“When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?” Psalm 11:3
“Woe to those who
call evil good and good evil...” Isaiah 5:20
Have you heard of the Manhattan Declaration? It has been around for awhile, but I’m afraid
not very many Christians are aware of it.
But it could be one of the most important documents produced by the
American church, in our lifetime. It is
a united Christian proclamation put together by a collaborative effort of every
branch of the American Church; Evangelical, Catholic, and Orthodox, and signed
by over 140 leaders from every branch of Christianity.
The Manhattan Declaration (Released November 20, 2009) is a
wake-up call—a call to conscience—for the church. It is also crystal-clear
message to civil authorities that we will not, under any circumstances, stand
idly by as our religious freedom comes under assault.
The Declaration begins by reminding readers that for over
2,000 years, Christians have borne witness to the truths of their faith. This
witness has taken various forms—proclamation, seeking justice, resisting
tyranny, and reaching out to the poor, oppressed, and suffering. Having reminded readers about why and how
Christians have spoken out in the past, the Declaration then turns to what
especially troubles us today—the threats to the sanctity of human life, the
institution of marriage, and religious freedom.
The Declaration isn’t a partisan statement. It acknowledges
that since Roe v. Wade, “elected officials and
appointees of both major political parties have been complicit in giving legal
sanction to the ‘Culture of Death.’” The
result of this bipartisan complicity is an increasingly prevalent belief that
“lives that are imperfect, immature, or inconvenient are discardable.” This
lethal logic produces such evils as euthanasia and the “industrial mass
production of human embryos to be killed” for their stem cells.
The response to this kind of assault on the sanctity of
human life requires what the Manhattan Declaration calls the “gospel of costly grace.” This starts
with the willingness to put aside our comfort and serve those whom the broader
culture would deem outside the scope of its concern and legal protection. The cost may be even higher. Christians may
have to choose between the demands of what St. Augustine called the “City of
Man” and the “City of God”—which, for the Christian, is really no choice at
all.
This kind of principled non-cooperation with “secular left” won’t
be easy—there are signs of a reduced tolerance for that most basic of American
values, religious freedom; Christian organizations are losing tax-exempt status
for refusing to buy in to homosexual “marriage.” Some are going out of business rather than
cave into immoral demands—such as placing children for adoption with homosexual
couples. Conscientious medical personnel are being sued or fired for obeying
their consciences.
Enough is enough. The Church must take a stand. And with the
release of the Manhattan Declaration, that’s exactly what we are doing. Check out the entire Declaration www.manhattandeclaration.org.
Thousands of people are logging on to read and sign the
document.
When you sign this document you are telling the world that
you stand for the sanctity of life and traditional marriage—and that you
cherish your God-given freedom.
May the Lord Bless us as we take this stand,
Pastor Roger
Adapted from an article by Chuck Colson, at
www.breakpoint.org.
