23 July 2022 Anno Domini, the Anglican Orthodox Communion Worldwide
“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” (Philippians 2:4-8; All scripture quoted is from the King James Version)
I give it as my fixed opinion that any who deny the Lord Jesus Christ is “out of their right minds.” You may recall the Prodigal son who came to the very last knot in his life’s rope in a pig-sty in a ‘far country.’ “And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. 15And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. 16And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. 17And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! 18I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, 19And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.” (Luke 15:14-19)
The young man never ceased being the son of his father, yet he went out of the father’s household to live according to his own mind and desires. A famine of soul, if not of bread, always attends such rebellion against a righteous father. The boy was distracted for a time by the things of this world. His mind was corrupted by desire and pride. But when the means of living in a world of decadence is taken away – as God sometimes does to His errant children – their mind will return to those things that are right and good. The boy had received righteous instruction in the household of the father, yet, he drifted away in the fire of youth. Once he had flown too near the flame, he awakened to the reality of his plight and returned to his RIGHT MIND (he came to himself). “6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22:6)
Though we raise our children to love God and His Word, they often drift off course when attaining adulthood, but own day, when they may be old, they will not depart from that Ancient Landmark set by their righteous Father.
Nations, as well as individuals, may follow that same pattern as the Prodigal. We see precisely the same thing happening in America. We have traded our Christian heritage, as a nation, for the cheap beads and baubles of a degenerate world. The turn to perversion, drugs, and nihilism has taken America from her foundation into a “far country” unlike that conceived by our Founders or by those who valiantly gave their lives to defend, not only the ground of America, but her guiding principles of freedom as well.
In political America today, we observe two opposing and contradictory powers – one is referred to as the Right, and the other the Left. Though these cannot represent fully the justification of my argument on “right mind,’ they do stand as a sober example. The party of the left desires to consider themselves LIBERAL, though all their actions belie any hint of classical liberalism. They begin their movements demanding ‘free speech.’ That free speech leads to burning down city squares and even assassination of opponents. Once free speech is gained in any area, with the left, it leads to shutting down the free speech of all others. The left constantly presses for change – often change that is diametrically opposed to the betterment of society.
On the other hand, the Right attempts to hold to that which is the status quo. That can be good, or it can be bad; however, if an unchanging stand for the values that make a nation and her people a beacon of hope to others in the world, that kind of Right is good. God does not change in His righteousness, and neither should the Christian.
Rather than adhering to the two classifications above, I prefer to accept the political and social model expressed by the former great President, Ronald Reagan: “You and I are told we must choose between a left or right, but I suggest there is no such thing as a left or right. There is only an up or down. Up to man’s age-old dream — the maximum of individual freedom consistent with order –or down to the ant heap of totalitarianism. Regardless of their sincerity, their humanitarian motives, those who would sacrifice freedom for security have embarked on this downward path.”
The only way for a nation or people to achieve the greatest good for themselves and others is to take the advice of Paul and “put on that Mind which was in Christ Jesus.” It is found in the Word of God for He is the very Word made flesh.
