Can you be a Christian and a ...
Okay, so I've heard the question, "Can a Christian be a [insert political affiliation of choice]?" or some variation of it for the umpteenth time. And for the umpteenth time I have wanted to reach through the computer screen and attempt to do physical harm to the individual posing the question. I find so many things wrong with questions like this that I'm not sure where to begin.
First, let me say that I am a registered Republican. I voted Republican in the last presidential election and I intend to do so in the upcoming election. I am not so foolish as to believe that because I am a Christian and I vote Republican that all real Christians should also vote Republican. That's the first problem that I have with the question above. It assumes that all Christians should vote for one party or another.
There are some basic fundamentals that all Christians share. Political affiliation is not one of them. I find it rather insulting to reduce the validity of faith to whether or not you are in the right political party (pun intended). Any student of history can tell you that faith is corrupted when it becomes so linked with politics that to disagree with the ruling party is to have your faith questioned.
God is a sovereign, all-powerful God in control of all aspects of humanity, including American politics. I find people who are so heavily invested in a political party that they question the faith/sanity/humanity of their political opponents laughable. Why all of the fuss? In the end the individual that God has chosen for the job will have that job. They will succeed or fail according to what God has ordained. In the American political system the role of the Christian is to choose the individual that they think God has chosen for a particular role. The world will not end if I chose differently from you, and neither of us will go to hell for it.
Christians are called by God to submit to their leaders, even if they happen to be evil despots bent on wiping Christianity from the face of the earth (how many times that been tried and failed). As Americans we are in the somewhat unique position of being able to choose our leaders. We are the agents that God uses to choose leaders who will either honour or dishonour God. Makes things interesting doesn't it?
First, let me say that I am a registered Republican. I voted Republican in the last presidential election and I intend to do so in the upcoming election. I am not so foolish as to believe that because I am a Christian and I vote Republican that all real Christians should also vote Republican. That's the first problem that I have with the question above. It assumes that all Christians should vote for one party or another.
There are some basic fundamentals that all Christians share. Political affiliation is not one of them. I find it rather insulting to reduce the validity of faith to whether or not you are in the right political party (pun intended). Any student of history can tell you that faith is corrupted when it becomes so linked with politics that to disagree with the ruling party is to have your faith questioned.
God is a sovereign, all-powerful God in control of all aspects of humanity, including American politics. I find people who are so heavily invested in a political party that they question the faith/sanity/humanity of their political opponents laughable. Why all of the fuss? In the end the individual that God has chosen for the job will have that job. They will succeed or fail according to what God has ordained. In the American political system the role of the Christian is to choose the individual that they think God has chosen for a particular role. The world will not end if I chose differently from you, and neither of us will go to hell for it.
Christians are called by God to submit to their leaders, even if they happen to be evil despots bent on wiping Christianity from the face of the earth (how many times that been tried and failed). As Americans we are in the somewhat unique position of being able to choose our leaders. We are the agents that God uses to choose leaders who will either honour or dishonour God. Makes things interesting doesn't it?
I realize that I am responding to an old post, but I've just discovered your blog and was reading thru some things and this post begged a response.
ReplyDeleteWhy? Because in the post you say (in part) that...
"Christians are called by God to submit to their leaders, even if they happen to be evil despots bent on wiping Christianity from the face of the earth." .... ........ "We are the agents that God uses to choose leaders who will either honour or dishonour God."
Unfortunately, your position is the same position that the modern church teaches. If the scripture were taught and followed properly, Christians would not be voting for and obeying evil leaders. They would not be members or citizens of any ungodly organizations(including the US government), they would be God's people, simply.
The proper role of Christian government is from the bottom-up, not from the top-down as the Gentiles do.
The modern day church is in place to promote the State. Christians follow the teachings of the modern-day church when they vote for their favorite evil leader.
And to say that God expects His people to follow evil leaders is near blasphemy.
God expects His people to follow Him.
But year after year, we think choosing the 'right' evil leader will deliver us from bondage.
There is only One Lawgiver, so why do we pick 'lawmakers' and 'legislators'?
Jesus came to set us free, indeed.
That includes the freedom to choose enslavement, or walk in the light, as He is in the light.
Did you know that being a citizen of the US government is voluntary? The choice is ours. Citizenship is a voluntary issue.
Choose this day whom you will follow, as for me and my house...
But our participation in ungodly governments makes us also guilty for its sins.
The wars waged by the US are done in the name of ...wanna guess?
We The People.
If you (or me) are one of "We The People" we are also guilty of her sins.
Too many sins are committed in the name of We The People than I care to list. But will God judge Russia for the sins of We The People? No.
Will He judge the Chinese for the sins of We The People? No.
Will He judge His own people? No.
He will judge anyone in the group of We The People. No one in that group will not be judged for the sins of We The People.
Did you know that the CONstitution kicked out God in Article VI when it claims the CONstitution itself to be the supreme law of the land?
How many supreme laws of the land are there? Two?
No, just one, God's word is law.
So why do they keeping changing their law? God's law never changes.
It should be clear that we have a King, His name is Jesus.
Christians need to come out of Babylon and follow Him completely.
Part of that includes not taking oaths (ever sign a 1040 form from the IRS?), not swearing allegiance to other sovereigns (ever read the oath to become an American citizen?) nor being a part of the world (got credit cards, bank accounts? The money system is ungodly), nor stealing (ever take money from an employees paycheck and give it to another party in the name of 'income tax'?)
Yes, God's people are destroyed by a lack of knowledge.
Part of the problem is that people don't realize that Jesus Christ is King now. Yes, right now. God's people are to follow him, right now.
But the modern church teaches that Jesus is only a coming King, in the future, and are told that we dont have to REALLY obey him until He arrives.
Is that what the scripture says? No, it says that we have been translated in the kingdom of his dear son (Col 1:3).
Kingdom = government.
God's people have been translated into the government of God, and we dont even know it! That's not what the churches teach.
They say God expects us to vote for, and comply to, evil leaders.
Blasphemous.
Jeff in Missouri
First quoting from my post here, "Why all of the fuss? In the end the individual that God has chosen for the job will have that job."
ReplyDeleteSecond, what is your take on Jesus' saying that we should give to Ceasar what is Ceasar's? How would you apply that concept in the American political sysetem? Or the political systems of countries where Christians are actively persecuted?
Third, what do you suppose the righteous Israelites did as the one kingdom split into two and each began to slip and slide into a darkness that eventually ended in death and exile for the righteous and unrighteous alike?
Fourth, define "modern church" please. What, in your opinion, does the scripture "properly taught and followed" look like?
I think you are falling into the same error that the people of Jesus' day made. "Kingdom = government," a lot of them thought that too right up until the point where Jesus voluntarily walked up to a cross and let himself be nailed to it. (He was sent there by evil corrupt leaders by the way.) Some persisted in believing that "Kingdom = government" despite all evidence to the contrary and some persist in believing it still.