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America First: Secure Borders (Part 2)
13 Plays23 days ago
In Part 2 of our America First miniseries, Paul and Dustin discuss the issue of immigration. Can Christians support secure borders while also promoting the Gospel message?
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Transcript
Introduction to America First and Biblical Worldview
00:00:13
Speaker
ah Welcome into the Answering Pilot podcast. Dustin, glad you're here. Glad to be here. Same. ah This is part two. Yep. America First was part one, and that's sort of our overall ah theme, but we we really got that from people.
00:00:29
Speaker
um planks in the Trump ah platform, yeah his campaign. And I got that from Tucker Carlson several months ago and um just those five dynamics. But we just wanted to talk about those today, ah certainly from a biblical worldview.
Nations, Borders, and Gospel Unity
00:00:46
Speaker
and one of the things that we can always affirm and do always affirm is that ah you know The kingdom of God is ultimate. Our allegiance is to the Lord Jesus over all things. Of course. And um the gospel overcomes. and And so a lot of these streams come together.
00:01:03
Speaker
We want to advance the gospel so that people would be saved, but so that ah families and communities... ah and you know cities and states and the whole nation would be blessed. We believe that the gospel transforms structures and whole cultures, right and so we want gospel influence.
00:01:23
Speaker
um But one of the things that we were talking about was that ah God has created ah nations with borders and things like that. We talked about the Tower of the Bible and how scattered the folk across the earth. talked about Acts 17 where Paul clearly says He's created nations.
Christian Allegiance vs. Nationalism
00:01:38
Speaker
But one of the issues that you raised, and rightly so, well, wait a minute, doesn't the gospel break down all barriers? Sure. Yeah, it does. And people come together, ah you know, male, female, Jew, Greek, you know, all over the world, but they come together in Christ. Right.
00:01:56
Speaker
And so earthly kingdoms... Those are very different things than the kingdom of God. Correct. And so we do want the kingdom of God to have influence on earthly kingdoms, but nevertheless, we're still in earthly kingdoms. So I don't know if that's a good review of where we were. It's just kind of laying some more foundation as to where we're going, ah because we're going to advocate not for for for President Trump per se, right ah not for any of these things in an exhaustive way, but I just think these are good things
00:02:28
Speaker
These are good talking points when when we think about how it is that we as Christians should think about our country, our culture.
America First as a Biblical Concept
00:02:36
Speaker
um Again, i over the years, i've and i'm just making a point, i've I've talked about my ultimate allegiance is to to King Jesus right more than I've talked about any allegiance I have to my country.
00:02:51
Speaker
But... you know The cultural moment changes. and so Again, I'm always going to talk about the Lord Jesus more than anything, but but there is an allegiance to to to my country. Not that we, ah as Christians especially, dislike people from other countries or cultures. No, no, no, no.
00:03:08
Speaker
We love every everyone, and we want everyone to be saved, and the gospel breaks down those barriers. but In a country, you've got to talk about what's best for the country, what's best for the citizens.
00:03:20
Speaker
That's where we're coming from. I think everybody probably gets that. I'm laboring too hard to make that point. Sorry. No. Yeah. our our last episode kind of our overarching point was that, uh, this, uh, phrase of America first and, and what it, what it truly should mean is actually a good thing.
00:03:40
Speaker
Um, it's, it's a gospel concept, uh, really and truly. And, and we've kind of waded into a little bit of the reasons why. um but that, uh,
00:03:53
Speaker
that it it actually is biblical to ah to to want the good of where God has sovereignly placed us.
God's Sovereignty and Leaders
00:04:03
Speaker
There you go. And that's and that's a big a big consideration at play here is that We do believe our God is sovereign. We believe that he's ordained for us to live where we live, when we live, ah for a specific purpose.
00:04:17
Speaker
He ordains even our governments. You know, we've talked about that before, and obviously some people may say that and mean something a little bit different. You know, some people have said that God ordained Donald Trump.
