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From Magic City Morning Star J. Grant Swank
Sarah Palin called the squealers "stinkers" and "jerks." Is that Christian? The attackers were hiding behind their anonymous tag. They were unfair in splitting from the Rep campaign team to slam Sarah Palin. She did not deserve that. Was Sarah Palin abiding by the Christ ethic in speaking facts to media or should she have pulled out the politically correct verbiage to carry on? She was right in line with Christ. She was of course being Christian. She was fulfilling the biblical moral base. Her words were just what should have been spoken. Granted, she couched "stinkers" and "jerks" with a few politically correct words like "unprofessional" in describing the stinkers and jerks. However, back to the point: Sarah Palin, a professed Christian who believes in the God of the Bible and the scriptural ethic, showed by her response to reporters that she is well acquainted with Christ's verbiage. She knows her Bible, in other words. She is not one of those mere churchgoers who says "Christian" but is not genuinely one. She claims to have surrendered her existence to Christ, relies upon His indwelling Spirit and makes no apologies for it. With that, Sarah Palin reflected the love of Christ - the tough love of Christ, a virtue not many know about. True. Not many believers even get the tough love quotient in Christ's persona as revealed in the Gospel records. Being a Masters of Divinity Degree recipient and evangelical minister for half a century, I know what I am now going to put forth. I am not a novice religionist. I am not a newborn believer. I am seasoned and have pastored throughout the US and Canada. When Christ exposed the enemy attacking His ministry He used words far more extreme than Sarah Palin. He called the foes "whitewashed tombstones." Christ said that His enemies were children of the Devil, offspring of the Father of Lies. Christ claimed that it would have been better for Sodom and Gomorrah than for those undercutting His public ministry. Christ stated that those laying unholy hands upon the holy precincts were practicing devilment, answering finally to the Father for such brazen deeds. Christ called those blasting His holy kindness as "snakes." Christ promised eternal damnation upon those who screamed against his divine claims. He said that those who discounted His warnings would face the Judgment Seat, regarded by the eternal throne as "goats" instead of "lambs." I have had plenty of enemies in my ministry. They have cut me to ribbons because of my gospel preaching. They have plotted and schemed. They have threatened. The genuine Christian ministry is a battlefield where the demons lurk. However, I never used the language that Christ used in countering His attackers. I don't think Sarah Palin has yet reached into Christ's lexicon either to verbalize terms like His against those seeking to malign her integrity. However, though softening her remarks to reporters, she is very much in line with Christ's mode in telling the truth about those lying about her character. In fact, she could up her verbiage heat somewhat. In that, she would be still far from the more severe terms Christ used to expose His foes. Sarah Palin, you are very much Christian. Very much Christ-like. And of course you are well aware of that. Carry on, Sarah Palin. The world needs you. J. Grant Swank Jr. © Copyright 2002-2008 by Magic City Morning Star |