Expanding the Scope of the Christian Agenda
April 9, 2007
I came across a great article on CNN the other day written by Roland Martin, who is a CNN contributor, a Chicago radio talk-show host, and author of Listening to the Spirit Within: 50 Perspectives on Faith.
He starts off by asking, "When did it come to the point that being a Christian meant caring about only two issues, abortion and homosexuality?" and goes on to point out that issues such as poverty, homelessness, and divorce seem to have become an afterthought to the aforementioned two issues.
"The point is that being a Christian should be about more than abortion and homosexuality, and it's high time that those not considered a part of the religious right expose the hypocrisy of our brothers and sisters in Christianity and take back the faith. And those on the left who believe they have a 'get out of sin free' card must not be allowed to justify their actions."
I, for one, agree whole-heartedly and was glad to come across someone else who believes the same!
"If abortion and gay marriage are part of the Christian agenda, I have no issue with that," he adds later in the article. "Those are moral issues that should be of importance to people of the faith, but the agenda should be much, much broader."
This next idea he must have taken right from my brain: "I'm looking for the day when Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Joyce Meyer, James Dobson, Tony Perkins, James Kennedy, Rod Parsley, 'Patriot Pastors,' and Rick Warren will sit at the same table as Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Cynthia Hale, Eddie L. Long, James Meek, Fred Price, Emmanuel Cleaver, and Floyd Flake to establish a call to arms on racism, AIDS, police brutality, a national health care policy, our sorry education system."
Again, he took the words from my own mouth. And what about the issues of animal cruelty, domestic abuse, and pornography, just to name a few? Are they no longer in vogue?
If these high-profile Christians really love and worship one God, one Jesus, let's see them rally their members behind one agenda.
As expected, the article ends strong: "If you concur, it's time to stop allowing a chosen few to speak for the masses. Quit letting them define the agenda. So put on the full armor of God because we have work to do."
Absolutely.