00:04:29
Speaker
Well, i agree with that to an extent, right but maybe not the the way that some people would interpret that to make himself out to be some sort of prophet or so Messiah or something like that. Right. Right. um Because God ordained Cyrus.
00:04:43
Speaker
Yeah. and And he was not a good guy. Yeah. But God ordained him for a specific purpose. Yeah. And even in captivity, you know, God commanded his people to to work for the good of where they were. And so um we do want all of these things And it's good to want those because it puts God's glory on display. Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
00:05:12
Speaker
Just as a side issue, what you said just struck me. a Cyrus, a perfect example, he actually is referred to in the scriptures as a Messiah, but not the Messiah.
00:05:25
Speaker
Right. An anointed one for a particular purpose. Chosen for a purpose. Which is what you were talking about. that You could say Nebuchadnezzar. Right. yeah Or whatever. So we don't see President Trump as any kind of you know bringing in the millennium or something like that. Right, right. um But he is here for a purpose. Whatever that purpose is,
Secure Borders and National Security
00:05:44
Speaker
God's sovereign. Mm-hmm. So anyway, let's let's move along and and let's let's hit that second plank, if that's okay. Sure thing. America first was was our overarching rubric, but at the same time, that was our first point. But, you know, the second point is secure borders. So again, we're talking about an America first agenda.
00:06:03
Speaker
So America first, um every decision by the United States government ought to prioritize the benefit of the United States and its citizens. Okay. That seems,
00:06:15
Speaker
Intuitive, but I don't think it is. And there's a lot of people in our culture working against that. but Well, and not to halt us too much, but it sounds intuitive to us because, again, it actually stems from a biblical worldview. Yeah. This is how the Bible describes government. Yeah. Is that its purpose is to protect its people, is to care for the good of its people. Mm-hmm.
00:06:38
Speaker
um But a lot of people that are in power and in influence in our current culture don't have that biblical worldview. right They view government as having a different purpose. yes And so that's why it doesn't seem intuitive to them, even though it does to us. Right.
00:06:56
Speaker
Well said. Absolutely. So anyway, the second point then, and i and I appreciate you saying that. uh secure borders so we're essentially saying here the country must control its borders and enforce immigration laws to protect national sovereignty and security again now this one's you know a controversial subject he even you know a lot of folk who who would fall on the right side of the spectrum Some of them would be in favor of, I don't know they'd be in favor of chorus borders, but ah more open borders than then I think you and I would be in favor of. And again, it's not just a political point.
00:07:40
Speaker
We're seeing the ramifications. ah The the negative ramifications, the you know, of open borders or porous borders. And so I think one of the things that that we have to say is we do need stricter guidelines on immigration. We're we're not opposed completely immigration. Again, there are great people we'd we'd love to have here.
00:08:03
Speaker
um But and and again, we don't. We don't hate anyone, so we're Christians. and Again, that should go without saying. But um stricter guidelines, but mass migration, I'll use that term or just migration in general, but mass migration, it is a major problem.
00:08:20
Speaker
And I think there's some reason it's a major
Mass Migration and Cultural Cohesion
00:08:23
Speaker
problem. So let me, I mean, you can throw some reasons it if you agree, and I think you do. Some reasons, if you want to throw them at me, you can. We'll interact. I'm going to throw a couple at you and see what you think. So here's the first.
00:08:35
Speaker
I think one of the issues is I'm talking about just large numbers of people coming over all at once, pouring through the borders. We don't know you know what they believe.
00:08:45
Speaker
They come from different cultures. They come from different worldviews. So one of the issues is I think it weakens. um We'll say national traditions, shared national traditions, um language, that becomes an an issue, cultural cohesion.
00:09:05
Speaker
And, of course, from our perspective, when when I talk about these traditions, and language is a separate issue, but I think you have to have a language to to operate. um Not that, anyway, we can talk about language particularly if we want to, but that This cultural cohesion that I'm talking about and the foundational values, I'm coming from a Christian worldview perspective, as you are, that that what gives our culture cohesion um
00:09:37
Speaker
is is the is the Christian values that it was founded upon and that have been influential, more or less, in our history, certainly less and less now. But again, we see...
