I am as amazed as you are that already the campaigning for the 2012 political season is in full swing. I know this is not much of a surprise to anyone but is it just me or didn’t we just finish two years of political campaigning? My ears are tired of being indurated with political pundits from both sides of the political spectrum whose only thing they have in common is the ability to all speak at the same time everyone else is speaking. It would be a miracle if you could ever find two people actually discussing a topic.
Which reminded me of a conversation I was listening the to other day on a Christian news organization. They were explaining that if all the Christians in the United States would vote we could outvote all the sinners and finally be able to get men and women with Christian values into our public offices.
That would seem to be a good idea except for a few small details and we all know the ‘devil is in the details’. For instance we have known politicians who proclaim they are Christians but then they vote for the rights of pro-abortionist and same sex marriage. They may claim to know Jesus but it certainly is not the same Jesus that I have come to know. Call Jesus ‘old fashion’ if you will but I can’t imagine Jesus voting for abortion on demand. That means the level of discernment the Christian community would need to rightly discern the legitimacy of a candidates commitment to the Lordship of Jesus is staggering. For some it seems that if those running for office just hinted they were Christians it would be enough to get their vote.
Then there are those who believe strongly in the separation of Church and State. Yes, Christians who leave their God in the church and vote not for what is right for their country based on Biblical principles but believe more in the old saying, “It’s the economy stupid!” The problem is simple, we cannot separate ourselves from Jesus because Christianity is not a religion. Being religious doesn’t care if you are changed on the inside but is satisfied with only the outward appearance. Christianity changes you on the inside changing the way you see, feel and think about things that come your way so that you have the mind of Christ in all of your decisions. We just can’t leave Jesus behind, not out of our jobs, nor in our homes, certainly not at the polling booth and especially if we are a politician.
Give me that ‘Old Time Gospel’
Many believe that if our governmental officials were Christian then they could change the laws that govern the people by legislating into our society morally righteous laws. I know we can find scriptures that supports the idea that the kingdoms of this world are to be given to the believers. But there are also texts that declare that when the kingdoms of this world are given into the hands of Christ, he is to break them into pieces. Psalms 2:9, Rev. 12:5, Rev. 19:15 and Dan. 2:44.
In fact it would be hard to find any text supporting the idea that nations are to become Christian or that the world is to be converted by passing moral laws. The only method that is supported by the scriptures is the old-time method of salvation by faith through the preaching of the cross of Christ.
The commission to the disciples as given through Jesus says nothing about reforming governments and saving kingdoms rather it is about the salvation of individual hearers and believers only. Salvation by faith is the only method of salvation known to Christianity and faith is always an individual matter. Nowhere does it say that the saints of God will be able to outvote the sinners but it does say we are the salt of the earth and as such it is the means in which the earth is preserved. Matt.5:13
Let’s look at Sodom. If they could have found ten righteous men, in the whole city, it could have been saved. Gen. 18:32. Could it be that the earth is being preserved from God’s fury because there are
righteous Christians in it even though they are in disproportion to the overwhelming numbers of the wicked. The salvation of the earth does not depend upon the votes of the righteous and the reason this is true is even in a country like ours that proclaims to be a Christian nation there just are not enough righteous Christians to make the difference. However it does depend on the integrity of the righteous for if the salt loses its quality it can preserve nothing; and if the church loses her ability to be the light of the world then it to loses its ability to shield the earth against the wrath of God.
It would seem that more importantly the Christian church should not lose her Christianity and become more like the world. Perhaps this is why God has always shown more concern over the condition of the church than over the condition of the world. Jesus did drive the money changers out of his Father’s house but did nothing to form groups, take polls and appear on talk shows to deal with the corruption found in the government.
If we look at the outpouring on the day of Pentecost to the reformations of Luther, Wesley and Seymour we will find that not only was the church transformed but society as well. Each of these outpourings changed the way the world viewed how they treated their fellow man. Our world is in desperate need of another powerful reformation where the transforming power of a loving God changes the hearts and minds of a sick and perverse world.
It is through the church that the message of salvation is to be spread throughout the world. In the book of Acts we see this happening first through Peter on the day of Pentecost then through the Apostles as they went throughout the world clothed in power from on high. In fact it says that the Christian church was able to spread the gospel message throughout the whole known world, and in the face of the most powerful and ruthless empire the world had ever known.
There was a time when the world’s mightiest power, Rome became a Christian nation and made laws compelling you to become a Christian. Just three hundred years after Jesus ascended into heaven things changed when the Emperor of Rome made Christianity the religion of the nation. When that happened corruption flooded into the church and for the next 1200 years the world entered into what historians have called the, ‘dark ages’. When the light of the church grows dim the world becomes a very dark place.
The important question therefore is not:
What is the condition of the world? But what is the condition of the church?
The danger is not that the world would become more wicked but that the church may lose her Christianity. Remember 2 Tim. 3:1-5, where it says that it is entirely possible for the church to maintain a form of godliness while knowing nothing of the power of godliness.
Each day we see crimes that shock our sensibilities; but there are also popular and respectable sins that exist within the church almost without protest that separate the church from Christ. Consider the sins brought about by compromising our Christian values. The values given to us in the word of God are not to be compromised for when they are we all lose. You cannot compromise what is truth and still believe it will remain true. A individual cannot compromise their way into salvation, it is either all or nothing.
We must remember it was not, the politicians nor the sinners that crucified Jesus but the Pharisees and the chief priests; or in other words, by the outwardly good, respectable elements within the church. Pilate wanted to save Jesus but the church demanded his death.
This doesn’t mean that righteous men and women should not seek public office if they are called by God to do so or that we should not vote for those who seek office. We need righteous Christian men and women in public office to do the right thing even when the world is against them. However the church is not to sit back believing that those in governmental positions are solely responsible to change the world for Christ when that will always be the calling of each one of us.
With all our love,
