This weekend I had the opportunity attend a conference featuring some of the more powerful speakers who left no doubt that our country was founded by strong Christian men on a foundation of Biblical principles. The crowd bought their books and were motivated to go out and change the world... or at least their corner of it. The question that kept running through my mind was, does that motivation carry over into the next work week... or month?It's easy to get psyched up when we are with hundreds of people with the same values. It can be at a conference or a tea party... or even chatting with friends over a cup of coffee. We can pound our chests and declare our victory. But so often, our enthusiasm evaporates like the morning mist when we leave the protective confines of philosophical peers. It's human nature.
We want to be liked. We don't want to be the odd ball. We don't want others to think us foolish or stupid. This is why, rather than facing her squarely on issues, the formerly mainstream media can only paint Sarah Palin as a dullard and her fans even more dimwitted. It's the ridicule Saul Alinsky advised his followers to use when they were intellectually outclassed.
However, sooner of later, we have to come to a decision point. We have to decide whether we want to be comfortable for the moment as our country falls apart around us or will we endure the discomfort of doing what we know is right? Most of us, by nature, are not confrontational. Most of us have learned from our youth to be agreeable and obey laws and not make waves.
We need to look back at twelve men who changed their world who started out by pulling nets loaded with foul smelling fish from the Sea of Galilee, others could have been tradesmen, one was even a tax collector. None of them were part of the elite ruling class, yet, they believed and they turned the world upside down.
They tended to be uneducated, but they were not ignorant or stupid men. They were not orators whose silver tongues entranced their audiences. They were simple men who had the audacity to believe in what they were doing and the power behind them. When they were sent out to spread the good word, they were told, "I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves." (Matthew 10:16)
The disciples were equipped because they were willing and believed, not because their walls were adorned with diplomas from the finest universities of their day. They were sent out to get the job done... and they did. Their victories were not without hardships as this instruction was followed up with, "Be on your guard against men; they will hand you over to the local councils and flog you in their synagogues. On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you." (Matthew 10:17-20)
The thing these men had was a focus on the job at hand, not the preservation of status, creature comforts, or even the avoidance of trouble. These followers of Jesus were transformed from the timid twelve hiding in an upstairs room after their leader had been killed, to band of powerful evangelists. If we are to turn around the free fall of our land, we too need to set aside our timidity. "Question with boldness" we are told. But we to do more than question... we also need to act with boldness.
This means doing what we know is right, and, as the disciples were advised. We also need to be careful who we trust. Established party operatives are already trying to fold our effort and enthusiasm into their agenda... some are falling for their flattery and schemes, many are not. We are off to a good start, but have to watch that we are not seduced and neutered by the machinations of party bosses.
Victory can be ours if we will just stay true to the founders values and plug into the power that drove the disciples to proclaim the word. We shouldn't be too worried about God being on our side... but we had batter make sure we are on His side. This will keep us from going off on distracting tangents or being used by those with corrupting schemes.