Missing the Point?

July 7, 2015
Midland, Texas
It is obvious to all of us that our country, our culture has moved into a sin spiral the likes of which we have never seen before.  Romans 1 stands out as do many other passages as warnings and harbingers of where we are and where we are going.
What concerns me is that there seems to be, among many believers and especially those who are of some note and reputation, a greater concern of the policy and politics than for the individual holiness God calls us to.  It seems that the battle is misplaced, at least to me.  Where many seek to "reclaim" America for Christ they ignore the primary mandate to be holy as God is holy.  We, I fear, are missing the point!
Though people in our country make a claim to Christ, the country itself was never intended to be a "Christian" nation.  Is that not the whole point of the First ammendment.  Are we not prohibited from establishing any religion, even if it is Christan?  But that's not my true concern nor my point.
My point is that admidst all the hoopla and fuss over the recent legal and cultrual changes we have experienced we have lost sight of our prime directive.  We are to be holy as He is holy.  You will find no "cultural mandate" beyond proclaiming the Gospel in all of the New Testment.  We are to proclaim  HIm and His death and resurrection until He comes again.
I am not, by any means, a theological giant.  For me the simplicity of the Good News is critical.  But man likes to take the simplicity of the Gospel and twist it into some geo-political, cultrual cause.
As C.S. Lewis notes in the Screwtape Letters we are little satified to simply be Christians.  We have a tendency to attach some cause or secondary calling to our faith and we make it the litmus test for believers.  Whether it's abortiion, education, gay marriage or gun control somehow we raise these issues to a level they little deserve or meriit.  We make them a criteria by which we measure the health and viability of the faith.  We do this both on an individual and collective level.
I am tired of srmons dealing with "issues" when I should be hearing sermons on the Gospel.  I am tired of this misdirected war against a sinful culture when we should be fighting the sin that lies within us.  I am tired of "causes" being hung on the Gospel like ornaments on a tree.
I am tired of a lack of an expectation of holiness in the individual life and the ife of the church.  I am tired of the fear that is growing about persecution and a denial of our religious liberty - especially our iberty of conscience.
When will we e accept that the world hates us?  When will we accept tht tribulation and persecution and trials are actually the "norm" of the Christian life?  When will we place a greater emphassis on personal holiness than we do on whether or not we fly a Confederate flag?
I know many will take issue and claim that our battle is for the culture - for the country but that is not what we are called to in the Scriptures.  I fear that these diversions and additions are draining the energy and resources that are better aimed at proclaiming the Gospel and facilitating the conforming of believers to Christ-likeness.
Am I wrong?  I fear we have lost our "first love," and have ceased, as the Body of Christ and individuals, to do the first works, the prime works, the works to which we are called.