00:09:49
Speaker
um Cultural disintegration because of the erosion of the Christian worldview. Right. Does that make sense? Yeah, it does. So I'm saying that's one of the reasons that—this is my go-to illustration. And again, it seems intuitive to me, but— we'll put it out there, um Sharia law is diametrically opposed to the the law that Christians would implement. Right.
00:10:18
Speaker
Right? And so, again, we've got a big mess now at every level in in our country, um governmentally speaking, but those foundational principles of liberty and justice for all, I know that's a very short catchphrase,
00:10:36
Speaker
But it kind of covers it in in my mind. We could talk about those. But anyway, so I'm just throwing some of these things out. Please feel free to and interject. um I think the second thing, you've got much greater competition for jobs.
00:10:53
Speaker
And again, if you're America first, if you're protecting your citizens, This is what i'm talking about. So if you now you've got greater competition for jobs, especially for the working class.
00:11:04
Speaker
um as you're you're You're keeping wages down four the for lack of a better lower lowers skilled. you know If you're not in the white-collar job, you're in the blue-collar job.
00:11:20
Speaker
um You're keeping those wages down with mass migration. You got H-1B visas. I got something I want to say about that a little bit later if we get to it. i don't know if we're ever going to get to it.
00:11:31
Speaker
But so, you know, you've got this erosion of our of our of our national values and traditions um rooted in other worldviews. That's the key.
Immigration Impact on Society
00:11:42
Speaker
and then And then now economically, economically, you you're creating problems. You're putting people, you're putting American citizens who've born and raised here, went to school here, try to get a job here. You're putting them out of work.
00:11:54
Speaker
Right. Right. So those are the things that I'm talking about. um I can move rapidly through this and maybe we can just, I also, gosh, one of the things that we've seen,
00:12:06
Speaker
illegal immigration, it militates against law enforcement. um You've got all kinds of, and again, I know this a controversial topic, but you've got all kinds of ah illegals who have come here who are poor bad characters right and then they're guilty of murder and and rape and all kinds of things and you see it in Europe you see it all over the place um and i don't know that I want to get into the specifics per se lots of people do that better than that but it's a real issue and so I said well we've got murderers here well sure we do right and we deal with them but why would you want to import a bunch
00:12:45
Speaker
ah a lot more people who are murderers. Right. and And if a citizen commits murder, they are tried and punished according to our laws. Yes.
00:12:58
Speaker
um But a lot that have come in illegally, they are able to skirt our justice system because the there's the the narrative that that they...
00:13:13
Speaker
Again, not to go back to our woke episode, but they're a protected class. And so we can't impose our laws and our culture on them because ah and and again, that goes back to, you know, like said, we're not anti-immigration. We're not anti-people coming from other countries. Right.
00:13:31
Speaker
As we've been reminded by politicians for decades, we are a nation of immigrants. And so, you know, you and i wouldn't be here if our ancestors hadn't come across on the Mayflower or however they got here. Right. so, and we know that that immigration, um again,
00:13:55
Speaker
not all good actors that came across, but a lot of Christians that came, brought the gospel, the culture changed, uh, from the pantheistic type of culture that existed, uh, before.
00:14:09
Speaker
ah and so that to say, we know that it changes the culture. Yeah. When you start bringing it in, yeah ah bringing other cultures, other ideas.
00:14:21
Speaker
Um, but over the years, as we've seen, um Immigration, you know, we we talked about liberty and justice for all. We think about the Statue of Liberty. And we've talked we last last time we talked about our ah give me your poor, your tired, your huddled masses, whatever that quote is.
