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Your Political Posts Have Changed My Mind


    About five years ago, I reluctantly created a profile on Facebook when my then 13 year-old son asked to join.  In just a short time, however, I became somewhat of a Facebook junkie.  I have enjoyed catching up with old high school and college friends and connecting with the new people I have met along the way.  Time easily passes as I thumb through a friend’s pictures, laugh at the funny things their kids say, or read the articles and the encouraging insights they share.
    During this election season, I have seen my Facebook wall light up with political posts that promote some healthy and some not so healthy political discussions.  The debates go something like this: One friend will post a sentiment urging Christians to vote Republican; another will post why the Democratic vote should be cast; yet another will chime in, “Neither view is right, we all need the hands-off government approach of the Libertarian.”  Inevitably, someone will post an e-card saying, “‘Wow! your Facebook post about politics has changed my mind and my vote.’ said no one EVER!”
    Well then, let me be the first to say, your political posts have changed my mind, or at least they have helped me to think through my political views.  They have encouraged me to make sure what I believe lines up with Biblical principles.  I came into this election year a fairly stalwart Republican, believing that no other political view fits within the Christian ideals better.  As I have read my Facebook friend’s political posts, I have taken the time to think through the ideas, challenges, and positions of people who have different views.
    One challenge in particular that has made me reconsider my political views is the following: Even though Christians ought to believe what the Bible says, they should not vote for amendments or particular politicians based on their Biblical beliefs.  The government does not have the right to legislate morality.   This argument took me back.  My very articulate Facebook friends who promote this idea seemed to have a corner on the truth here.  The Founding Fathers established our government on a principle that mandates the separation of church and state.  After all, it seems logical that we should separate our religious beliefs from the way we vote.  Even though this argument sounded right, I had a nagging suspicion something about it was wrong.  I searched through the Bible and read through the opinions of several of my favorite authors on the role of government and a Christian’s response.
    One pointed passage in the Bible on the role of government comes from Romans 13:1-5, where it states:
    [1] Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. [2] Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. [3] For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, [4] for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. [5] Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience.
    This passage says that God establishes governments; the government’s role is to carry out God’s judgement; and our role as citizens is to follow the laws set up by the government.  In other words, the absolute moral standards that God established before the foundation of the earth which are written on the hearts of every man (Romans 2:14-15*), determine the laws that governments establish, regardless of whether they recognize the God of the Bible.  For example, the Bible says, do not murder and do not steal.  Most governments have written laws that prohibit and punish both murder and stealing.  These laws, that legislators write, reflect the moral standards that God has written on their hearts.  Since murder, stealing, and other crimes are defined by the morals of a people, it is, therefore, one of the jobs of governing officials to legislate morality.  Even more important, the closer a government gets to God’s moral absolutes in the legislation the more successful that government will be. 
    If we understand that the government’s role includes legislating morality, and that the moral absolutes established by God at the beginning of time trump other people's ideas of what morality ought to be, then it doesn’t seem logical to vote based on any other standard.  Earlier this year, many states in the Union proposed a marriage amendment, defining marriage as between one man and one woman.  We as citizens of the US had the opportunity to vote our morals on this issue.  Since God set our governing authorities under him, then wouldn’t it make sense to vote according to what God has established as a moral absolute in this case?
    So, for example, what does God say about marriage - specifically homosexuality?  Leviticus 20:13a states, “If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination.”  I Corinthians 6:9-10 says,
“Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” 
Since God calls homosexuality an abomination, and says that those who participate in these activities will not inherit the kingdom of heaven, shouldn’t we as citizens vote for an amendment that will uphold God’s moral absolutes?
    Well that settled it for me, at least until I saw another post that went something like this: If we vote for laws that impose Biblical standards on those who do not adhere to the Bible, then we are forcing our morals on those who do not hold to these standards.  We should, on the other hand, be tolerant allowing people to live according to what they believe.  This made me think. . . The most civilized governments throughout the ages have promoted religious tolerance.  The governing authorities who forced their beliefs on other countries, and even on their own citizens perpetrated the most horrible atrocities in the name of religious purity (the Crusades, and Bloody Mary are two the come to mind).  This argument sounded very plausible and even vitally important.
    Religious toleration, however, doesn’t mean the same thing today as it did in years past or even in the United States when it was founded.  The modern definition of tolerance promotes the idea that people should blindly accept and condone the beliefs of those around them and treat those ideas as equal to their own.  Traditionally, however, the definition of tolerance merely encouraged individuals to live in harmony with people of different beliefs.  Romans 12 is a great passage that describes how a Christian ought to live within his culture.  Verse 18 hits the point home, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.”  As Christians, we are called to be tolerant in the traditional sense, but not in the modern sense.  God calls us to love those who disagree with us (caring for their needs, coming alongside them in their trials, and comforting them in their pain).  But he also calls us to confront them with their sin and offer them the hope of the Gospel.  This concept is evident in the Great Commission where Jesus encourages his disciples to “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature...teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (Matt. 28:19-20)  Since Christians need the Gospel just as much as those around them, this confrontation should be carried out with the utmost humility.  This means respectfully and lovingly share the truths of the Bible with them in a non-judgmental way, a way in which we would hope others would do for us when they recognize sin in our lives (Matthew 18).  If we believe the Bible is the moral absolute governing everyone regardless of their race, religion, or sexual orientation, then it is not loving to let them go on thinking their sinful behavior is just one belief among many.
    Wayne Grudem in his book, Politics According to the Bible, contends that Christians should boldly share their faith not just to their neighbor but also in the public square.  He provides the Old Testament examples of Moses, Joseph, Daniel, Jonah, Mordecai, Esther, Nehemiah, and other prophets who spoke directly to the Israelite kings and pagan rulers on behalf of Biblical principles calling these leaders to repentance.  Grudem also details examples from the New Testament like John the Baptist, Jesus, and Paul, who just like the prophets in the Old Testament called their rulers to repentance.  Since God calls Christians to proclaim the Gospel to every creature, and the examples of Biblical characters who boldly proclaimed their faith in the public square, it seems logical that we as Christians should not shrink back from, at the very least, voting what we believe.  We might even need to go a step further and be an Esther or a John the Baptist of our time and proclaim the truth in the public square.
    My Facebook friends haven’t changed the way I am going to vote in this election, but they have helped me to clarify how to choose the best candidate.  Since God establishes those who govern, and He uses them to carry out his sovereign plan, I will choose leaders whose policies best follow the moral absolutes established by God.  As I present my beliefs with my friends, through my vote, and in the public square, it is vitally important that I do it with the utmost respect, humility, and love, tolerating people in the traditional sense.  In doing so, I will proclaim the truth of the Gospel, instead of encouraging people to think that the Bible is just one view among many.  If the outcome of the election is not what I hoped for, I can rest assured that it is God’s better and more perfect plan because it is He who places those rulers in authority over me.

*Romans 2:14-15 “For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them.”

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