Interesting question, Ernie. I have struggled with it myself - especially after talking to some Jehovah's Witnesses. They never even vote due to their allegiance to "God's kingdom" alone. In discussing it with them, my major problem was that they never connect their theological ideas with the real world.

To me, Christ' love is VERY practical. I feel like I can't be intellectually honest in totally separating my politcal and theological views. I'm not saying I endorse a theocracy in the U.S., but I think it should matter to the church when there is an opportunity to make a practical impact on the world through politics.

I completely agree with your cousin's comment on the essential attribute of Christ's love. However, I think there may be a difference between our opportunity in the U.S. to impact our government and the "kings" of old.
I'm certainly no political expert - actually I'd say it's one of my biggest "holes" in the library of my mind - but doesn't democracy basically ask the citizens what they think? I'm imagining some political leader asking Jesus what he thinks about a moral issue...I think, because of Jesus' love, he would say something! He didn't start a political uprising (or at least he didn't seem to intend to) but he usually responded to questions and situations put in front of him.

So, Sunday morning do's and don'ts.
1. Always consider what Jesus' response would be.
2. Use discernment in regard to the presentation of the material. For example, provide opportunity to take part in different activities but don't order anyone around. I think the key is to let people decide for themselves, without coersion.
3. In prayer, keep the focus on God's will for the situation, not one person's view.

I keep thinking of the passage, "he who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins." (I apologize for the quote from the A. Delke Version)
As your cousin said, politics may be only a tool; the question is, am I a good steward of that tool?
Anne Delke
KingsWay Community

Hi Anne,

I agree with everything you said; I absolutely believe our faith should impact our political involvement. What I wrestle with is how much -- or rather, how best, -- the Institutional Church should engage in politics. I absolutely want to know what Jesus thinks about how I should vote. I'm less sure I want to know what my pastor thinks...

-- Ernie P.
"If we are out of our minds, it is for Christ" -- II Cor 5:13

Maybe consider it this way.
What if you were the pastor?
What do you think good stewardship would look like? Do you inform your congregation of an opportunity? Do you say nothing because you don't want to influence people?

It seems to me, as with everything else in life, you would need to hear the direction of the Holy Spirit. I think I'd want to be faithful to God's calling and often times I feel like His calling isn't as "cut and dry" as humans would prefer. He's not legalistic enough to make things easy on us. :)
I find that his answers are more often "now" vs. "not now" rather than just "always" or "never".
This probably isn't new information to you but I though it worth mentioning since God's been bringing it up to me personally.

Just playing the sounding board.
Anne Delke
KingsWay Community

Hi Anne,

You ask an interesting question. I think what I'm mostly wanting to understand is "What do we need to be aware of and sensitive to in these situations?" To be sure, sometimes God asks us to "push the envelope", and we should. However, politics is one of those areas where we are easily "captives of our worldview" without realizing it.

I don't have any easy answers either, just wanted to raise the question since it has been one my mind...

-- Ernie P.
"If we are out of our minds, it is for Christ" -- II Cor 5:13

Hi Anne and Ernie

The proper answer to this dilema is for the leadership
of a church to teach a Biblical Christian World View.
That would provide an internal compass in each of our
hearts that would let us know if something is of God
or not. So then when leadership shares some issue all
of the people would know where God stands on that issue
based on scripture and act accordingly.

"Thy (Gods) word have I hid in my heart; that I might
not sin again Thy (God)". Psalm 119:11

This is the only way for each church member to fully
understand why they should be FOR or AGAINST a particular
issue. The issue of Abortion and Aborent Sexual Behavior
is quite clear from the 10 commandments and Leviticus. What
is not so clear are various laws and policy issues that our
government makes and how it can interfer in the godly roles
of families, fathers and mothers etc. This can be understood
only in the context of Biblical Roles and Responsibilities.

That fine sermon taught by Dick Hocket which addressed
the subtilties of GREED is a good example. He presented
the essence of GREED in a way I had never thought of before.
How we can try to grasp beyond what God really intended for
us. Maybe God did not want us to buy that house. He was telling
us by limiting our ability to get a large loan that we can not
afford. We went on ahead and tried to help God by signing
up for a SubPrime loan. We only had our GREED to blame when
the whole thing fell appart.

The second point, that church leadership could teach everyone
is how to learn DISCERNMENT. We can pray for it and we can
practice it. Jesus tried to teach His disciples how to know
who to preach too and when to shake the dust off their shoes.
The apostle Paul also taught DISCERNMENT when he confronted
Peter regarding the Judeaizers demands that all be curcumcised.

If we work to address the fundamentals then all the political,
social and temporal issues should eventually fall into place.
We need to be able to walk in the Spirit and when we encounter
an issue the Spirit will tell us if it is of God or Satan.
If the issue is of Satan, then we must oppose it. If it is of
God then we must support it. We are taught to Love what God
Loves and Hate what God hates. Discernment will show us the
difference.

Lastly there is no substitute for knowing The Word of God.
American's have no excuse if they are Biblically Illiterate.
And I believe God will be holding us responsible for getting
it right.

So when we have an election, we can only support a candidate
who will obey Gods laws and support godly government. If there
is no candidate that fits that requirement, then WE DO NOT VOTE.
We can not support the LESSER or TWO EVILS. So then next time
we should act to make sure that we find a candidate to run
for office that deserves our support. A people always get the
leaders that they deserve. It is sad but true.

I love these discussions. Hope to do more.
No King but King Jesus

Randy Petersen