Power For God Or For Power? As a Christian conservative, I can tell you those working as activists in the Religious Right believe strongly in what they do…that they are serving God. They correctly see terrible things in our society and feel, if the laws were just changed to reflect Biblical principles, everything would be better. But, in the pursuit of worldly political power, we risk missing a far greater goal. It isn’t that our motives and goals are wrong, just that the political system in any given country is the wrong way to achieve those goals. We fight on a different battleground!
Christians And Political Participation: As Christians in a democracy, it’s our duty to Jesus and to our country to participate in the political system, trying to influence it for the good…this really isn’t the question. We should do our best to make sure whoever and whatever we vote for matches up with the principles we see in God’s Word. The problem is, as this election season bears out…no one matches up! We get as close as we can but, in doing so, we begin to compromise our own values. That’s politics, you say? How, then, do you think we can politically achieve our goals as Christians? …that is, if we even agree on those goals! We conservatives support the Republican Party only to empower corruption and moral decay…the very things we were voting against. But there are liberal Christians, just as committed to Christ, supporting Democrats and getting the same or worse results. Vote, yes, but don’t expect things to dramatically change even if your champion gets the job. As hot as the issues are…the battle isn’t in the ballot box.
Abortion, Homosexuality and Death Penalty are just a few of the hot-button issues repeatedly brought before us, to win our votes. Our mailboxes, TV’s and radios are full of accusation, innuendo and outright slander to try to convince us that the other guy doesn’t measure up…that our guy will deliver. Christians are deep in this game on both sides, even publishing craftily-worded voting records to prove this person is for or against the issue of the day. Prominent Christians promote both sides in news, film and the arts, to push their political agendas. The liberals say, “How could Christians be for the death penalty and against Government aid to the homeless and hungry?” The conservatives say, “How can Christians support abortion and homosexuality?” These Political organizations are just pushing our emotional hot-buttons to swing us one way or another. Vote, yes, but don’t let political manipulation take us off our game. The stakes are too high for us to spend much time or effort on an election’s hot-button issues. We have far greater work to do.
Love And Good Works: The work our Lord called us to is not to change laws but to heal hearts. When evangelical Christians sit atop their ivory towers and decry the sin in the world, they’re looking the wrong place for sin. Sin in the world is a given! Jesus said for us to get the log out of our own eyes…not to judge others. Once you’re perfect, you can start throwing stones. When people like Pat Robertson say 9-11 or earthquakes are because of the sin in America, how does that make people want to be a Christian…like him? Jesus didn’t come to condemn the world…He came to save it. Maybe it’s about time we evangelicals stop judging the world, get out of our churches and into the world to help one more person find the love of Christ. Where are the people today who will “become all things to all people” so some will find Jesus? Jesus gave us a 2-step plan for evangelism…love everyone…do good works. This is how the world will know His people and want to be His people. Everything else is a distraction. Vote, yes, but if you really want to change things, spend your time and money sharing love and good works…this is the battleground of true Christians. “God is love…in this world we are like Him.” 1 John 16-17 The more we’re like Him, the more they’ll want to be like us.
How do you feel Christians should participate in politics?