Should a Christian sign the Manhattan Declaration?

Just a bit short of 100,000 signers have chosen to become involved in the Manhattan Declaration. It’s getting to be another of those 15-minutes-of-fame ideas frequently blowing throw the church (way too often) — like “A Purpose Driven Life”, “The Prayer of Jabez”, Bible codes, and so on.

For all those distractions we have a simple rebuttal — when did the Bible become insufficient? When did teaching the Word of God line-by-line become passe? Why abandon the Word of God for the Word of Man? It seems these distractions blow through the church, get people involved for a brief time, obtain lots of press, and then disappear. Thus the church arrives at the latest fad-of-the-week, the Manhattan Declaration, which according to the site has three major principles:

1. The sanctity of human life.
2. The dignity of marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife.
3. The rights of conscience and religious liberty.

We’re not necessarily stating those ideas are bad, but the site doesn’t seem to say what they’re going to do with all the information, why they’re collecting it, or anything else. So to what end are they doing it? Right now, nobody knows. Is it for political purposes? Boycotts? Or something else?

The question posed to Christians is simple: do you want to have an impact, or do you want to feel better? Those two goals frequently have differing tactics and methods. If you want to feel good about affixing your name and email to a document, fine. You’ll feel better, but did you accomplish anything? Probably not. Yet if you want to make an impact it takes more than filling out a form — you’ve got to be committed. And that, of course, takes more time, effort, and resources.

In the political arena, Christians frequently possess an “I don’t want to be involved” mentality, all while lamenting about the evils of the current situation and a lack of ethics. Yet it takes commitment and involvement to change the situation; recall the men signing the Declaration of Independence:

And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

Are you a chicken or pig? You see, in the bacon and egg breakfast the chicken was involved, yet the pig was committed. Signing a web petition is involvement, but can you count it as true commitment?

The overriding question becomes how much should a Christian be involved in politics? Whether you choose to sign this or any other petition is irrelevant. The question remains are you living your life according to Biblical principles? Do those principles guide and rule over your decision process? Your vote? Your day-to-day life? Your witness?

If they do, you’ve done well, if not, it matters not if you sign the Manhattan Declaration or anything else. Would Paul concern himself with such movements, books, and seminars, or stay focused on the important stuff? (You know, like teaching God’s Word and seeking the lost)

Watching college football games over rivalry weekend one always stands out — forever known simply as “The Game” (Ohio State versus Michigan). This year didn’t mean as much as previous years, and the question was asked if that would become a motivation problem for Ohio State players. But if you need a reason to get up for The Game you need to check your pulse.

The same applies to Christians — do you need the latest idea blowing through the church to get you up for the battle? Or are you ready to go? As someone else pointed out, are Christians wimps?

Chicken or the pig? It’s your choice. God won’t force your helmet on, pick you up off the bench, and put you in the game. It’s you who must say “Put me in coach, I’m ready to play”. But upon entering the game, you better be prepared for the hard hits and tackles coming your way — you can tell the guys riding the bench, after the game they don’t need a shower and don’t need the uniform washed. You can choose to play or not, but it’s easy to differentiate between the real players and the ones standing on the sidelines.

Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.” (Isaiah 6:8 NKJV)