Saturday, June 26, 2010

Politics trumps the Gospel at Liberty

I don't normally blog on Saturday but I read this (thanks Tom Ascol) and had to point it out, especially to Christian parents who are facing college choices with their kids.

What in the world is going on at Liberty University? The Ergun Caner debacle. Inviting a mormon to speak at commencement. Now here is Jerry Falwell Jr., interviewed by the aforementioned mormon speaker Glenn Beck and in response to Glenn inquiring about the controversy swirling around his invitation to speak at a "Christian" university, Jerry Falwell Jr. says (emphasis added):

JERRY: If we don't hang together we'll hang separately, I mean, that's what my father believed when he formed Moral Majority, was an organization of Mormon's, Catholics, Protestants, Jews, people of no faith. And there are bigger issues now, we can argue about theology later after we save the country. And I really think that we really do need to stand together, it's a critical time in our nation's history, and it's -- I met with a banker this morning, and he was telling me how all the new regulations, how much they're going to cost his bank, and how he's going to have to pass those costs onto the consumers, and he's going to explain how the Congress is hiding how they're paying for this new banking reform bill by taking money out of the federal reserve, and just some scary things that public doesn't even know about. But it's a frightening time in our history, and we appreciate greatly what you're doing to bring all these different groups together, Peter Littleback was so impressive with his book about George Washington, Sacred Fire, and when I got back to Lynchburg after become on your show. And we left my dad's office just like it was when he passed away three years ago, and I didn't notice it before but he had Peter Littleback's book that he purchased three or four years ago open on his desk when he passed away. But you're bringing all these types of people together on your show every day, and it's creating a partnership between groups that may have never talked to each other otherwise, and I think nothing could be more important at this stage of our history

Seriously. The Gospel of Jesus Christ takes second place to promoting conservative politics. Having the right politics trumps denying the Gospel? That is not just a quote of context, that is his whole point in defending bringing a denier of Jesus Christ to address students graduating from a Christian school. Jerry Falwell Jr. is giving credibility to mormonism by linking arms with Glenn Beck and putting the Gospel aside in his Quixotic quest to "save the country".

If that is the mission of Liberty, to "save the country" by joining forces with people who deny Christ and keeping professors who boldly lie about their background and refuse to repent of it, they should stop pretending to be a Christian school concerned with the Gospel and start calling themselves a moralistic conservative worldview training center because that is all it is becoming.

I think this still applies, even at Liberty University. Any parent considering sending their kids to Liberty to get a "Christian education" should consider these words from Paul....

Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, "I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty." (2Co 6:14-18)

1 comment:

Mark said...

There is a strong correlation in America between patriotism and the church. We have this myth of a Christian nation, and certainly this country was founded on the principle of religious freedom, by men who called themselves Christians. However, does any of that mean that God Himself instituted the founding of this country? Don't get me wrong, I am happy to live in America (although as a Christian I believe it is harder to press into the principles of the Kingdom here than in any other nation, where things don't come so easy financially, and the lines between the church and the world aren't so blurred). My point is that our national identity should be strongest in our allegiance to the "holy nation" that He called us to be a part of. As such, my lot doesn't rise and fall based on the rise and fall of America, and I am much more interested in pursuing Christ and being remade in His image, and in establishing community with other believers, than I am in "saving America". What we see today is the inevitable result of democracy, no matter where the start point, in my opinion.