When this site was last active in 2015 our country had issues – serious issues – and many of those issues remain. However through socialist (need I say communist) rhetoric, combined with virulent class warfare and an education system hostile to the values that made America great, many of these problems have metastasized to the point that some see violence as the only way to either save the republic or destroy the republic.
It seems we are experiencing the ancient Chinese curse: May you live in interesting times. For those Christians who have studied scripture, particularly the books of Daniel and Revelation, and thought it would have been interesting to live in Biblical times – congratulations, it appears that your wish has been granted.
When we look at politics from a Christian viewpoint, it would be good to begin with defining what it means to be a Christian. There are many people and organizations claiming to be Christian with wildly divergent opinions of what a Christian actually is. Just claiming to be a Christian doesn't make a person one any more that sitting in a garage and calling yourself a car makes it so.
Some have used the Bible as a model of a religious welfare agency. Meeting physical needs in their community and the world. While that is, indeed, a worthy activity as described in James, meeting physical needs without considering the spiritual needs is only making people more comfortable on their way to a tragic eternity. On the other hand, just trying to frighten sinners with the condemnation that they are going to hell without trying to help them through the tough times of life is equally non-productive.
This dichotomy comes from the two sides of God's character. There are those who emphasize the grace of God to the point where is becomes enablement. They don't want to offend anyone when the Bible itself tells us the gospel in an offense to those who are perishing – to them it is the smell of death.
On the other hand, just preaching condemnation to those who don't meet the Creator's standards neglects the very element that would would show them we love them enough to try to help them change their ways.
So when we look at the political world we are dealing with the balance between right and wrong and the needs of our neighbors. We are called to be salt and light in our world and this involves getting out into our world and influencing the government and other institutions that impact people's lives.
We are not looking to create a theocracy because the rewards for following God's order in the world are based on our individual efforts to please Him. They cannot be legislated... and the desire to do the right thing cannot be legislated. However there are some elements of wrong that do need to be legislated for the good of society. Murder and thievery are activities most us agree should not be permitted. For those who believe there are not absolutes, could they argue with the statement: rape is always wrong?
As we go forward we will be considering the balance between grace and justice and how it should play out in our community and world involvement... and we will delve into the question of what it takes to be a Christian and how it should play out manifest itself in the real world.
Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
II Chronicles 7:14
Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive.
CS Lewis
No people is wholly civilized where a distinction is drawn between stealing an office and stealing a purse.
Theodore Roosevelt