於2020-03-25發佈


一個新世界—美國遺產概要7

不尊榮美國開國父老史無前例的卓越成就將是悲劇性的錯誤,我們也必須尊榮將他們的工作持續向前推動的人。要這麼做,我們必須從他們的錯誤中學習,好讓我們不會繼續重蹈覆轍。

在贏得獨立戰爭並設計一個史無前例的政府後,美國跟其他國家相比算是一個嬰兒。再完美的嬰兒都是一團亂且很脆弱。當我們共和國要邁向300年,跟別的國家比起來我們仍很年輕。我們有許多地方仍待成熟,邁向成熟的同時以為不會碰到問題是很愚蠢的想法。

開國父老所犯的最大錯誤是沒有執行在獨立宣言中聲明「一個不證自明的真理」,即是「人生而平等」。此錯誤所帶來的結果是美國內戰,一場在美國歷史上帶來最多死亡、最高代價的戰爭。

我們現在仍在面對此引致內戰之核心價值的妥協,那場戰爭或許終結了奴隸制度,卻沒有終結種族歧視。這仍是今日我們潛在最致命衝突的根源問題。我們如此蒙福能得著人生而平等這樣偉大的啟示,並且能在獨立宣言中帶著能力與說服力清楚表達如此真理,這是非常卓越的。但卻沒有執行他們所宣稱的,這幾乎摧毀他們建立國家的偉大工作。

能被託付真理是很大的祝福,也是很大的責任。聖經申明:知道真理而不去行,或者說知道行善而不去做是更大的罪。我們若回到獨立宣言將其行出來,偉大的宣言便能成就大事,這仍是我們嘗試活出的真理。

直到今日美國的少數族群仍無法看見憲法的重要性,因為對他們毫無作用。沒有錯,是有一些進展在修正此缺陷,但我們若真實相信這是「不證自明的真理」,我們必須定意看見所有種族歧視終止,在建國文獻上所宣告的可以應用在每一個人身上。美國並沒有成為被呼召的樣式,直到我們成為一個真正人人自由、人人平等的國家。

錯誤不在於我們的建國文獻,乃在於沒有實際應用。這是一個普遍問題,總是說的容易或寫的容易而做的難。有時需要時間將一個真理應用在我們的生活中,正如人類行為要立即改變何其困難且罕見。為此緣故,我們必須以謙卑來提出我們國家父老的失敗,禱告恩典活出我們所相信的,以及國家建立之初所陳述的真理。

我們的建國文獻仍是一個政府所能擁有的最佳文獻,但若能將裡面清楚表達的真理行出來會更強大。幾乎我們身為一個國家所面對、現在仍在面對的危機,都是由於沒有活出我們建國文獻所宣告的真理。對這些危機的解決之道是回到我們成為一個國家目的的宣言上,定意要毫不妥協的堅持下去。

要完成此任務,我們必須瞭解立法可以改變行為,卻無法改變人心,政府能做的有限。這是我們人民的責任,提出並正視盲從的邪惡。我們必須定意:美國會成為一片無人因膚色而被評斷的土地,乃是因著品格的內涵而被評斷。這不單是金恩博士的夢想─這更是十足的聖經真理與真正的美國夢。

改變人心是教會的特別委任,教會的存在是為了成為世上的光,這意味著教會有責任將光照進黑暗,並且擁有世界終極問題的答案。美國內戰與民權運動的產生不僅是政府的失敗,更是教會的失敗。

當我們國家跌入黑暗中,那是因為教會的光沒有照亮。當敗壞在地上增加,那是因為教會沒有成為所蒙召的鹽。我們可能需要更好的領袖在政府部門,但我們也需要真正的牧羊人成為教會的領袖。

這並不代表美國的教會對盲從與歧視這等邪惡袖手旁觀,奴隸廢除主義者與民權運動是由教會產生的。然而,當時的教會多數是保持沉默與中立的。正如聖經聲明,當守望者沒提出警告,或牧者沒有正視臨到神子民的威脅,在末日審判時將是何等可怕的事。

不管這麼做是出於膽怯或政治權宜之計,當教會對當代主要議題保持沉默,便是我們最嚴重的輕忽職守。

有一次我在華盛頓與20位參眾議員一同早餐,我被要求有勇氣膽識來面對某個議題。在我結束之後,有位眾議員把我拉到一旁說:「若我們在教會看見任何勇氣,你會在華盛頓看見更多的勇氣。」我無話可說。

在一次與還是候選人的川普會面時,他問我「為什麼在街上的流浪漢都比講台上的牧師更有膽量為一些議題發聲?」一位教會領袖的回答是:「對教會的免稅法威脅教會,若有任何政治立場將取消其免稅權。」這並非真的,這已經基本違反教會的憲法權利,並沒有任何教會因為這樣做而失去免稅權。

免稅法律並非真的如此,這卻是普遍觀念。一個謠傳卻使教會大眾保持沉默,就算政府真的要拿走我們的免稅權,真正的牧者不會為了保有免稅權、工作,甚至生命而不為真理發聲。真理是我們最珍貴的資產,基督教領袖若對真理有任何妥協或不敢說出真理,他們不過是雇工,絕不是真正的牧者。對真理妥協是懼怕人勝過懼怕神,否認呼召我們的那位神。在審判那日,這難道不是我們看見膽怯的最先被丟入火湖的原因嗎(啟示錄21:8)?

