Leading Men Closer to God, One Step at a Time..

The Manhattan Declaration is a letter drafted from the Christian community to let the world know the Christian’s view on three topics: abortion, marriage and Religious Liberty. I have read the document, and the press release, and I must say I agree 100% with the idea of why they wrote this letter. I agree with all their points regarding abortion, marriage and Christian liberty. Where I disagree, and where I disagree with much of modern Christianity, is that Jesus has taken a back seat. There are four places in this whole document where the name Jesus can be found:

It is our duty to proclaim the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in its fullness, both in season and out of season. May God help us not to fail in that duty. p 2

For every sinner, regardless of the sin, is loved by God, who seeks not our destruction but rather the conversion of our hearts. Jesus calls all who wander from the path of virtue to “a more excellent way.” As his disciples we will reach out in love to assist all who hear the call and wish to answer it. p5

The nature of religious liberty is grounded in the character of God Himself, the God who is most fully known in the life and work of Jesus Christ. Determined to follow Jesus faithfully in life and death, the early Christians appealed to the manner in which the Incarnation had taken place: “Did God send Christ, as some suppose, as a tyrant brandishing fear and terror? Not so, but in gentleness and meekness…, for compulsion is no attribute of God” (Epistle to Diognetus 7.3-4). p6

I don’t understand why the authors of this document did not recognize the fact that the Gospel is the only solution to any of the problems. They state that it’s our duty, but never explain what the Gospel is. Coming together as Christians is as important as ever, but if we list the good deeds of past apostles and men of faith as the reason we should come together, that is just plain wrong. The reason we should even take any action is because we live on a higher standard, God’s standard. It’s only because of Jesus’ death on the cross that we even have the power to live this life, not because of Christian history. The problem I see is that those of us who are believers, we have a spiritual understanding of spiriutal things that unbelievers do not have. How can we expect the world of the lost to understand why we do what we do without the Gospel?

The opening page sounds like an apology for the faith:

“While fully acknowledging the imperfections and shortcomings of Christian institutions and communities in all ages..”

Christians believe in a perfect God. His Son and His Word and His Holy Spirit are perfect. Nothing we do as believers will ever take away from Him. To make a statement like this without backing it up with anything else makes the Christian faith look weak and imperfect, which it is far from. I wish the authors would have placed Jesus are the beginning, middle and end of this document. Listed all the ways He calls us to live higher and for His Way to be the worlds standard. It’s unfortunate they have taken a weak Biblical perspective to tackle these major moral problems, instead of using the Gospel. In the Gospel alone is fulfillment of the Old Testament, and in the Gospel of the New Testament we find the revelation of His expected return. It’s only through the Gospel that people will change, not from our banding together, signing documents, passing along Facebook and Twitter notes, or pointing to church history. The answer is the Gospel, which is seriously lacking in this document and in the church today.

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