by Buddy Hanson
Who does your Lifestyle reveal is Your Lord?
"If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him." (1 Kings 18.21)
Recent years have seen Christian lawmakers in particular, and all Christians in general, discuss cultural issues according to our own thoughts, rather than God’s thoughts. This is a very bad habit and one that needs to end quickly if America
We must get over the attitude that it is not right to impose our beliefs on others. Had earlier Christians acted like we have for the last few generations, we would still be enslaving people, sacrificing children (instead of baptizing them), and rather than having someone over to supper, we likely would be having them for supper. Before Judaism or Christianity taught otherwise, each community’s medicine men looked upon sick people as having evil spirits, so why would they want to set up hospitals or medical care to nurse someone back to health who was evil?
If we continue to stand for tolerance instead of truth, our culture will continue its rapid decline, just as have all other societies throughout history that refused to follow God’s directions for living. This does not mean that the culture battle is between conservatives and liberals. It’s between Christians and non-Christians. A psalmist tells us, “God’s Word is Truth.”[1] By definition, this makes everyone else’s words, or proposed solutions to society’s problems, false. This includes conservative non-Christians! Neither political party is going to save us. God’s cause-and-effect creation is setup so that we are to live ourselves out of our cultural challenges, not legislate ourselves out of them. This means that until Christians become more committed to God’s commands than to a political party’s platform, we will continue to lose ground in the culture war.
I’ve never met a Christian who has imagined that he or she is smarter than God, but far too many of us live as though that’s the case, by rarely, if ever, thinking about what the Bible has to say before making our day-to-day decisions. Somewhere in the recesses of our mind we know that God is smarter than we are and we know that He is in charge because He is the Creator and we are His creatures. It is this pivotal truth that needs moving into the front burner position of our minds. We must be ever conscious that we are operating in His world and that our efforts will fail unless we consistently live by His rules. Piecemeal obedience will not enable us, our communities, our State, or America
If we expect to receive the “fruits of righteousness,”[2] and the “rivers of living water”[3] we need to recognize that “righteousness, alone, exalts a nation”[4] and we must admit that there is no righteousness without conforming our lifestyle to God’s Word.[5] What better political platform could there be for a Christian legislator than to promote respect for those in authority (5th), personal property rights (8th), the value of life (6th), live at peace with our neighbors (10th), the dignity of women and the importance of the family (7th), while being honest in your personal and business relationships (9th). Clearly, there is no area of life exempt from the requirements of God.
In Part Six we'll look at what should be included in the Christian Civil Ruler's Policy Guide.
Notes
[1] Psalm 119.160; John 17.17
[2] 2 Corinthians 9.10; Philippians 1.11
[3] John 7.38
[4] Proverbs 14.34
[5] Romans 12.1-2
Recent years have seen Christian lawmakers in particular, and all Christians in general, discuss cultural issues according to our own thoughts, rather than God’s thoughts. This is a very bad habit and one that needs to end quickly if America
We must get over the attitude that it is not right to impose our beliefs on others. Had earlier Christians acted like we have for the last few generations, we would still be enslaving people, sacrificing children (instead of baptizing them), and rather than having someone over to supper, we likely would be having them for supper. Before Judaism or Christianity taught otherwise, each community’s medicine men looked upon sick people as having evil spirits, so why would they want to set up hospitals or medical care to nurse someone back to health who was evil?
If we continue to stand for tolerance instead of truth, our culture will continue its rapid decline, just as have all other societies throughout history that refused to follow God’s directions for living. This does not mean that the culture battle is between conservatives and liberals. It’s between Christians and non-Christians. A psalmist tells us, “God’s Word is Truth.”[1] By definition, this makes everyone else’s words, or proposed solutions to society’s problems, false. This includes conservative non-Christians! Neither political party is going to save us. God’s cause-and-effect creation is setup so that we are to live ourselves out of our cultural challenges, not legislate ourselves out of them. This means that until Christians become more committed to God’s commands than to a political party’s platform, we will continue to lose ground in the culture war.
I’ve never met a Christian who has imagined that he or she is smarter than God, but far too many of us live as though that’s the case, by rarely, if ever, thinking about what the Bible has to say before making our day-to-day decisions. Somewhere in the recesses of our mind we know that God is smarter than we are and we know that He is in charge because He is the Creator and we are His creatures. It is this pivotal truth that needs moving into the front burner position of our minds. We must be ever conscious that we are operating in His world and that our efforts will fail unless we consistently live by His rules. Piecemeal obedience will not enable us, our communities, our State, or America
If we expect to receive the “fruits of righteousness,”[2] and the “rivers of living water”[3] we need to recognize that “righteousness, alone, exalts a nation”[4] and we must admit that there is no righteousness without conforming our lifestyle to God’s Word.[5] What better political platform could there be for a Christian legislator than to promote respect for those in authority (5th), personal property rights (8th), the value of life (6th), live at peace with our neighbors (10th), the dignity of women and the importance of the family (7th), while being honest in your personal and business relationships (9th). Clearly, there is no area of life exempt from the requirements of God.
In Part Six we'll look at what should be included in the Christian Civil Ruler's Policy Guide.
In Part Six we'll look at what should be included in the Christian Civil Ruler's Policy Guide.
[2] 2 Corinthians 9.10; Philippians 1.11
[3] John 7.38
[4] Proverbs 14.34
[5] Romans 12.1-2
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