the kingdom
Some time back, I posted a link to Sermon Jams, a website where somebody has creatively mixed hip hop beats with good sermons from great preachers. I've been listening to those again and have again been challenged by one of the jams by Alistair Begg.
It talks about the posture that Christians should take regarding politics and social issues, which I think is constantly a relevant issue. Check it out below.
Click here to listen to Alistair Begg's "Kingdom"
There
Luke,
Thanks for another great post. Loved the message by Alistair as it's a "hot-button" issue for me. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the answer to our problems. The GOP is not.
I have to disagree somewhat. The answer is not the GOP, but NOT getting involved isn't the answer either. I would refer you to this book: In, But Not Of: A Guide to Christian Ambition
http://www.amazon.com/But-Not-Guide-Christian-Ambition/dp/0785263950/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/002-3759107-1166457?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1184085615&sr=8-2
I'll have to counter with the book "Blinded by Might" by Cal Thomas and Ed Dobson.
http://www.amazon.com/Blinded-Might-Cal-Thomas/dp/0310226503/ref=sr_1_19/002-7726125-6020061?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1184103650&sr=1-19
And I would point you to this comment about Blinded by Might:
"Unfortunately, the authors do not mention the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King's historic foray into the cultural/political arena. On the face of it, Messrs. Thomas and Dobson would seem to reject Dr. King's activism, and decry his law breaking. Sadly, the authors avoid making any statement on this subject."
There must be a balance--ignoring the problems in the political arena are not acceptable--allowing millions of children to be aborted and doing nothing is not acceptable, etc...
If you want to argue that sharing the gospel and changing hearts one at a time IS being involved, then ok. To say it's wrong to get involved politically--well, I couldn't disagree more.
And what exactly has you beloved GOP done about abortion? The answer of course is nothing. Republicans know that all they have to do is CLAIM that they are opposed to abortion and they'll have all the evangelicals eating out of their hands. Then when they get elected, they don't actually have to do anything. 7 of the 9 current Supreme Court Justices were placed there by GOP presidents and yet, somehow, we still have abortion on demand, gay rights increasing more than ever, no prayer in schools, blah, blah, blah. Remember the 1994 contract with America? How many of those initatives were actually put into place? Republicans USED to be the party that ended wars (think Korea and Vietnam). Now, they've become the party that starts them. Republicans USED to believe in limited govt. GWB campaigned in 2000 to close an entire cabinet dept of the executive branch. Not only did he not do that once elected, but he added another dept. Republicans USED to believe in fiscal responsibility. GWB has spent money at levels that must have FDR and LBJ rolling in their graves with envy. I hate to break this to you, but there's not a dimes worth of difference in Dems and Repubs. Dems SAY the right things to labor unions, minorities and the poor in an attempt to get elected while Repubs SAY the right things to Christians and the rich in an attempt to get elected. Both sides truly care about one thing: Getting power and trying to keep that power.
Troy,
I realized that I never responded to your comment about MLK, so here goes.
First, this caveat: None of us really know if anyone else is truly saved or not. Lots of people really know how to play the game. Plus, it' not really our job to judge others' salvation. We are to preach the gospel. The results are up to God.
In my opinion, based on things we know about his personal life, I don't believe that MLK was a true follower of Christ. Thus, to me, he was only a social activist and is not relevant to the discussion of how involved a true follower of Christ should be in politics.
MLK made great contributions to our society but so did Thomas Jefferson and he (presumably) wasn't a believer either.
Alan F - First off, I don't appreciate your tenor towards me. The GOP is not "beloved" to me. You haven't educated me on the minimal difference between the parties. I have not attacked you, what are you so angry with me?
If you see no difference between the parties, do you then abstain from voting or participating altogether? Do you join the Libertarian party (which has no effect whatsoever)? Your complaint has no answers on what TO DO.
Bottom line, the Republican party is the lesser of two evils. I agree that it's getting harder and harder to tell them apart on many social issues, but I share nothing in common with the Democratic party (especially on the war) and we live in a 2 party system. You have to choose a side or throw your hands up. And I think you'll be surprised when Roe v. Wade is overturned someday because of the last two GW appointments.
Let's get back to the original question. Tell me HOW the gospel of Jesus Christ is the answer to our political problems (in practical terms)? (i.e., "how involved a true follower of Christ should be in politics" --your statement)
P.S. I have a (respectable) debate between Tony Campolo and Frank Gaffney that you might enjoy listening to I'd be glad to send you.
P.S.S. - Thank you for qualifying your comments about Dr. King. I disagree with your assessment.
Troy,
First of all, I need to apologize for the tone of my comments the last time I posted here. You are correct in your assessment. I was wrong to write with such a sef-righteous and judgemental attitude. I ask you to please forgive me. I also want to apologize to Luke and any other readers of his blog for my comments and attitude.
I appreciate your comments on the topic and I believe that you and I agree that this is an issue upon which reasonable minds can disagree.
I do hope that you are right about Roe v. Wade but I am not optimistic. When Alito was an appelate court judge he voted in favor of abortion "rights" in a New Jersey case involving the state's ban on partial birth abortion. That's part of the reason I was mystified as to why those on the right were such staunch supporters of his nomination. Kennedy, Roberts, and Alito have not always voted pro-life and when push comes to shove, I believe that at least one of them will side with Stevens, Ginsburg, Souter, and Breyer and Roe v. Wade will be upheld. Again, I sincerely hope though that you are correct and that I am wrong.
Your last question to me was seeking clarification on my comment that the Gospel is the answer to all of our problems. I believe you asked me to explain how the Gospel is the answer to all of our political problems. In making that statement, my point was that Jesus is to be our first love (Luke preached a great sermon on that a couple of months back). When the "Christian right" got really big in the late 70's or early 80's it appeared that for many of those people, the allure of politics and power became their first love (that may in fact not be true. I'm just saying that it APPEARED that way to me). I firmly believe Pastor Ed Dobson when he says that the way to change America is from the bottom up, person by person. I don't believe that you can change America from the top down. Again, I really like Ed Dobson and his example. He had a very high position in the Moral Majority in the early 80's but eventually came to believe that the organization wasn't really achieving anything. So he left to pastor a church in Michigan. His church became known for really ministering to unbelievers, unwed pregnant women, drug addicts, people with AIDS, etc. He believed that really ministering to individual people (via the Gospel) was a much more effective way to change America as opposed to trying to pass legislation.
I'm not arguing that we should not be involved in the process at all. I'm afraid though that many Christians have come to equate the cause of Christ with the cause of the Republican party. This of course should not the case and our first call is to be ambassadors for Christ to a lost world. If Hillary Clinton gets elected next year, it won't be the end of the world. Life will go on and Christ will still be on the throne.
Alan Finlayson
you guys might find this interesting: http://www.desiringgod.org/media/audio/apj/christian_political_interaction.mp3
Luke,
Thanks for the audio file. As always, very wise words from John Piper.