懦弱在基督教中沒有位置;「義人卻膽壯像獅子」(箴言28:1)。在神裡面真正的信心是藉由我們在黑暗中所發出的光和鹽展現出來。我們若要在目前的危難中存活,教會的光和鹽,還有先知性膽識都必須被恢復。

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~摘錄美國國父─喬治·華盛頓的告別演說~

我們應當告誡自己不要耽於幻想,以為道德可以不靠宗教維持。...理智和經驗皆不容許我們期望在排除宗教原則的情況下,國民道德仍能普遍存在。 

~摘錄美國憲法第一修正案

禁止美國國會制訂任何法律以確立國教;妨礙宗教自由;剝奪言論自由;侵犯新聞自由與集會自由;干擾或禁止向政府請願的權利。 

 (摘自喬納word for the week, Week 7, 2020)

 

A New World—Heritage Brief 7

 It would be a tragic mistake not to honor the American Founding Fathers for their remarkable and unprecedented accomplishments. We must also honor them by carrying their work forward. To do this we must learn from their mistakes so that we do not continue to make them.

     After the miracle of winning their independence and designing a government like the world had never seen before,  America was an infant in comparison to all of the other nations. Even the most perfect infants are messy and vulnerable. As we approach 300 years as a Republic, we are still very young in relation to other great nations. We still have a lot of maturing to do, and it is foolish not to expect problems like all who are maturing tend to go through. 

     The biggest mistake made by the Founders was not to implement what they declared in The Declaration of Independence—it is “a self-evident truth” that “all men are created equal.” The result of that failure was The Civil War, the most deadly and costly war in America’s history.

     We are still dealing with the compromises of our stated core values that led to The Civil War. That war may have eliminated slavery, but it did not eliminate discrimination. This is still a root problem of our most potentially deadly conflicts today. To have been blessed with this great revelation, and to have articulated such a truth with eloquence and power in The Declaration of Independence, was extraordinary. Yet, to not implement what they proclaimed almost destroyed their great work in founding the nation. 

     To be trusted with truth is a great blessing, but also a great responsibility. Scripture affirms that it is a greater sin to know the truth but not live it, or know to do good and not do it. Great proclamations can accomplish much if we back them up by how we live. This is one we’re still trying to live out.

     To this day the minorities in America have trouble seeing the importance of our Constitution because it did not work for them. Progress has no doubt been made in correcting this, but if we truly believe this “self-evident” truth, we must resolve to see all racial discrimination ended and what is declared in our founding documents applied to all. Until we are a country where there truly is liberty and justice for all, we are not what we have been called to be. 

     The fault is not in our founding documents, but in the failure to apply them. This is a common problem. It is usually much easier to say or write something than to live it. Sometimes it takes time to apply a truth to our life, as instant change for human behavior is difficult and rare. For this reason, we must seek to address these failures by our national fathers and mothers with humility, praying for the grace to live what we believe and state as a nation.

     Our founding documents remain the greatest ever written as a charter for a government. But even more powerful than the truth articulated in them is a nation that lives them. Almost all of the crises we’ve faced, and are still facing as a nation, are the result of not living the truth declared in our founding documents. The solutions to these crises are to return to these declarations of our purpose as a nation and resolve that we will adhere to them without compromise.

     For this to be accomplished we must understand that passing laws can change behavior, but does not change hearts. The civil government can only do so much. It is the responsibility for us, the people, to address and confront the evils of bigotry. We must resolve that this will be a land where no one is judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. This was not just the dream of Martin Luther King, Jr.—it is sound biblical truth and the true American dream.

     To change hearts is a special mandate of the church. The church was given to be a light for the world. This means the church has the responsibility to shine light into darkness and have answers for the world’s ultimate problems. It was not just the government’s failure, but also the church’s failure that made both The Civil War and Civil Rights Movement necessary.

     When our nation falls into darkness, it is because the light is not shinning from the church. When corruption increases in the land, it is because the church is not being the salt it is called to be. We may need better leaders in government, but we also need true shepherds as leaders of the church. 

     This is not to imply that the church in America has not done anything to address the evils of bigotry and discrimination. It was the church that gave birth to the Abolitionist and Civil Rights Movements. However, even then the vast majority of churches remained silent and neutral. As the Scriptures declare, to be a watchman that did not sound the alarm, or a shepherd that did not confront what threatened God’s people, is a fearful thing on the day of judgment. 

     Regardless of whether this was done because of cowardness or for political expedience, for the church to remain silent on the major issues of the times is the worst kind of dereliction of our duty. 

     Once while I was at a breakfast in Washington with about twenty senators and congressmen, I had been calling for boldness and courage to face certain issues. After I had finished, one of the congressmen pulled me aside and said, “You would see a lot more courage in Washington if we saw any courage in the church.” I could not argue with that.

     While in a meeting with then candidate Donald Trump, he asked, “Why does a bum on the street have more boldness to speak out on issues than pastors in the pulpit?” The answer one church leader offered was that the tax-exempt laws threatened to take away churches’ tax-exempt status for taking political positions. That is not true, as that would be a very basic violation of the church’s constitutional rights, and no church has ever lost its tax-exempt status for doing this. 

     This is not true about the tax-exempt laws, but it is the perception. The church has been generally silenced by a rumor. Even if it were the case that the government would take our tax-exempt status, no true shepherd would neglect declaring truth just to save their tax-exempt status, their jobs, or even their lives. The truth is our most valuable possession. For any Christian leader to compromise it, or fail to declare it, they have at best become a hireling and are not a true shepherd. To compromise the truth is to fear men more than God and deny the One who called us. Is this not the reason why we see that the cowards are the first to be thrown into the lake of fire on the judgment day (see Revelation 21:8)? 

     Cowardice has no place in Christianity. “The righteous are bold as a lion”(see Proverbs 28:1). True faith in God is demonstrated by our salt—our light in the midst of darkness. If we are to survive the present distress, the salt and light as well as prophetic boldness of the church must be recovered.

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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

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. – First Amendment, U.S. Constitution