God’s Gestapo

All,

It's been about one election (two years, that is) since I last posted here, and the developments of this election campaign have led me, once again, to feel compelled to put my thoughts on paper (virtual though it may be).

I am of course concerned about the election itself and its potential to
end the long nightmare of the Bush presidency, not to mention the
savage, crony capitalism that has become the hallmark of Republican
rule. But a different concern motivates me in posting this, now, on
this particular site. And my concern, or rather my question, is this:
when did Christ ever instruct His Church to be God's Gestapo? 

Let me elaborate. The last time I checked, the New Testament tells us
(and I paraphrase slightly) that "the law was given through Moses;
grace and truth, however, came through Jesus Christ." And "the law
shall not rule over you, because you are not under the law; rather, you
are under grace." Now if we as Christians are truly thankful to God, as
we should be, for salvation by grace through faith and the accompanying
freedom from condemnation under the law, then what in God's name (I say
that without irony) could possibly lead us to believe that we should
become lawgivers in God's stead? That Christians have the right – no,
the obligation – to impose a narrow reading of biblical law on an
entire society? Have we lost sight of the fact that Jesus and the
apostles lived and preached in the midst of one of the most cruel,
corrupt, and decadent empires in human history, and yet their teaching
emphasized forgiveness, mercy, and love, not judgment and condemnation?
They didn't spend their days railing against the evils of Roman
culture, lying and scheming to put believers in positions of government
power through dishonesty and subterfuge in order to subvert Rome from
within; no, they opposed Rome, literally putting their necks on the
line, by preaching the Gospel – the GOOD NEWS – of salvation in Christ.
How many so-called "men (and women) of God" in the Religious Right
today would abandon their plush ministries and cozy, lucrative
political connections for the kind of life Jesus lived, much less the
kind of death He died?

Those of us who are so concerned about morality and protecting God's
good name should stop for a second and consider how egregiously we have
caused God's name to be slandered through our self-righteousness,
hypocrisy, and animosity toward our fellow man. Worse still, consider,
as Jesus said, that the standards we use in judging others will be the
standards by which we ourselves will be judged.

 Lord, grant us the wisdom to stop trying to be holier than God.