Since I began my political column over a year ago, I thought I had to decide whether it needed to be political or “Christian.” I’m only now realizing it’s not a matter of politics vs. religion. As I live my faith, my attitudes should reflect my beliefs. Period.
For example, while I believe that low-income students locked in failing government-run schools should be given educational choice to have a chance to make it in this world, I also know their problems won’t be solved politically.
Ultimately, voting for a Republican or a Democrat won’t save you. We, as a fallen world, have a sickness called sin that can only be healed by Christ. All of society’s ills stem from sin. Every single human being is a sinner. The only difference between believers and unbelievers is that believers are forgiven.
We’ve accepted Christ as our personal Savior. We’ve heeded His command to repent of our sins. As unworthy as we are, we’ve asked for God’s forgiveness and accepted the death of His Son on the cross as atonement for those sins. That is what the world needs. Any other solution offered is just window dressing, and my columns must reflect that (unintentional pun!).
Kwanzaa’s Still Hot!
Which brings me to Kwanzaa. The e-mail keeps coming. I am distressed that so-called Christians have responded to my Kwanzaa article berating me for urging blacks to flee this ungodly ritual. I actually get e-mail from Christians who support not just Kwanzaa but Karenga himself — a man who thinks belief in the God of the Bible is nonsense!
I just don’t understand how any Bible reader — as opposed to someone who’s flipped through it — can support new age junk like Kwanzaa. I had to remind one particular Christian that followers of Christ are beholden to Christ. How any Christian could support a spiritualize lie like Kwanzaa astounds me.
What are Kwanzaa’s conflicts with Christianity? They are legion. Regarding Karenga’s “principle” of self-determination, for example, I ask any Christian who practices Kwanzaa: When did Jesus ever say that man was the self-determiner of his life? He explicitly asks us to die to ourselves, pick up our cross and follow Him. We don’t self-determine anything.
Another principle of Kwanzaa is “Purpose.” According to the Official Kwanzaa Web Site our purpose (Blacks?) is “to make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.” But any Bible-reading Christian knows our purpose is to glorify God in all we do, not ourselves. Any “greatness” we have is attributed to Him.
What of his faith principle? According to Karenga himself, our faith is “to believe with all our heart [sic] in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.” Faith in whom? Karenga is talking about faith in something other than Jesus Christ: Ourselves!
I recommend you visit The Truth about Kwanzaa, a great resource. Here’s a link to an interesting discussion started on World Magazine’s blog. Here’s a link to a not-so-interesting discussion on the Baltimore Sun discussion group.
Remember what Jesus said: “For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.” Matthew 24:24
