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Crosswords: For or Against
Richard Prow
Almost all of the world’s religions are recognized by what they stand opposed to. Their list of don’ts if you will. Those pesky taboos dictating what one says, sees, hears and thinks. Christianity, unfortunately, is no different.
Everyone knows what Christians are against, or at least what we are supposed to be against. Abortion. Same sex marriage. Liquor by the drink. Monthly church business meetings. Change. Tofu themed pot luck suppers. 61 minute worship services - 46 for Methodists and Presbyterians.
If you want to rally against something, Christians are your group. Just name the time and place and we’ll gather poster boards and markers. Make copies of an amendment and we’ll pound the pavement until we get every signature required. Gather at city hall on a frosty winter night for a protest. No problem.
Here’s the question though. Do we exhaust our energies and resources in the same way for that which we are in favor of? Just compare the head count at the next weekly prayer meeting with that of the next children’s Christmas musical. Ask yourself how often additional chairs are gathered from the classroom next door at the next evangelism seminar.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not against Christians being against something. Freedom of speech is a beautiful thing. But I believe God wants the world to know what His children’s  pros are more than their cons. Protest the removal of the 10 commandments from the courthouse square but spend more time explaining grace. Gather signatures against removing ‘Christ’ from Christmas but use double the effort explaining to others just exactly who the Christ is.
The last time I witnessed a great influx of Christians standing up for something was the not so long ago traffic jams at Chick-fil-A restaurants. Truth be told though the only reason we showed our support was because the restaurant chain took a stand against something. I wonder how many would have shown up if the chicken sandwiches weren’t so good. You figure it out.

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