IMHO (In My Humble Opinion)

I know this is long, but it's worth you time.

I am pro-life. I am pro-gun. Pro-freedom. Strong conservative. Pro-birth gender. And so on. But...

There's something going on in America right now that I feel is not what everyone thinks. No I don't believe I have stumbled onto a truth that no one else has. Nothing like that. But consider...

The Conservatives of the US are seeing a great shift in the leadership of a country that was once mostly conservative in nature. This is not about politics so I won’t focus there. But most conservatives identify with a Christian-based idealism of thinking. Meaning that most agree with the concepts and teachings of Christianity and morality. Granted, many do not attend church or live Christian lives, just that their own moral code fits into that category.

Sort of a God, country, family, and cheap beer mindset. I do not mean that as derogatory, but just a reality that makes up many of those who are conservative in nature.

At this time on our country, we are seeing a government that is forcefully taking some of our privileges away. Through various processes and political influences. The reaction from conservatives is overwhelmingly blatant and obvious.

The higher the gas prices, the louder we get (yes, I complain as well). The more they talk about gun control, the more guns and ammo we buy. The harder they push abortion, the more we become involved to fight back. And the list continues with every single issue that comes up. Will there ever be a time when we can settle our differences and live as one nation again? Not likely. The truth is that we broaden our differences daily.

So where is this going?

Here’s a hard truth: Conservatism is not Christianity. The two have many similarities, but they are not the same. Christianity teaches morality at all levels. Conservatism will take that, but it gets a little bit bleached out, if you will, when put into practice.

The reality is that most conservatives know who Jesus is, but couldn’t tell much more than a few lines from Sunday School songs they learned as kids.

Conservatives (not all of them, obviously) worship the morality of Christianity, not the One for whom it is named after. The struggle for all of mankind regardless of their personal beliefs is ongoing. The world is lost. If you are reading this and don’t know Jesus, in the end it makes no difference if you are for AR-15s or against them.

America is in real trouble. But it is expected for a world that turned its back on God hundreds of years ago to eventually come to this place. And when America thought it was no big deal to institute such actions as abortion and anti-biblical actions as the “norm”, we chose a path. That path is called self-destruct. And it is happening now. At least, it is increasing.

So the “Right-Wingers” stand at a precipice. A significant moment whereby a choice is made. Many, many Christians are at this place as well. “Do I go down into the canyon before me and teach those liberals a lesson, or do I maintain the high ground and follow Christ regardless of the cost?”

I don’t mean that to sound arrogant. I am being given the same option daily as I see the path my beloved country has chosen. Not the one I would choose, but the one many are chasing at full throttle.

The conservative mind-set is to pour our greatest efforts into stopping the liberal. Who is no longer our disagreeable country-man, but our enemy.

Which makes my heart skip a beat or two as I look at the immoral stand of the liberal. But how am I responding? Can I continue to truly love the immoral and still vehemently disagree with them?

This is where the conservative finds themselves meandering down the steep, slippery incline to teach that Democrat a lesson. Why? Because it is often assumed by that conservative that they retain the high ground regardless of what they do because their moral standards are based upon the Bible. You know, that book they haven’t read in 20 years, but have 35 copies around the house? Well, 36 if you count the one on their phone.

Does this make sense? We in American will do whatever it takes to prove those who disagree with us are wrong. Doesn’t matter if we destroy anyone or anything in the mean time. Right now in our country we are experiencing something I call a great “filtering” of the Church. What I mean by that is the fight for what is “right” is testing those who claim to be of the Kingdom. The conservative is being “sifted”. And most of us are being found lacking as our attention is glued to Fox news for the latest off center remarks of the President.

I struggle too in that area because I know he is a mess. The whole of our federal government is a mess.

But ask yourself a question: Will my need for the freedom America has had in the past interfere with my true love for God and His commands over my life? Have I allowed myself to be so caught up in the disagreement that I now have certain requirements of my neighbor to love them as myself? The hatred that is frequently spewed by conservatives towards people who are in opposition to their opinions and ideas is sickening.

At no time do I agree with the very basic plans and thoughts of the liberal mind-set. But I am not allowed to hate them. In fact, I am commanded to love them as I love myself. No, I will not back down from my stand. Not as a Christian or as a person that MUST love others.

Love for someone who distinctly disagrees with me is not compromise. I don’t have to impress you. I have to impress God.

This filtering that is happening, I believe, is God reminding those who believe and love Him that the things of Earth are temporary. There are no guns in Heaven. No Republicans or Democrats. No right or left.

That said, I also think that time is drawing nearer. That God is calling the Bride of Christ back into spotlessness. These circumstances that our country has fallen into is pitting the right against the left. Too many of those who are Sunday Christians are jumping on board and showing who they really are. A place where gun rights, anti-abortion marches, birth gender memes, and acceptable gas prices are the new Christianity. A harsh thought, to be sure, but a truth that a Christian should see. At least one that is always seeking God above even His own morality.

Yeah, read that last line again. We can put so much focus on the morality of God that we lose sight of God.