It has been quite some time since I have written on here, for which I apologize (sense, you know, thousands, or even millions, of people read my blog!) But the Lord has been laying some things on my heart about this upcoming election. If you go on Facebook at all, you see that one out of every 5 posts (statistic created by myself) is about this year’s election. Some are anti-Trump, some are anti-Clinton, some are anti-both. It is not uncommon to see a large group of my friends posting at least a dozen politically charged articles in a day. This post IS NOT to say that we ought to abandon our concern about politics. I believe every Christian ought to vote. I believe every Christian should be an informed voter. But I believe that there are a few things more important than politics. Here are some Christian rules for politics, based on Scripture.
1. Don’t Neglect Your Spiritual Walk
2nd Timothy 2:15, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
I get on Drudge Report every day to read the news. I make sure that I am somewhat informed about the world around me. But I should never be a “news hound” at the expense of my walk with God. If you are constantly reading news stories but not reading your Bible, you are not walking with God. I fear that there are too many Christians reading the news and too few Christians reading their Bibles. I have said behind my pulpit many times before, and I strongly believe this, that one of the biggest problems with Christianity today is that we are not people of the Word of God. Get into your Bibles!
2. Be A Witness
Mark 16:15, “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”
I have met plenty of people who are very quick into getting into political arguments (they call it discussions) with other people. It burdens my heart that too many Christians are more quick to share their political beliefs with a stranger than to tell that stranger about their Saviour. Christian, Donald Trump is not your Messiah. Hillary Clinton did not die on the cross for your sins. Gary Johnson did not give you the gift of eternal life. There is no person in this world more important to the world than Jesus Christ. Let’s tell others about him! Sure, he may not be on our ballot, but he is in our Bibles and on our Gospel tracts. Tell others about Jesus. By the way, most of the world’s problems would be a lot smaller if more people knew Christ as their Saviour. The Gospel is the hope of the world!
3. Have Perspective
2nd Chronicles 7:14, “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
Can I say something that will hurt some people… ok, here it goes… Donald Trump cannot Make America Great Again. Neither can Hillary for that matter. Republicans and Democrats alike tend to deify their candidate to a level of “Messiah-ship” (look, I made up a word!), and that is absolutely wrong. No matter who is put into the White House, this nation is still in a great amount of trouble. No president can fix this mess. Who can? God can! The verse above does not say to seek Trump’s face or Clinton’s face, it says to seek God’s face. And this is a task that must be done by the people of God (“if my people…”) I have said before and will say it for years to come, America is in the shape that it is in because of Christians who will not humble themselves, pray, seek God’s face, and turn from their own wicked ways.” Do not look for a president that will fix the problems that you created, seek God’s face at this time. The only way America will be great again is if Christians start living like Christians ought to.
4. Be Kind
Ephesians 4:32, “And be ye kind…”
There is more to that verse, which goes into greater detail about how and why we should be kind to others. But those first four words are beautiful in their simplicity. Be nice! I have seen unkindness rear its ugly head on two fronts:
Cruel statements about politicians- I am not opposed to calling out politicians on inconsistencies or on their policy, but personal attacks are unChristian and unkind. The other day my wife and I saw an article about Michelle Obama, underneath the article were all of these comments about how ugly Mrs. Obama is. My wife and I were shocked! People were saying cruel things like calling her “Moochelle”. My wife and I agreed that this was ridiculous. Every time we see Mrs Obama, we are both impressed by how put together she looks and, yes, the fact that she is a pretty woman. Let me ask you this, would Jesus ever call any woman ugly? The answer to that is “NO!” Neither should a child of God. This is not just about Mrs Obama though, but about practically every politician that anyone ever disagrees with. Even children aren’t off limits! Remember, politicians are people too, they do not deserve personal attacks based on their looks, intelligence, or public speaking abilities (you try it sometime! I promise, public speaking is hard and I only speak to 30-40 every week!) Attack positions, but do not attack people.
Cruel statements to others- Too many families and friends get into heated discussions about politics! I understand talking over things, but when names start getting called and when people start to be cruel is when the line has been crossed. Do not forget that after this election is over you will still have that family member in your life whether or not they voted Blue or Red. That coworker will still be standing next to you every week. Basically, what I am trying to say is Practice Grace with people that disagree with you. Just because someone disagrees with you over some minor area of policy does not mean that we should cast them out of our lives and treat them as heretics. Kindness is what is expected of a Christian.
You might say, “Pastor King, these are all things we ought to be doing anyway!” Exactly! The point I am making is simple: Our spiritual lives do not take a back seat in the election year. Before you are a Republican, you are a Christian. Before you are an American, you are a Christian. Go out and vote this year (you have no right to complain about politics if you do not vote), be an informed voter, read the news to make sure you know the developing stories, but please, Christian, please do not stop being what you ought to be for your Saviour. A blogger wrote the other day that this will be the ugliest election in our modern history. It very well may be, but let that not be said of us Christians, let us walk through this season with grace toward all men.
Don't forget to check out my books on the Kindle: Getting My Attitude Adjusted, Sermons from the Book of Haggai, and Sermons from the Life of Abraham!
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