Faith Challenge for October 2008

Near the first of each month, I post a "Faith Challenge" in this section in order that you might think about it, discuss it with your friends, and respond.  Below is one of these faith challenges. Please email us with your response.

“It’s the economy stupid!” Few things tempt Christians to look past a candidate’s position on moral issues like a candidate’s promise to fix the economy. We say, “God comes first.” We sing “All to Jesus I surrender.” We pray “Thy will be done.” We quote “Seek ye first the kingdom of God”, but far too often they are only words void of any proof from our actions.

So what will it be this year? Will we once again place party ahead of principle and money ahead of morals? Will the stock market and prices at the pump outweigh God’s definition of marriage and the sanctity of life? Will we once again step behind the curtain and pretend it can hide us from Heaven’s view? What will it be? We cannot serve God and money. (Matthew 6:24)

One day Satan encountered a man walking home from church. Recognizing him as a Christian, Satan confronted the man and began slinging evil darts of temptation in his direction. The first dart was thrown at his head, but the Christian was wearing the “helmet of salvation” and the dart fell harmlessly to the ground. Next Satan aimed at his chest, but the evil dart was easily deflected by the “breastplate of righteousness”. Moving further down the man’s body, Satan hurled dart after dart until he reached his feet, but even they turned away the temptations, because he was wearing shoes of the “Gospel of peace”.

Confident with the protection he had against Satan’s deadly darts, the Christian turned and began to walk away. But then it happened. A sharp cutting pain pierced his lower back. He winced and grabbed his hip. As he turned, he found an evil dart of temptation stuck securely in his wallet. Satan found his weakness and hit him where it hurt.

Too many of us are like the man in the story above. We have gone to great lengths to guard ourselves against all kinds of evil, but in the end, it is a love for this world that will be our downfall. Like Lot, who pitched his tent toward Sodom, we too have been distracted by the bright lights of the world. We have compromised our convictions at the expense of our country.

The story is told of some mischievous college students on Spring break who decided to pull a prank on a local department store. Late one evening, they broke into the store and, for several hours, went through all of the items exchanging price tags. Although they stole nothing during their evening’s work, the result of their actions was even worse than if they had. As the doors opened the next morning, shoppers rushed in and discovered the outrageous bargains. Bubble gum was priced at five hundred dollars a pack, but fur coats were on sale for fifty cents. Doughnuts were marked at seven hundred dollars each, but diamonds were on sale at a dollar a dozen. What a mess, and all because someone switched price tags.

Many years ago Satan broke into America’s department store. After switching all of the price tags, Americans rushed in and accepted the changes offering little to no resistance. Job promotions were given a costly price while time with the family was made to look cheap. Two story homes were marked with high value, but two parent homes were tagged “out of season”. “Quality time” was displayed as being “fashionable”, but a “quantity of time” was marked as “unnecessary”. On and on our values have changed until even Christians now pursue material things at the expense of their family. Satan has a way of convincing us that good is evil and evil is good. He loves to twist our standards until he has made us see valuable things as cheap and cheap things as valuable. What a mess he has made of our nation!

Too many Christian’s have given in to the devil’s subtle temptation to exchange God-given values for those of a money-centered world. It is not the economy! And Christians should not feel stupid for thinking otherwise. Our treasure is not in earthen vessels. Our treasure must be in Heaven. We are pilgrims on a journey. The more roots we put down and the more baggage we collect, the harder it will be for us to keep our focus on the journey.

This world is not our home. As we journey through life, our first priority must be to further the values of God and to influence others to do the same. Since God has provided America as a temporary refuge along our journey, we owe it to God to honor Him with the time that we spend here.

2 Chronicles 7:14
"...if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."

Do you believe it? Is your faith strong enough to let God heal our land?

While traveling through the heartland of our great nation, I was riding in a car that had a bumper sticker which simply read, “Morals Matter”. One morning before getting into the car, we noticed a note on the windshield. After plucking it from behind one of the wipers, I held it up so I could see. The message simply read, “It’s the war and the economy stupid!”

Which is it for you? Do morals matter most or is that just a position we take on Sunday? Do you believe that if we elect officials who seek His face that He will take care of the war and the economy? We say, “God comes first.” We sing, “All to Jesus I surrender.” We pray, “Thy will be done.” Do we really mean it?

Note: When I was a teenager, I thought I knew everything. Now that I am much older, I know that I have much to learn. Please feel free to email me with your thoughts on this important topic. feedback@sonnychilds.com

This material was compiled from excerpts out of the book, “A Vote of Conscience” by Sonny Childs.