Warts and all

Sturgis 2021

God willing, some of us will be in Sturgis in a few weeks. One of the things we will see will be Mt. Rushmore.

[pic]

Washington

Jefferson

Teddy Rosevelt

Abraham Lincoln

1927 - 1941

Recently I saw a meme with Mt. Rushmore pictured and the caption was that it should be taken down because it was racist.

Washington and Jefferson both owned slaves.

Roosevelt advocated for only the English language to be used.

And Lincoln didn’t feel like he had the legal grounds to abolish slavery.

Lincoln/Jefferson/Washington

The former U.S. presidents’ names have been wiped from San Francisco public schools after the school board decided to rename 44 schools that had “ties to racism” and “dishonorable legacies.”

We are use to cancel culture by now. And to be fair, people should be held accountable for doing and saying bad things.

If someone is in a position of trust, and they violate that trust, they should be removed.

The problem with modern day cancel culture, is that there is no path to redemption.

So I was curious, what would happen if we looked at the Bible and took a cancel culture perspective, would anyone mentioned in the Bible survive?

ADAM/EVE disobeyed God....but in today’s culture, they would be looked at as victims, so they might make it.

Noah only let his family on the ark, and discriminated against people for not believing how he believed, so he’s out.

Abraham told people his wife was his sister and then almost sacrificed one son, and sent the other one away, so he’s got to go.

Isaac, like his old man, said that his wife was his sister to save his own skin. Done.

Jacob impersonated his brother to receive his birthright. Bye.

Joseph was his daddy’t favorite and had a silver spoon, so he already got cancel cultured by his brothers.

Moses killed a guy

Daniel broke the law of man to obey God......He’s out.

Matthew was a tax collector, who worked for the man while becoming rich off his own people.

Peter cut off a cops ear when thew were trying to arrest Jesus. Then flip flopped and denied that he even knew Jesus.

Paul preached persecuted Christians, which would be ok in today’s standards, but then flip-flopped and joined them.

And the list goes on.......

And then Jesus…Jesus was truly the greatest victim of the cancel culture in history.

He questioned the establishment and was murdered.

He was charged with blasphemy, because for a man to make himself equal to God is blasphemy. And the Pharisees were right. If Jesus was only a man, the things He said would have been blasphemy. What they failed to do was address the issue of weather or not the things he said were true.

If it was true that Jesus was worthy of the title of “Son of Man”; If He and the Father were one; If Jesus was worthy of the statement, I AM, claiming to be God, he couldn’t be guilty of blasphemy, because God can’t blaspheme Himself.

That is the question each and every one of you must answer for himself and herself. Was Jesus who He said that He was?

Did He really live? Did He really die? And, did he really raise to life on the third day?

If it is not true, then eat, drink and be merry, but if it is true, then there is nothing in your life more important than knowing Him. Then pursuing Him. Then following Him, Then obeying Him.

Back on track. The founding fathers.

See if you can silence them with cancel culture, you can dismiss everything that they said or did.

Ad Hominem attack.

Ad Hominem - Against the man.

It is where someone attacks the person, rather than attacks the argument.

If I say that Michael Jordan is the best basketball player to ever play in the NBA and you counter that argument, with, “you’re ugly.”

That is an AD HOMINEM attack.

If you can get people to dismiss anything the founders said, because the did or said something that would be offensive in today’s standards, what would that mean for our country.

Well what did they say?

"Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become more corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters." Benjamin Franklin

“In the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior. The Declaration of Independence laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity.” John Quincy Adams

“Let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.” George Washington

“This is all the inheritance I can give to my dear family. The religion of Christ can give them one which will make them rich indeed.” Patrick Henry

Not only were most of the founding fathers Christian, but even the ones that were not explicitly followers of Jesus, the recognized that Christian moral values were essential to our freedom as a nation.

The Declaration of Independence

In Congress, July 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--

If you remove God, you remove the reason we have the right to be free.

There is no freedom apart from Christ.

John 8:31–32 NASB95

31 So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

John 8:33 NASB95

33 They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, ‘You will become free’?”

John 8:34–36 NASB95

34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. 35 “The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. 36 “So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.

I want to look at this verse a little more closely.

John 8:34 NASB95

34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.

Drug/ Alcohol Addiction

Prostitution

Gambling Addition

Porn Addiction

Debt (The borrower is slave to the lender)

Today we as a nation celebrate our independence.

But with Christ, we have so much more to celebrate.

We can celebrate our independence from sin/death.

Galatians 5:1 NASB95

1 It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.

So what do we do with our freedom?

Galatians 5:13–14 NASB95

13 For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”