The following words spoken by Senator Eric Abetz, Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation and Special Minister of State in our Federal Parliament were made at last years Saltshakers annual dinner function. In this year when our focus is on reclaiming Australia’s Christian Heritage we believe his words are worth repeating.

Senator Abetz opened his address by saying that “we have a great spiritual inheritance in this nation, but I fear Australia is living off the ‘spiritual capital’ she inherited, and unless we, and that is you and me, not some nebulous concept of society, of government or church, but unless we, you and I, invest again and nurture our inheritance and grow it, the next generation will be left with naught.”

The real challenge, he said, “was what were we going to leave the next generation – are we re-investing or squandering our inheritance?”

Senator Abetz congratulated Salt Shakers for the work they do and the way they encouraged individual Christians to become informed and active about the tough issues.

He went on to say that it was unfortunate that some Christian leaders preferred to tackle only the soft, or politically correct, issues. These people often scored points with some in the community but they do the Christian church a disservice because, all too often, they were not properly informed about the issues. He said, in doing so, they think it makes the church more socially relevant, but in reality they demean it. “The great challenge for anyone wishing to speak publicly on the issues, is to be well informed.”

He used as an example, that complaining about the cutting of services such as Telstra in the bush, because of ‘the bottom line”, and then cutting church services in the same rural constituency because of the same ‘bottom line’ made the Church’s comments rather hollow to a number of his colleagues.

Senator Abetz said “Human beings are spiritual beings, and if the Christian gospel does not fulfil that need, some other belief system will fill the void, or simple desperation as witnessed by our suicide rates and drug dependency will.”

“The answer lies with us,” Senator Abetz said, “we need to reclaim our society for Christ. We need to remember the great injunction of Martin Luther that we must ‘pray as though it all depended on God, but act as though it all depends on you’. This acknowledges Gods omnipotence and our individual responsibility.”

Too many Christians, he said, expected the government to act, but it was the voice of the individual that could best change society. Often calling on the government is simply a way of absolving ourselves of a responsibility to act. Christians must be prepared to speak out, in our homes, our streets our workplaces. Be prepared to share your faith. We must be prepared to write to our politicians and promote the values that have underpinned this great nation.

He said, Christians often felt ‘inadequate, but God will equip us to speak and take action. The Christian gospel is a confronting gospel, especially to individuals,” he said. This nation needs a greater sense of personal moral responsibility. The great challenge to Christians today is to nurture the roots of this nation – the fruit will only be good if the roots are looked after.

Source: Saltshakers

March 2006

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