If you’ll scroll back at the last half dozen posts or so you’ll get more of my drift on voting.
Please note that I’m absolutely NOT saying here or anywhere that if you don’t take my advice on voting that you’re not a true believer in Jesus, or that you’re not a Christian if you vote for Donald Trump. That’s NOT what I’m saying.
What I AM saying is that these are the kinds of things that every Christian should consider. If you come to a different conclusion than me about who to vote for, that’s between you and God and we’ll just have to agree to disagree agreeably.
There is something I’d like to propose to you that I believe should be true of all genuine followers of Jesus. It has to do with our starting place regarding anything in life, including our politics. While there are many second and third tier concerns for the follower of Jesus, the Bible, to me, is our primary source.
It’s disappointing to me when Christians can’t support their fundamental sociopolitical convictions from Scripture. I don’t mean they can’t cite their favorite chapter and verse, but that they often don’t even consider biblical values from all the chapters and verses in the Bible when developing their political ones.
I’m referring to basic moral principles, not to policy particulars. For example, the Bible is clear that we’re to love immigrants (otherwise known as “strangers” and “neighbors” in the Bible) but doesn’t give us a blueprint on how to manage the crisis at our border. It commands us to care for the fatherless but doesn’t tell us exactly how to do that on a national level.
What concerns me is the myopic approach to the Bible that many believers use when developing so many of these fundamental ethics to begin with. They can’t seem to see beyond themselves and their own personal needs. Everything beyond that is murky at best.
Just a quick reminder, the Word of God is “a lamp to our feet and a light to our path.” It is “sharper than any two-edged sword, dividing soul and spirit.” It is “God-breathed and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” It’s not just bread that sustains us “but every word that comes out of the mouth of God.” “Heaven the earth will pass away but [his] words will not.”
A few years ago, either Pew Research or Barna polled Christians about how much their Bible helped them develop their political convictions. I don’t remember the percentage, but it was appallingly low. Evidently, their favorite news outlet or political party was to them a superior source. It seems some Christians are into the Bible until it contradicts their politics or social ethics.
If we’re going to call ourselves Christians, we must begin with the Bible and what it teaches us about morals, which in turn inform our politics. It’s gotta be in that order. We can’t start with politics and work backward. That’s how many cults and other aberrations of the faith get started, including a popular one called “Christian Nationalism.”
So many seem to silo off the spiritual from the social, the scriptural from the political. They divorce their spiritual identity from their political convictions. This is a huge mistake, a smooth road to idolatry and hypocrisy.
“Every Christian is a dual citizen,” says Eric Costanzo, “with residency on earth and in heaven. When there is a conflict, our citizenship in God’s kingdom always comes first and outranks every other membership and commitment, because only his kingdom ‘will never end.’”
Therefore, if you’re a follower of Jesus, please view your politics through the lens of Scripture. Double down on your biblically-informed, Spirit-filled conscience in your pursuit of “liberty and justice for all.”
barney wiget 