00:14:39
Speaker
And, you know, the immigration that's come across um for for years, it was people that were coming to find a better life. But with the understanding, or at least the implication, that you are coming here to look for the American dream, but to look for the American way of life. Yes. But over decades, what we've seen is that now they're coming in, and they're not coming in wanting to accept the American way of life.
00:15:09
Speaker
They're wanting to bring their way of life yes into America, and it has drastically changed our culture. Yeah. No, I think you're 100% on that. You're chasing that American dream that, well, that American dream is built on a worldview.
00:15:23
Speaker
It goes back to liberty and justice for all. It goes back to ah Protestant work ethic, frankly. You don't have the same work ethic in other worldviews. right And you can see that in third world countries. Missionaries experience this.
00:15:39
Speaker
And again, I don't want to disparage anyone. I'm talking about worldviews. I'm not talking about people. right yeah We're all sinners. I'm a sinner. I need salvation. I need forgiveness. I need transformation.
00:15:51
Speaker
But I'm just talking like you are at a worldview level. And so now folk are coming in, and they're not only um not looking for the American dream in the same way that that immigrants were in the past. na They saw a nation of freedom because they were coming from somewhere that wasn't as free, relatively speaking.
00:16:13
Speaker
And they saw a nation of economic opportunity. Opportunity. And they were willing to come and buy into that. Yeah. If you're willing to come and work hard. Yes. And follow the rules. Yes. Then you could carve out a life for yourself. That's right.
00:16:27
Speaker
Now they're being induced by politics to come ah for a free handout. Right. A lot of them. they just And that's the other thing.
00:16:38
Speaker
you you know You put more and more people on the welfare system. And you're to have to raise taxes and, you know, all kinds of things. And it just it hurts ah even the folks that come here, not just American citizens.
00:16:52
Speaker
Ultimately, you're destroying your your nation. We're going to get the economics here in just a minute. but Yeah. And the media narrative together, the media narrative today would have you believe that. All of these people that are coming in.
00:17:04
Speaker
are coming in because they're trying to escape the refugees. They're trying to escape all these bad places. And I'm not saying that there aren't immigrants who are coming here for that purpose.
00:17:15
Speaker
But a lot of them are not. They're coming for the more nefarious purpose. Yeah. And again, we shouldn't have to say it, but to your point, when you're all talking about murderers coming across the world, not all immigrants are murderers.
00:17:28
Speaker
Some, I'm sure, are good people. Yeah, that's right. So anyway, um Talking about, but again, things have shifted. and And again, um we know that the left encourages these open borders because they want more voters.
00:17:45
Speaker
And then then then they're giving them the the handouts to get them here. So just to expand on that, now you're putting pressure on schools, ah the health care system. The whole infrastructure.
00:17:57
Speaker
Yes, everything.
Political Dynamics and Open Borders
00:17:58
Speaker
I already mentioned the welfare system, but yes, as you said, everything, the whole infrastructure. um Again, especially when large numbers of migrants arrive and especially when large numbers of them ah arrive illegally. um So what's happening and you can see it it's It's transforming the political foundations of our culture. Right.
00:18:26
Speaker
um
00:18:29
Speaker
I mean, even in my lifetime, we've always had differences. You know, you got the two major parties, especially, you know, it's it's you kind of wonder about the unit party these days. But you we know there's there's we're almost like a plutocracy. You know, the there are people behind the scenes running the show right now. Right. We understand that. How do you have a President Biden, you know, mentally?
00:18:57
Speaker
What's the word? Dementia? I mean, we knew that from day one. He he was already suffering. And it's it's like during the, was it, the last debate he had, and ah you know, all of the the the newscasters were like, oh, my gosh, it seems like he's he's maybe mentally impaired.
00:19:15
Speaker
It's just comical. Right. it it was It was all a psyop, you know. But my point being, how can you have a president like like Biden in the Oval Office, um regardless of his policies, but I'm just talking about his mental acuity and his mental capacity, he's obviously impaired, but it's because somebody else is running the show. But...
