Infiltrate

"We can, by God's grace, train these students to infiltrate the industry with the Gospel message."


I read these words in a magazine recently. Infiltrate caught my attention. Perhaps because generally I think of it in terms of something secretive like spying. (Well, I have just recently finished Shadow Warriors and I'm watching "24" so maybe I have spying on my mind too much.) But the more I thought of it, the more I kind of liked the idea of infiltrating society with God's good news. I thought how light infiltrates darkness and darkness flees! Perhaps Jesus had this in mind when He told us to let our lights shine and not to hide them under bushels. How much is our light influencing or infiltrating society?

On the way to SC a few days ago, I read this article by Kathleen Parker, "Christian Right's Facing Its Own Cultural Crisis."

Of interest to me especially were these words.

Deace's point was that established Christian activist groups too often settle for lesser evils in exchange for electing Republicans. He cited as examples Dobson's support of Mitt Romney and John McCain, neither of whom is pro-life or pro-family enough from Deace's perspective.

Compromise may be the grease of politics, but it has no place in Christian orthodoxy, according to Deace. Put another way, Christians may have no place in the political fray of dealmaking. That doesn't mean one disengages from political life, but it might mean that the church shouldn't be a branch of the Republican Party. It might mean trading fame and fortune (green rooms and fundraisers) for humility and charity. . . .

For Christians such as Moore – and others better known, such as columnist Cal Thomas, a former vice president for the Moral Majority – the heart of Christianity is in the home, not the halls of Congress or even the courts. And the route to a more moral America is through good works – service, prayer and education – not political lobbying.

Moore says: "In the modern era of the Christian right, we have traded these proven methods for a mess of pottage … and often in a shrill and nagging manner, which makes our God look weak in the eyes of the world." . . .

"If people who call themselves Christians want to see any influence in the culture, then they ought to start following the commands of Jesus, and people will be so amazed that they will be attracted to him," Thomas told me. "The problem isn't political. The problem is moral and spiritual." (emphasis mine)

A few hours later I was walking, thinking of what I'd read earlier. This verse came to mind.


"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." (Mt. 5:16)


Soooooo....according to Christ's own words what glorifies God? Letting our lights shine so that people see our good works! Maybe instead of being known for what we are against, we should be known as the most loving and serving people in the world. (Think of Jesus' example.) Obviously our political involvement hasn't been effective. Why did we really think it would be? Can politics, rules and government legislation change human hearts? Perhaps we have been focusing too much on what WE could do to influence people by our human laws instead of remembering that only God can change people. Our jobs are to shine! To infiltrate the darkness with our lights. So that people can see our good works and glorify our great God!

Just something to think about. And this is from someone who was involved in politics years before I could vote.