Some churches within Westchester County, New York have recently been vandalized. These actions span the range of hooliganism from: breaking signs, stealing small church accoutrements, to the more serious and costly acts of breaking windows and toppling statues. This appears to be connected to the decisions to allow same-sex marriages by said churches.
Many of the vandalized churches recently and prominently showcased gay pride flags next to various Christian symbols in the front of their churches. The most recent vandalism, at post time, featured the name of an apostle, which the church is named after, next to a gay flag. The sign was cleft between that name and the flag. Symbolic? Perhaps.
The Pastor of the church had a very angry and seemingly unchristian attitude in response. This was in sharp contrast to other priests and ministers who in public statements were voicing words of forgiveness. In fact, the aforementioned Pastor seemed more like she was running for a political office, then running a church. She also seemed to have a tone of self-righteousness proclaiming that her church was preaching rightly on gay marriage. Either that, or it's a case of me thinks the Pastor doth protest too much!
I feel saddened at the destruction of property and costly damages that some churches will have to contend with. I wonder what a person or persons are feeling as they go through preparing to commit an act of vandalism. It seems so foreign to me. My parents instilled the notion of respect for the property of others. They did not want me to so much as run across a neighbors lawn, nor take an apple from someone's low hanging tree because "it is not your property."
Dog walking was supposed to be in the street according to my parents. They let me know that letting our dog urinate or defecate on someone's property was not right. Parents have an immense responsibility to teach and mentor their children on the topic of respect for property. For instance, I remember many teachable moments in my childhood where a newspaper contained a story of vandalism. My parents almost never missed an opportunity to point out the moral wrongs of these actions.
Next point: the perpetrators of these crimes were clearly making a statement about the current debates going on within the Church. Even at moments like this my parents worked their parental muscles when they pointed me in the direction of fair debate, and honorable political action such as voting for candidates who uphold biblical standards. If we don't like a church's position have we stood up for godly principles at that church? Do we need to attend another church? These are the ways to stand up for godliness, but not by vandalizing a church. The action that some took destroying an historic organ in a New Jersey Methodist church was not a correct response to the Methodist Churches' decision to split their denomination over LGBT marriage and ordination.
What does this all point to? It all points to moral war raging within our world. How should believers respond? The answer is by understanding the underlying principles of this war. This war is a spiritual battle between good and evil, between right and wrong. If we want to be on the side of good we must understand the principles of the spiritual warfare occurring in the world and respond accordingly. We must pray and live a life of faith in God even when the world is against us. We must read our bibles everyday and continue to reverence the gift of salvation that is Jesus Christ. Below is a primer on this topic, including what the problem is and how we are directed as Christians to face it. It is tempting to take things into our own hands but whenever I feel that way, I read this passage and remember Gods's direction to me on this matter.
Ephesians 6:11-18 says, Put on the full armor of God, so that you can make your stand against the devils's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the power's of the worlds' darkness, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore, take up your full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you will be able to stand your ground, and having done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness arrayed, and with your feet fitted with the readiness of the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of Faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Pray in the Spirit at all times, with every kind of prayer and petition. To this end, stay alert with all perseverance in your prayer for all the saints.
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