Serving our communities!

 

Did you know there is a Whitehouse office to help coordinate Faith Based Initiatives? This was established by the Bush administration in the past. I really don't know how effective they are. I just know that I am so dismayed at the lack of cooperation between the Church and the government of our country. Yes, I am fully aware of the separation of Church and state. Yes, I would NOT want our government to "establish a national religion." (Who knows what that would look like, YIKES!) But the hostility between our faith and the government continues to grow. YES, we disagree on many social issues and we cannot compromise those beliefs. But, this disagreement has broken a valuable relationship. The community support and charitable dedication of Christians is second to none. Yes, we fight abortion. We also are the greatest supporters of adoption, providing real care for single mothers, and counseling services. We fight for a cause and provide valuable support for solutions. The more the government fights against the Christian faith, the harder it is to support a community that needs help in so many ways. 

As an example, there is a local church that coordinates with DCS to help children who are placed in foster care under emergency situations. They provide clothing, bedding, and whatever else these children or their foster families need to survive unthinkable circumstances. That type of FAITH-BASED initiatives need the complete and unwavering support of our government. 

I was reading Ezra 6 today. There really is nothing particularly noteworthy in this chapter except to marvel at the cooperation between the Persians and the people of Judah who were trying to rebuild the Temple. There had been extreme opposition from the locals and work had stopped on rebuilding God's Temple in Jerusalem. But a friendly request was sent to King Darius to check the archives for the decree which gave permission to Israel to rebuild. Amazingly, the decree was found and the King immediately put an end to the opposition. He followed through on a commitment made by his government. He could have put all sorts of restrictions on his help. He could have offered the assistance with a boatload of red tape and unreasonable demands. But he didn't.

"Do not disturb the construction of the Temple of God. Let it be rebuilt on its original site, and do not hinder the governor of Judah and the elders of the Jews in their work. Moreover, I hereby decree that you are to help these elders of the Jews as they rebuild this Temple of God. You must pay the full construction costs, without delay, from the taxes collected in the province west of the Euphrates River so that the work will not be interrupted." (Ezra 6:7,8)

The King was honorable in that he followed through on a promise made during his predecessors, King Cyrus's administration. The fact that the government funded this project is no less amazing than it would be today if the government funded a "religious project." Was King Darius a follower of God? No, but he honored and respected the faith of the Jews and he felt obligated the follow through with a promise made in the past. He valued the partnership and realized his government would function on a higher level if there were not this barrier between the Jews and the Persians. 

We should NOT compromise our values to get assistance from the government. However, we should also not place unreasonable demands upon the government when we offer assistance. We are called to serve our communities and that means doing everything we can to work within the framework of our government and its regulations. We are to be a light in the darkness. Cooperation and not opposition, THAT should be our goal whenever possible.