TinkerMike

@DefiyantlyFree Well said. Christian nationalism is contrary to the first ammendment. It is also contrary to the bible. Luke 20:25 "And he said unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar's, and unto God the things which be God's."

Someone asked me today about what the difference is between being a Christian in the public square and Christian nationalism. I’ve thought about this a lot, and I can honestly say that my views on the topic have changed slightly. I can’t say they’ve changed a great deal because that would not be true but this last year on the conservative right has really helped me understand what being a Christian in the public sphere means. The line between living out your Christian faith and Christian nationalism is the line between witness and coercion. Living out your faith means letting your convictions shape how you vote, how you raise your children, how you run your business, what you refuse to participate in, and what you are willing to say out loud even when it costs you. That is not Christian nationalism. That is simply being a Christian in public, and the First Amendment was written to protect exactly that. Christian nationalism is the attempt to use the machinery of the state to impose religious conformity, to make the Church sovereign over civil government. On one side, you have Christians shaping the culture through persuasion, example, and unashamed witness. On the other, you have Christians reaching for the sword and the sword has never made disciples. The state can legitimately restrain evil. It can and must prohibit murder, theft, fraud, abuse, and violence, because these are harms against neighbor that any functioning society has to prevent. But the state cannot legitimately compel faith, compel worship, or compel assent to theological claims, because those are matters of the heart, and the heart cannot be reached by law. Protecting children is not a crack in this principle it is a demonstration of what the principle actually means. Children cannot consent to things like transgender surgery or gender, affirming care. They cannot make these kinds of life altering decisions because they are children, and as a result of that as adults in the society, we are required to protect them. When they are adult adults if they want to use their own money to do things like that that will be their choice as long as they’re not breaking the law or hurting other people, but as children, it is our duty and it is the government’s duty to protect children. Adults on the other hand are free to do whatever they want as long as they are not breaking the law or harming other people. If we want to change the culture and I think we should want to change the culture, the way to do that is to live out our Christian faith in a way that will inspire those around us to seek the truth of the gospel. The progressive left has spent fifty years using the state to impose a secular moral vision on speech, education, family, and conscience. A part of the religious right wants to respond by saying, fine, we will use the same tools to impose ours. But we must understand that coercion doesn’t produce morality or faith or anything other than blind obedience. If you’re lucky. The answer to progressive coercion is not conservative coercion. It is the dismantling of the machinery of coercion itself, and the return of soul-formation to the institutions actually designed for it. And that is an extremely difficult task that has to come from our churches and our homes. Those churches and those homes that are going to raise the next generation of leaders that people can vote into into office. Families, churches, schools, neighborhoods that’s where that happens. The state’s role is not to occupy this space. It is to protect the space, so that real formation can happen within it. And our role is Christians until such a time as those spaces are no longer occupied by values that we don’t condone is to keep our children out of them. Our role is Christians is to vote for leaders who will advocate for good policy. That will keep those spaces safe for us to be able to nurture society in. Coercion is easy. What’s much harder is changing hearts and minds.

@LaurenWitzkeDE God knew all along.

In 2016, I truly believed Trump was “anointed and appointed by God for such a time as this” Now, I realize why women should never be pastors or leaders with any kind of spiritual authority in the church.

@DefiyantlyFree Our biggest problem has always been the sinful nature of mankind.

I miss the days when our biggest problem was the left.

@DavidFischer Pong on an old black and white TV.

I need something different on the timeline for a moment. What was the first gaming console you ever played on?

@churchtalkative If the bible says it your opinion doesn't matter.

If the Bible calls it a sin, your opinion doesn’t matter.

@DeeWaynee94 I always wondered what the atheist basis for morality is. Is it absolute? Atheist morality seems like an oxymoron to me.

Atheists hate the flood story because mass drowning children, babies, pregnant women and animals is morally obscene, whether you stamp “divine judgement” on it or not. Interesting how Christians call that justice, then get precious when people notice the same god they market as loving once solved evil with genocide.

@omgsidewalks Heck. Since retirement I do that all the time. Maybe not stay in the house but stay home. For sure.

would you stay inside your house for 7 straight days if someone paid you $850,000

@LangmanVince No. He must have syphilis because he's lost his mind.

Are you still a fan of Tucker Carlson?

What God did in leading the Hebrews our of Egypt was for the benefit of the Hebrews. They needed to be convinced that what Moses was saying to them was true. The signs God showed them were necessary to get them to leave the comforts of their captivity. Look how only three days after God parted the Red Sea they all wanted to go back to it rather than face the uncertainty of traveling to the promised land. No way they would have agreed to leave in the first place if it wasn't for the terriblness of the plagues.

@5Solas2 Yup. I was going to say no and I don't need to read that book to know that.

No. Saved you a read.

@ConceptualJames Brand is a crack head. He can say whatever he wants. It doesn't shake my faith and unless he repents he'll answer for his sins.

What kills me today is that they're all mad at that IDF soldier for taking an ax to a fake Jesus in Lebanon but don't care at all that Russell Brand is making out that Jesus was gay, etc., in moderately lurid sexual terms.

@LegendaryEnergy What?

We watched Republicans criticize Zelensky for years because he used the war as an excuse to seize more power. Trump is literally asking citizens to give up their rights for the military because he entered a war he campaigned against. Do you want to give up rights for it?

@Truth_matters20 This is because they view the pope as the ultimate authority and not God's holy word.

Why do Roman Catholics ignore the Bible and just make up whatever they want to?

@1True_American_ Christ is King in heaven at this time. Satan rules the world at this time. That is why the bible says Christians are in the world but they are not to be of the world because those of the world are ruled by Satan.

“If Christianity is false, it is of no importance. But if Christianity is true, it is of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important.” -C S Lewis Christ is King. It’s all true. Do you agree? 🙏🏼

@DBCooperTX It is said that the OT is the NT concealed and that the NT is the OT revealed.

I try to be patient with Christians who believe the New Testament is all that matters, because I used to be one. I'm familiar with all the arguments. However, having now taken the time to study the Old Testament and seeing the deep connections has grown my faith in so many ways.

@vteclimey It takes more blind faith to be an atheist then it does to be a Christian. In that sense it is a religion.

Anyone who says atheism is a religion, is a fucking idiot.

@TheresaArueyin1 True. Many of the Christian tradition viewed words as violence long before the wokesters.

If Jesus came to certain churches today and flipped tables, many would say He doesn’t have the love of the Father.

@ThrillaRilla369 I never had my own care until after I was in the Navy for almost four years.

I read how some of you got a car for graduation...Who besides me worked jobs in school to buy their own car?

@SonofManwithus Take scripture out of context. Insert man's opinions for God's word.

Please help I need some clarification: Many Catholics on this app have been claiming the apostle Peter was the first Pope. My understanding was he died roughly 200 years before the Catholic church was established. So how can this be?

@SonofManwithus Annoy me, no. Sadden me, absolutely.

Are you aware of any false teachings or practices taking place in Christian churches that really annoy you?