Growing up in a very religious household has given me a particular experience in life, some of which I do not completely appreciate. It has given me an insight on how other people relate God to current political issues, and how they use him as an excuse to not be passionate about other issues. Is it just me, or is anyone else irritated when, at the end of a political discussion, someone always ends up saying, "We shouldn't worry about this, God's in control no matter what?" Does it not seem like a poor excuse to be complacent with the world around us?
An important thing that Christians need to realize is that, as the Bible clearly states, we are meant to be the hands and feet of God on Earth. We are not meant to conform to this world, rather we are meant to help transform this world. When we say that it is pointless to contribute to the bettering of the world because, "it is up to God," we are indirectly contributing to its decay. Being socially lazy is just as bad as being socially corrupt. Assuming that God wants us to do nothing to better this world is morally and intellectually lazy. Leaving the hard work purely to God is irresponsible.
While it is a good way to get out of a political conversation, it is not logically or Biblically correct to assume that God wants us to be complacent with this world. To assert that Christians are meant to wait for God to return is to assert that we have no purpose in this world, and that is irresponsibly ignorant. To ignore the problems in this world is to conform to them, and we are not called for that. I believe that it is long past the time for Christians to start being the light of the world. It's time for us to stop being complacent and start changing this world.
