United States. It only seems logical that this freedom would be one of the most important freedoms that Christians should seek to protect.
Logical, maybe, but hardly biblical. I’m not saying that we should seek to lose this freedom that we enjoy, but like all of our rights, it must never stand in the way of the good of the Kingdom. (See Paul’s discussion about this in 1 Corinthians 9)
I spent last week in Cuba, part of the time in Matanzas, part of the time in Havana. I heard the “party line” straight from the mouth of Communist officials and was reminded of the limits placed on the church there. I also saw a healthy, vibrant church that is growing by leaps and bounds.
I was struck yesterday by the contrast between what goes on in Cuba and what goes on in the United States. I see Christians here in the States spending endless time debating politics, while Christians in Cuba are about the business of spreading the gospel.
The church here is stagnated. The church in Cuba, in a Communist country with limits on their religious freedom, is growing and growing.
Which scenario do you think is more pleasing to God? While we spend our time protecting our economy, our democracy and our religious freedom, we leave the business of God’s Kingdom untended. Of course, it’s not the Kingdom that is worse off for that. It’s us, our children and this country.
The look of joy on her face after her baptism taught me a lot about what really matters in life. I wrote about that on the HopeForLife.org blog, in an article called “
Now, I don’t doubt that she mentioned that to me in hopes that I could do something. And I plan to find out if anything can be done. From what she told me, I don’t even know if we can get a wheelchair in Cuba. But what I want to tell you is this: her faith doesn’t depend on her being healed. It doesn’t even depend on her getting a wheelchair. She has the joy of the Lord in her present situation, horrible though it is.
Sunday is always a special day, but Sunday in Cuba consistently stands out from other Sundays. This one was no exception. Tony F. picked us up and took us to the church building in Matanzas. It now really is the church’s building; in January the church was granted the title to this building (it belonged to Tony in the past; since no one can own more than one house, Tony passed this one to the church to preserve his family home. We arrived pretty much right on time, and a crowd of hundreds had already gathered. People we’ve met over the years were joyfully greeting Steve and me and were no less effusive in greeting Bill, whom they had never met.
Many were present from the mission churches, as Tony calls them, the 19 congregations that the Matanzas church has started since 2006. Most of those churches have problems finding anywhere to baptize, so they take advantage of the moment when they visit the Matanzas church. We lost track of the number of baptisms, knowing that it was at least two dozen and possibly three.