A Christian Responsibility

I see loads of blogs about the way that the US is going to hell in a handbasket (so to speak...). The comment sections of these tend to dissolve into 2 factions. First off, let me say that I really do not know why I read the comments on pretty much anything. They typically make me lose all hope for the future of humanity. And they make me want to punch numerous people in their stupid faces.
Moving on...
Those two factions are usually as follows:

Faction 1: Die-hard Christians. They say things such as "If we repent and turn to God, he will heal our land!" "This is all because we have not supported Israel! We turn our back on God's chosen people, He turns His back on US!" They take Bible verses, switch the words around, pretend that they are original words, and rant about how, if we would obey God, he would bless our country.

Faction 2: Die-hard everyone else. They say, "Well, I don't believe in God, so why would I do what he says? Following some old book won't change anything." "Have we forgotten that christians were behind the crusades?" "All this country needs is to return to the dark ages." They spout a lot of generalities about every bad thing ever done by people who claim to be 'christians', especially those who did not act at all like Christ. If all else fails, they bring up Kim Davis and consider the argument won.

Both factions use a lot of capital letters, as though they are actually shouting at each other, and some of the worst spelling in the whole of the internet (which is saying a lot). Basically, both are an embarrassment to the beliefs that they hold, no matter how accurate their beliefs.

I must say though, in one way, I have always agreed with the 2nd faction. Why on earth would they obey God? Why would we, who believe in God, expect them, who don't, to think that following what they say is an old fiction book (the Bible), because that is how the country will be made strong? It would be like them telling us that if we follow the principles in Arabian Nights because then a Djinn will fix all of our problems.

This is our responsibility as Christians. We are the people who are supposed to be following what God has told us to do. We can't expect people who don't believe as we do to follow the principles we hold dear, especially when we frequently don't follow them ourselves. We prefer to spend our time on forums, griping that atheists aren't obeying God.

I was at an event tonight, called Bringing Back the Black-Coat Regiment. The speaker was talking about what our responsibilities are as Christians, even in government. He pointed out that, God created government, and we are not meant to be removed from it. But we also cannot temper our Christianity to be part of the government. And we can't say, "Oh well, no one else is following God, so why should I worry about doing what I should do? What I do won't be enough to make a difference."
Because, guess what. If you know what you are supposed to do, any you don't do it, you are among those dooming your country. One of the things the speaker said was "God will bless or curse America according to the way Christians take."
As churches, and as individuals, are we pursuing God? Are we praying for our country and the leaders of our country? And the future leaders of the country? Or are we just complaining about and badmouthing those leaders? Are we willing to stand up and fight for our liberty? Preachers fought in the army during the Revolutionary war, and many died. They knew what they were fighting for, and they knew what the cost might prove to be. Anymore, we're too afraid to even offend people. It's so important to be politically correct, and we try so hard for it that most people don't even know our beliefs.  

Don't worry about how well atheists are following God. Don't worry about how well gay people are following God (oh yeah, and that brings up the point that we are supposed to love people, instead of hating them as we've gotten really good at...but that's for another day.). Worry about how you are following God. Worry about how your church is following God. Worry about praying for your country and the people living in it. Only in that way will we get the US out of the handbasket it is in. And seriously? Stop arguing with people on the internet...