“ If anyone says ‘I love God,’ but keeps on hating his brother, he is a liar; for if he doesn’t love his brother who is right there in front of him, how can he love God whom he has never seen? And God himself has said that one must love not only God but his brother too.”(1 John 4:20-21)
In Belize, as in every other nation, citizens are faced with a simple question, “Should I allow my religious beliefs to positively affect how I behave in my private and in my public life?”
For those persons who believe in God as God reveals himself in the Bible, such private and/or public behavior depends on whether or not you consider yourself simply as a “member of a Christian Church”, a “Christian” or as a “Child of God” who has been “born again” of “water and the Spirit of God”.
Being “born of the Spirit of God” is clearly described in the following passages –
John 1:10-13
He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, that is, by being born as the children of a human father; but of God. They did not become God’s children by natural means; God himself was their Father.
John 3:1-8
There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”
Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”
Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
· That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
And so the prayer that is often referred to as “the Lord’s Prayer” is not “the Lord’s Prayer”. The Lord’s prayer is found in John 17; but the prayer given to the twelve Apostles, in response to their asking Jesus to “teach us to pray”, is described in the following passage:
Luke 11:1-4
Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.” So He said to them, “When you pray, say:
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, as we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”
Belizeans, there are two important things to note from the above passage – (1) you can only say “Father” if God, as God has revealed Himself in the Bible, is your father; and God is only your Father if you are born again. (2) When you say “Your kingdom come”, you can only say that because, having been “born again” of the Spirit of God, you are now in the kingdom of God, and your desire is for more people to be born again in accordance with God’s will.
When a person is born again, he is in the world; but he is not of the world, with respect to his birth, behavior and responsibility. His responsibility on earth now returns to that which was given the first man and woman when they were created, and before they disobeyed God.
Gen 1:26-28
· Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
· So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” In these words we find the kernel for environmental responsibility handed to man. (1 Corinthians 4:7)
Belizeans, two questions that arise are these, “In the beginning, what was the purpose of the commands given to man by God? Was the purpose to guide man in accomplishing his responsibilities as described by God? If the answer is yes to both, and if we agree that God has not changed, then if you are a member of the Church that Jesus, the only begotten Son of God, said he would build, are you (we) not responsible, if we love God, to “keep his commandments?” (John 14:15)
Belizeans, if the answer to that question is yes, what are we saying when we argue that we must separate the Church from the State? Do we mean that in Government “the Moral laws of God” do not apply in our society?
That then brings me to the following quote from the Editorial in the Alliance Newspaper of February 27, 2005, which I find informative, as it raised important questions, while attempting to offer solutions.
“It is not clear whether the UDP is for a nation state with a strict system of checks and balances, or is for a church state leadership. Where do the UDP stand on Science and Technology? The UDP, if it is to lead, it must do so with ideas, with knowledge, with experience, with openness, with fairness. It must institute and encourage the free flow of ideas. It must look to knowledge, science, technology, innovation and investment as catalysts of change. There must be consultation with Belizeans for growth and development.
“The days of autocracy and blind belief, blind and willing submission and the holding unto invalid concepts and ideas are gone. No one can resist them. The UDP must change or it must go the way of Bobby Bear. Belize must be a country where social justice, the rule of law, the separation of church and state, respect for ourselves and every human being, the nurturing and care of our environment are embraced. In addition, Belize must be a country in which the human body must be recognized as a supreme example of the great power of God; we must regard it as such and treat it as such.
“We must see the material and the spiritual as different aspects of God’s plan and God’s handiwork. We must see our societies as living, breathing, growing organisms that require planning, careful nurturing, constant education and guidance. We must be a society that has vision, and that recognizes the central role that vision plays in development; we must understand the science and technology in today’s world. Similarly, we must recognize the role science and technology play in converting a society from ignorance, backward and poor, to knowledgeable, innovative, and affluent.
“We must understand that development comes from the human intellect, refined and textured by communication, ideas and experience through the classrooms and the research centers out into the wider society. Belize must be a country where all these things are embraced and cultured at all times. Alliance will do its best in helping Belize to dream these dreams and live up to its creed and its potential.” (The Alliance Editorial – February 27, 2005)
Belizeans, let us not forget that a Political Party is comprised of individual human beings who are subject to temptations; so, as individuals who are born again, and desire to fulfill the “Dominion Mandate” given to man in accordance with the will of God, such individuals cannot ignore the moral imperatives articulated in the Bible. Being obedient to the commandments of God in the discharge of governmental responsibilities, is the only way a person will be able to let his light shine in the darkness of the world in which we live. We are supposed to let our light so shine that men may see our good works and glorify our Father who is in heaven.
Belizeans, imagine what it could have been like if our human, natural and financial resources were properly managed by those who were responsible for those resources; if they would have remembered “you shall not steal” and “you shall not covet”.