[Thursday's Devotional] - Take care with the God Card

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
James 1: 27 [NIV]

 

This week sees “Super Tuesday” in the US elections of 2016, and by the end of this week the front running candidates for Republican and Democrat nominations will be known – though the decision won’t be taken until July and the election isn’t until November 8th!

 

Recently the Pope and Donald Trump made public comments about each other. Jesus was not a fan of the Religious Leaders of the day in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago and there is often a conflict between religion and the bible as the church is led by humans with failings and a sinful nature who can be polluted by the world.  I don’t pretend to be able to judge whether Trump or Pope Francis is a true Christian, though certainly the latter is more impressive in his actions than the former.  Many US politicians “play the God card” as the attendance at Church in USA is perhaps 3x higher than in the UK (according to Wikipedia).  Whilst man looks on the outside, God looks at the heart – and true Religion is measured by both actions and the strength to avoid “being polluted by the world”.

 

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?  When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?  When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

 

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’  Matthew 25: 37-40 [NIV]

 

What does it mean to be a Christian in 2016?  How can we stand up against the corruption and pollution of the world?  Do our actions reflect the same faith as our words?  

 

Lord, bless the leaders of the Church, especially Archbishop Justin Welby and Pope Francis. Help us to practice true religion in our actions as well as our words, in the name of Christ.  Amen.

 

Dave MacLellan