00:19:40
Speaker
I almost forgot where I was going. Forgive me. It's okay. But you had this this difference between the parties and all this animosity, and I do think that plays were being run on us.
00:19:51
Speaker
we've We've been lied to our whole lives. um I'm going to just go back to JFK because I was born less than a year after he was assassinated.
00:20:02
Speaker
So, you know, I didn't know about it at the time, but I do remember my parents talking about it as I grew up and we talked about them in school and all this. But the point I'm trying to make is whether Nixon won or whether Kennedy won, you know, our cultural values, at least on the surface, were still sort of, you know, there and and we were all living by them. But now you you can see um I guess what I'm saying is I could vote for John F. Kennedy today certainly easier than most of the folk that we've had running. um I could vote for
00:20:44
Speaker
Nixon, aside from, listen, we're finding out ah about stuff and even even since Watergate. I think Watergate was probably a setup, but there's some other things that... that Anyway, they're all doing stuff we don't like. Right.
00:20:57
Speaker
And we're just now finding out. But what's the point I'm trying to make? I'm just trying to say... the the found the the political values that our country's built on it they're they're just they're almost gone completely now if that makes sense what kind of political values because i've just given the catchphrase um you know liberty and justice for all well you got the surveillance state and it's increasing you've got ah we're We're not built on sound money anymore. And so inflation and just printing dollar.
00:21:26
Speaker
And but not only that, we've moved from um what was it just recently? We had a Supreme Court decision. and And I think it was a good thing. it you were it was about whether or not a counselor.
00:21:40
Speaker
could engage in, um what's what's it called with, I'm not talking about biblical counseling, I'm talking about where a homosexual comes and and they want to change from, they they don't want to be homosexual anymore.
00:21:53
Speaker
um brother Transition? Transition, something. But there's ah there's a term for it, do where, where um okay, you know i'm I'm living this lifestyle, but I don't want to. i want to go back to being heterosexual, help me anyway.
00:22:09
Speaker
I feel like an idiot because this is everybody listening to us is go is shouting right now at the screen. Everybody. This is very common, but this is what happens from time to time when you're my age.
00:22:21
Speaker
Uh, some kind of therapy. Anyhow, Supreme court held that you could do that. Now you, you could engage in this. Remember a lot. It was being outlawed in certain yeah places. I don't know if the, the, the term is going to come to us once we turn the camera off. Anyhow. Right.
00:22:39
Speaker
So on the one hand, it it's a good decision, but the foundation or the rationale for allowing it was not, you know, the the the right of the individual to, um you know, engage in this transition therapy. I don't think that transition is more like transgender. Right, right. I don't know. I don't know. Forgive forgive me. We'll find out. That's okay.
00:23:06
Speaker
um But it was rooted in um a non-discrimination. The idea was that, okay, well, we can't discriminate against, I think it was we can't discriminate against the counselor's position trying to help this person or the speech used in trying to help this person or something like that.
00:23:28
Speaker
And again, that on the surface, that doesn't sound too bad, but when you really think about it, Non-discrimination is not the issue. Non-discrimination has become one of those political ah changes that i'm I'm lamenting as we talk about this. people like, wait, wait a minute. do you Do you believe in discrimination? Well, we all believe in discrimination right to a certain degree.
00:23:54
Speaker
I married to one woman, so I've discriminated against all other women. Ha, ha, There is a difference between biblical discrimination and sinful or unbiblical discrimination. So I don't, like if if I own a restaurant, I don't want to say to someone who looks different from me or has come from a different country,
00:24:18
Speaker
I'm not going to serve you right because I don't like you for your skin color or for your nationality. No, I'm going to serve everybody because I'm a Christian, and and I want to be friends, right and I want to be brothers in Christ, sisters, brothers and sisters in Christ with everybody.
00:24:34
Speaker
But at the same time, ah discrimination, um the the the real question is, Are we going to force everybody, yeah you know, you talk about freedom of association and we're really getting way off track here. I'm so sorry. so yeah This is why we're probably going to part three, but, um, four, five. Yeah. Four or five. Yeah. And don't remember what I just said. Oh, freedom of association.
