What is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor (Ps. 8:4-5)

We must be careful as a country; we are treading on scary ground. The political philosophy of today is beginning to fall in line with Marxist communist beliefs. By that I mean that we are beginning to take the same outlook on individual life as those failed countries took. Communism stresses the importance of the political party over the person. With Hitler it was clear “societies needs come before the individual’s needs.” In Stalin’s USSR of the early 1900’s, peasant farmers were forced, for the benefit of the state, to give up rights to land and animals in order to become a part of collective farms. The result was the starvation and death to many innocent people.
 
Look at the contrast of a biblical worldview where people matter most because they matter to God. Christianity sees man as an image barer. We therefore have intrinsic value beyond any creature on earth and that value is not based on abilities or perceived worth. This is why Jesus tells us the greatest command is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind… and to love your neighbor as yourself. (Matt. 22:37-40) He not only tells us to love our neighbor but also to “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. (Matt. 5:43-45)
 
Let us not be mistaken it was out of this biblically informed mindset that our forefathers penned these words of the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. That they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Please pray for our country and our leaders, that they may be influenced by the biblical worldview that drives man to protect the unborn, fight for the rights of the oppressed, and works to feed, clothe, and empower, not prey on, those in poverty. For these are the visible markers of Jesus teaching “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” On a personal level know that you matter to God and so does everyone else. The question is: Who might God want you to protect, provide for, or minister to with acts of love and kindness today?
 
In His Service,
Eric Barnes