The Christian Coalition for…
The president-elect of the Christian Coalition decided to turn down the job today because of “philosophical differences.” It seems that Rev. Joel Hunter had his sights set on issues beyond abortion and gay marriage. His plan made room for other things, like the environment and the poor. As one could guess, his agenda didn’t fly with the coalition’s leadership. They told him things like poverty and the environment “are fine, but they’re not our issues, that’s not our base.”
Let’s consider what Jesus had to say for a minute or two.
In the Synagogue, Jesus read this passage from Isaiah:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:18-19)
In the Parable of the Great Banquet, Jesus said:
“When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.” (Luke 14:13)
When speaking of the final judgment, he said:
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matthew 25:31-46)
Two Things I’m NOT Saying
1. The abortion issue is unimportant and a lost cause.
2. Holding true to God’s word regarding the sanctity of marriage is unimportant.
I understand that it’s not up to one organization to tackle every obstacle in society. I recognize having a narrow mission, in terms of effectiveness, is good. But I’m bothered that any coalition of Christians doesn’t think poverty is one of their issues.
As always, now is a good time to ask how I’m doing in my service to the poor. I could be doing much, much more. How are you doing?
I’m with Ben. The fact that “Christian” is followed by “Coalition” in the minds of most secular people distresses me.
And when I say distresses, I mean it makes me want to vomit.
On the flip side of that, Christians could make a more concerted approach to marginalize the Coalition. I’m not sure how that would look, but I, for one, don’t want them speaking for me.
by Phillip Graham
Hey stranger,
I attended Northland, Dr. Hunter’s church, during high school. He is a very solid biblical teacher, and adjunct professor at Reformed Theological Seminary. He truly cared for the environment and the poor ten years ago, before any of this got any static. He also once helped my little brother out big time on a science project, but that is another story.
Based on their reply to him, I think he made a good choice to step down.
I think it’s organizations like that that people think of when they think of Christianity that make it harder on the rest of us.
But that should challenge us more in our Christianity “to be above reproach” as well.
Good post, Cam.