00:25:02
Speaker
In America, you ought to be free to associate with who you want to, and you don't have to associate with somebody you don't want to. I gave a perfect example. You know we had the, um,
00:25:16
Speaker
masterpiece cake shop thing and these are christians and somebody comes in want them to bake a cake for a homosexual wedding they did not feel like as christians in good conscience they could make a cake for that right okay um i don't think that they have a sign on the door that says we don't serve homosexuals and i think anybody that walks into that shop just wants a cake They're going to sell them a cake.
00:25:43
Speaker
But in this instance, this was the particular purpose and you all that. Big deal. And a lot of people are like, well, they can't discriminate. Well, do if if you are a black man,
00:25:58
Speaker
And you own a cake shop, and the the leader of the KKK comes in and wants you to bake a cake that says, um let's go, KKK, for a KKK rally.
00:26:10
Speaker
Would we expect that black man to be—would we force him to ba do business with the Klansmen? Right. I don't think we would. no So now we're playing favorites. And that's part of what i' I'm coming at. So the Supreme Court decision that I was referencing a moment ago, um it was all based on non-discrimination rather than the rights of the individual.
00:26:31
Speaker
I'm saying political foundations have shifted. Some are very, very obvious. Some are very, very subtle like that. But that's the problem that's part of the problem.
Multiculturalism vs. American Values
00:26:42
Speaker
it's not only due to mass migration.
00:26:45
Speaker
But what we're saying is that mass migration, go ahead. But it's the same line of thinking. Yeah. Because this non-discrimination that the Supreme Court uses as its argument for ruling in favor of these therapies is is a catch-all policy to allow anything and everything.
00:27:04
Speaker
which is the same way of thinking that says we should just allow anyone and everyone to come across the borders. yeah And then once they're here, we can't discriminate against them, so they should be able to do anything that they want. Yeah, right.
00:27:16
Speaker
Yeah, that's it. who So these are some these are some big issues. um Let me just throw out one more word if I can sure before we move on. i think Yeah, I think we have some time to move on, just a little bit of time.
00:27:30
Speaker
um So when you talk about... large numbers coming across the border all at once. Excuse me. And you made the point using different language, but they're not intending to assimilate. Right.
00:27:48
Speaker
If you're a Star Trek fan, assimilation. The Borg. Yeah, the Borg. that That could be a negative thing. But no, what we mean by assimilation is you buy in to the cultural values. You buy into what it means to be an American. Right.
00:28:00
Speaker
Which is that Christian foundation, hard work. then you can pursue that american dream right so we want them to assimilate so you got this whole issue of multiculturalism now which is what you're referring to um because they're coming in now and they're not listen let me put it this way you come from a different culture you you want to um you know, cook your own cultural food and have your own cultural holidays. You know, you're you're observing those in your home or you're dressing however you want to dress.
00:28:39
Speaker
but That's great. Listen, I love to see cultural differences as as a Christian because ultimately God's created all these different cultures. and And I think all these cultures,
00:28:51
Speaker
We put barriers between people because of them. The gospel does break down those barriers. And so when I go and visit with Christians in Trinidad or when I go and visit with Christians in Russia, their their culture, their cultural dynamics are very different.
00:29:07
Speaker
But we have fellowship in Christ. And I love, I love to worship in Trinidad with the the steel drums here. You know, we use guitars and stuff. Also,
00:29:20
Speaker
Love to worship with a pipe organ. I'm i'm one of those. i'm ah I'm good with all that. That's my point. However, multiculturalism, you you come here, multiculturalism is a subset of critical theory, cultural Marxism, and basically what they're saying is we're going to maintain our own cultural distinctiveness as over and opposed to the American Value system, what it means to be an American. And and it it goes back to, as you were saying, we're we're this oppressed group.
