Jesus and People Like Us

Jesus and people like us by Daniel Gardner, Special to the Gazette

We were talking the other day and he said, “I have to say, our society has changed dramatically since the first decade of this century. It is a very challenging place for a person of faith. So I want to be close to Jesus, and that is difficult for someone like me.” Well, it’s difficult for most if not all of us.

I enjoy reading a wide spectrum of political and faith-based literature. Remember one of the first crises to hit the new century? Y2K. I don’t know whether it was true, but some computer folks feared computers would crash because they were based on 1900 calendar dates. What would happen when the date rolled over from 1900s to 2000s? It seems trivial now like a fake crisis. And, we’ve endured many fake crises and conspiracy theories since the turn of the century in escalating numbers.

Still, my friend was right when he said our society “is a very challenging place for a person of faith.” Last week the “Federalist” ran an article titled “Christianity Is The Real Target Of All The Hysteria Over’Christian Nationalism’” by Harold Ristau, president of Luther Classical College in Casper, Wyoming.

Ristau has quite an impressive resume as a faith leader and author of several theological books. The article began with this startling question, “Are there any real and credible statistics supporting a menacing movement by Christians seeking to theocratize America with neo-Naziism?”

Christians and Nazis and theocracies ‘O My!’ Menacing movement? Credible statistics? Have we returned to Oz? How many of the accusations against Christians are true, and how many are made up by wizards behind curtains?

Ristau wrote, “Prior to lockdowns, most of us had never heard of ‘Christian nationalism.’ Rather, it appears that the powerful gaslighting term created by neo-Marxists is another attempt to terrify Christians out of sharing God’s perspective on moral issues in the public sphere. It attempts to dissuade Christians from fulfilling their vocational duties in the civil sphere.” We’ve been studying I Peter in our community group at church. Last week we looked at Christian suffering. This week we looked at Christian humility. How do true believers maintain humility when we’re attacked by multiple political groups?

Ristau ended his article with a thoughtprovoking question. “Furthermore, Christians who criticize and discourage active Christian political participation indirectly embrace a national anti-Christian religion that unabashedly pursues the demise of the Kingdom of God and the gospel on earth. Which is a greater threat to church and society: the rhetorical phantom of Christian nationalism, or the real phenomenon of Christian apathy?”

In the Book of the Revelation, Jesus tells the Apostle John to write letters to seven churches: Ephesus had left its first love; Smyrna had tribulation and poverty but was rich; Pergamum had some who held the teaching of Balaam; Thyatira tolerated the woman Jezebel; Sardis had deeds that had not been completed in the eyes of God; Philadelphia had a little power and had kept Jesus’ word; and, finally Laodicea was neither cold nor hot, so Jesus spit them out of His mouth.

Throughout the ages Christians have seen similarities with each of the seven churches. People of faith always live in challenging places. So we want to be close to Jesus, and that is difficult for people like us. Page A2 Thursday, May 8, 2025 MAGNOLIA GAZETTE