And here’s what makes that point of view so hard to swallow for a lot of folks who frequent FR:
One side of the gospel looks downright LIBERAL.
Now it doesn’t call for governments to go to huge impossible lengths to try to establish utopias. But it doesn’t exactly shy away from “defend the cause of the orphan and the widow” either.
And in this age of government uber alles, the work of the church has become quite flaccid. A false idol has been raised. The people of God have gotten etiolated. The work of the church is the thing that people know by intuition needs to exist in order to buoy our existence in this world out of hell. Where is it? Secular liberalism attempts to fill the vacuum, but it cannot do so and the results of its trying are tragic.
Can we show the world the heart of God again somehow, and thus put the tawdry imitations raised by secular liberals to shame?
The Lord has gradually gotten my attention as to my own wrong attitude by using these words:
“And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.”—2 Tim. 2
I’m not declaring victory yet, but thanks to Him I can see some of how my “FR attitude” has been out of joint with His will. Like you said, the GOSPEL is our Divine Weapon!
That is the Church (as a voluntary, local association) has been replaced by the State (taxation at the point of a gun) as the foundation of the local community.