00:29:58
Speaker
We're this, you know, whatever group we're in. And and so now we're going to have. um animosity between different groups and we're going to have wedge the the politicians are putting these wedge issues to drive us further and further apart those kinds of things rather than trying to bring us together and say look you're from You're from France. You're from Germany. You're from Italy. You're from Ireland, whatever.
00:30:26
Speaker
Come. ah you know You want to celebrate your holidays fun, but the American holidays, the reason we have the holidays we have is because we're this is what made our founding.
00:30:40
Speaker
And so we want you to assimilate into this culture. You can keep your stuff there, but but we're all going to love freedom. We're all going to love justice. We're all going to love law and order. We're all going to love Protestant work ethic, even if you're not Protestant. We're not going to implement Sharia law in your little city. No, your city's going to be rooted in Christian values. You want to worship God.
00:31:07
Speaker
False God, Allah, in in your own home, fine. But we're not going to turn the city into, you know, little, little I don't know, Tehran or something.
00:31:19
Speaker
You know what i'm saying? Yeah. That's what I'm trying to say. Yeah, yeah. I'm not doing a very good job. So the bottom line, politically, economically, socially, relationally, um existentially, because it's wiping out the Christian worldview in our culture.
Christian Influence and Engagement
00:31:36
Speaker
That's the biggest for me.
00:31:37
Speaker
the the then We know Jesus is going to build his church. That's what he said. um Gates of hell will not prevail against it. We're crashing through the gates of hell.
00:31:48
Speaker
we're We're going into enemy territory, spiritually speaking. People are being rescued. Okay, God moves in different ways, in different places, at different times. He pours out His Spirit here, pours out His Spirit there, His revival here, decline there, all of that.
00:32:05
Speaker
So right now, um all I'm saying is, God is sovereign, as you said a moment ago, but there's a human responsibility dynamic. And and if we believe the gospel overcomes and we're going to preach the gospel and we're going to advocate for gospel influence and we're not talking about, you know, throwing people in jail that don't believe what we believe. we've I think we're clear on that. and But we do believe that that Christian values undergird our culture.
00:32:35
Speaker
And so this is one reason that I'm willing to say that our new political moment, our new cultural moment, mass migration, all of that, it's an existential threat because more and more people are...
00:32:52
Speaker
wielding power and influence who do not have a Christian worldview, and Christianity is declining, maybe, not maybe, we certainly need to pray harder as Christians and witness more and all that, but at the same time, I do think that, you know, Christians should be more aware politically, um economically,
00:33:16
Speaker
And they should be more of where ah more aware of why mass migration is a problem. We're not trying to say we're better than immigrants. We're not trying to say we hate immigrants, as you've made the point. We're we're trying to say mass migration threatens the spread of the gospel. Mm-hmm.
00:33:36
Speaker
because Again, God's in charge of how fast it spreads, and he's in charge of who comes in. We know all that, but I'm saying from a human perspective, when you've got massive numbers of people who are hostile to Christianity just pouring across the borders, you can see that the the the Great Commission task is much more difficult. Does that make sense? Yeah, it does. and I'm trying to make it you know sound like, okay, I get that. I'm trying to make i'm i'm overstating it. Sorry.
00:34:04
Speaker
Well, no, and, um you know, like you just said, we need to be more aware of these types of things that are going on in our nation. And I think a big part of how we've gotten to where we are now is that ah for a long time, Christians haven't been aware.
00:34:25
Speaker
Some have, you know, but I think a greater number and an increasing number have not. because maybe over the years we've just trusted the red over the blue or we've trusted that someone that had an R behind their name or whatever letter ah behind their name ah was functioning in a way that that we would agree with.
00:34:51
Speaker
Like you said, there's there's been things going on behind the scenes and and and things like that to where... um
00:35:01
Speaker
just blindly following a certain party or a certain person ah has allowed us to not realize some things that were going on that didn't take a whole lot of investigation to to find out either, but has now led us to the point that we're at now with our immigration ah situation and and and those types of things. And so we do need to be more aware because this is this is this is where where where we end up or where we head yeah when we're not. Yeah.
