In case you haven’t heard, here is the long and short of it.

There is a group of Satanists in Oklahoma that want to see a monument erected to the devil. Not only that but they want to have it erected and placed at the Oklahoma State Capitol.

This just so happens to be the same building where a certain statue of the Ten Commandments was erected in 2012.

While there are people lobbying to have the Ten Commandments statue removed, there is also opposition to the devil monument being set up too.

Collectively it is a political nightmare, trying to keep church and state separate, still recognizing the foundational stones of the American heritage, being tolerant of other people’s beliefs. I for one am glad that it is not up to me to decide what will happen in Oklahoma State Capitol.

What is up to me, however, is how I react and deal with the idea that there are people in the world that want to erect a statue to the devil. And I’m sure that it is not limited to Oklahoma. Even in Canada there are people that believe and act the same way as these Satanists do.

So, what should I do? How do I react as a Christian? What is my response going to be?

The first thing that came to mind was simply oppose them. Tell them that they have no right to build or erect a monument of the devil. There is no place for that kind of garbage, and certainly not at some government or legislative building.

But as soon as I finished that thought, I knew it wasn’t a good one. Whether it is Canada or the United States, everyone has the freedom of religion, the right to express what they believe. Even if I don’t agree with it, I can’t deny them that which the government promises.

Especially because I have been given the same right. I can freely go around and tell people about Jesus any time I want to. I can put Christ centered bumper stickers on my car. I can fly a Christian flag from my house. All because the government gave me that right.

So as much as opposing them that way would be nice, it simply won’t work. And also it isn’t something Jesus would do.

As crazy as it may seem, Jesus spent most of his time on Earth dealing with the Jewish people, people that had the same foundational beliefs as He did, not the pagans or the Greeks. Jesus would and did attack the Jews and the things that they thought and believed. He challenged them on how they understood the Scriptures, but He didn’t do that to those outside the Jewish faith.

Rather He did this, as wonderful example for us to follow.

He says,

“To him who has ears, let him hear (Matthew 11:15).”

Jesus preached to them. Not angry, “You are all a bunch of sinner and will burn in hell” preaching, quite the opposite actually.

Jesus preached a message of love to everyone. A message that where ever you were in life, no matter what you believe or practiced, God loved you and wanted to show all His love for you. Consider the woman at the well in John 4. Jesus did not condemn her, he didn’t accuse her of being a terrible sinner that would suffer eternally in hell fire. No. He spoke to her about love, about fulfilling the eternal desires of her heart in God.

This is what we as Christians should be doing. Not just as a response to Satanists wanting to erect a monument, but at all times.

This should be our practice, sharing the eternal story of God’s love for us, of Jesus’ sacrifice for us, of the Spirit’s life giving power for us.

Is it easy? Not at all. Will it work? Not all the time. But this is what we as Christians are called to do. Go and preach the good news, that God loves.

After that thought, and that Spirit given revelation, I had a second thought. And it was this.

What are we doing as a Christian community to promote and expose the world to our beliefs?

When was the last time that your church or your religious community made headlines because you were doing something so radical, so awesome for the cause of Christ?

When was the last time that you were noticed because of what you stood for, of what you believed in?

I’ll be honest. I’ve been noticed once by the newspapers, but it was only a small, local paper. A girl I graduated high school with interviewed me about a missions trip to India. That was back in 2005. I haven’t really done anything like that since.

It isn’t that I’m not doing ministry stuff now, or since 2005, but I am definitely not rallying the troops to see Jesus high and lifted up in Canada, like these Satanists are rallying to see this monument be built.

I’m not lobbying for laws to change to see them reflect the God given laws in Scripture. I’m not advocating for the Lord’s Prayer to be said at the beginning of every day in schools. I’m not protesting people’s protest that God is mentioned in the Canadian National Anthem.

Why not? I don’t know. I don’t honestly have an answer as to why I’m not doing those things.

I reflect on what Paul said in Romans,

“For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ (Romans 1:16).”

For Paul there was no hiding it, there was nothing else he would do or share about. For him, everything was Jesus, and Jesus affected everything.

Do I think that way? Do I live that way?

Do you? As a single individual that believes in Jesus Christ, are you doing everything and anything you can to see the name of Jesus lifted high and see His message of love spread around the world?

Are you as a body of Christ, the Church, reaching out into your communities and being the Light of God that you are called to be?

These are hard questions I know. And questions that need to be asked and answered.

So before we grab our pitchforks and axes, and attack the Satanists as a crazed Christian mob, consider these two things.

We need to be preaching Jesus’ love more, and making less war.

We need to be preaching Jesus’ love more, and doing so visibly.

But I want to hear from you too.

What else should we think about when we talk about this?

What should we do, say or pray in regards to this monument to the devil?

Let me know in the comments below.

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Shalom.