Hank Williams, Jr. once sang a song entitled, "The Coalition To Ban Coalitions." Although recently ol' Bocephus and I parted ways over differing political ideologies and a few terrible songs, I do agree that we have too many groups "ag'in" things. This is especially true for churches. A Facebook friend posted the other day, "Wouldn't it be nice to be known for what we are for, rather than what we are against?" I couldn't agree more. We spend hours in the pulpit condemning sexual immorality, gambling, abortion, drug abuse, divorce, etc, yet we hardly reach out to those suffering from the effects of those very sins.
Recently, a well known baptist pastor headed up the opposition to expanded gambling legislation in Kentucky. In one of his Facebook posts he said, "Everyone who comes to _____ ______ Church for help with gambling addiction will receive the cell phone number to every senator that voted for it." Call me liberal, but that's a little too far right for me. Call me a realist, but gambling exists, legally or illegally. The message I infer is they would rather insult legislators than help people with inevitable addictions.
Do we need to stand up for what we believe in? Absolutely, but I have never believed blowing up an abortion clinic or threatening an abortion doctor was the answer to the question: WWJD? Nor is name-calling or saying you will "reveal that senator's sins to the world." Last I checked, that is Jesus' job, not ours. I'm sorry, Pastor York, but this pastor here doesn't see opposing expanded gambling as "spiritual warfare." To me, "spiritual warfare" is battling Satan over the souls of God's creation, not battling the legislature over public policy.
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