00:35:36
Speaker
This is an overused Bible verse, especially a few years ago, but I'm going to use it again anyway because I think it encapsulates what
Active Christian Engagement
00:35:45
Speaker
what you said. But where is it in? Is it 1 or 2 Chronicles? The men of Issachar were... um Aware of the times. Yeah, they understood the times. they understood the times and knew what to do. Christians need to understand the times and know what to do. And I just think a lot of us, it's not a criticism.
00:36:06
Speaker
I mean, you you you got your family. and And all that's involved in that. and You got your job and all that's involved in that. And then you're, you know, trying to recover on the weekends and go back to work and all this stuff.
00:36:19
Speaker
You just kind of think, I was born and raised here and, oh yeah, there's a lot of junk going on. But anyway, my point being, i'm I'm not criticizing, but I do think a lot of Christians are...
00:36:30
Speaker
they they need to They need to be more aware, like you just said, of of of the the the the spiritual dynamics that are behind what's happening in our culture at a governmental level, at ah at every level, need to be aware.
00:36:44
Speaker
Excuse me. Find out. Don't just, like you said, don't just say, well, I'm for mass migration because I've always voted Democrat. Or I'm against mass migration because I've always voted Republican. No, find out what you should believe about mass migration.
00:37:02
Speaker
Yeah. um And the consequences. We want Christians to to not be so passive. Yeah. um And... and again to qualify again we're not necessarily saying where it's just on a call to arms um not necessarily a call to political activism per se right but i do think christians need to be more active in what's going on in their culture around that i mean that's that's that's the at the heart of of all of this that we've been talking about for these two episodes so far is that uh
00:37:33
Speaker
And we want Christians to be more active in in bringing about the good of ah of the culture around us that we've been placed in. Yeah. um Instead of being so passive to just say, well, the people in charge are going to they're gonna do you know whatever they're going to do or they're going to do what's right. Yeah. um And there's nothing much I can do about it.
00:37:57
Speaker
And again, not every Christian can be politically involved so much, but just an ah an awareness and an understanding that ah we can't just place our trust in a man or in a government system. Yeah. That we want to advance these good things because they're gospel values, because we want to advance the gospel, because ultimately we want to advance the kingdom, but working for the good of the city, to use that term, yeah ah advances his kingdom. Yeah.
00:38:25
Speaker
That's out of Jeremiah. Right. Yeah. No, with you 100%. um So we're probably going to have to just do one one episode on each of these points. And as we wrap this one up, remember, we're talking about the the five big ideas that was in the MAGA platform.
00:38:46
Speaker
And the reason we're talking about them right now is because the MAGA platform – these the These things have gone by the wayside. um We're doing something different now. and Next time we're going to talk about no more pointless wars. That's something the president ran on. And this is not a bash the the president, you know, series of episodes. It's just to say.
00:39:07
Speaker
um In our estimation, those five planks were were good for the city in a Jeremiah right perspective.
00:39:18
Speaker
And we've we've jettisoned these five planks all of a sudden. And so that's bad for the city. And so we want to talk about these things and help. help one another to wrestle through these things that we become more aware of ah the times in which we live and that that we know what to do. So that's what we'll talk about next time, the whole no more pointless wars, but we're in one right now. Right. So anyway, I'm done. You got anything else?
00:39:46
Speaker
No, I think we're good. All right. Well, join us next time on ah
Conclusion and Next Steps
00:39:50
Speaker
Answering Pilot. Answering Pilot. The Answering Pilot Podcast is a ministry of Randall House Church in Greer, South Carolina.
00:39:57
Speaker
You can learn more at www.randallhousegreer.com slash church. You can also find on Facebook and Instagram at Randall House Church. Don't forget to like and subscribe.
00:40:09
Speaker
We'll see you next time.