What Happens When Christians Abandon Politics

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 Pardon the long quote and post, but I received an email today from Preston Sprinkle containing the following quote. Please read to the end for my comments. 

The Republican party is hosting their national convention this week. I haven’t followed it too closely (for the same reason why I don’t watch golf on Saturday afternoon), but I’ve noticed that there have been some interesting people to take the stage—people you wouldn’t often expect from Republicans. For instance, model, former stripper, and OnlyFans (porn?) star Amber Rose gave a speech offering her support of Donald Trump at the convention. The conference also featured lawyer Harmeet Kaur Dhillon, who recited the ardas (a Sikh prayer), where she prayer to the god Waheguru, calling him "our one true God" and went on to pray "thank you for creating America as a unique heaven on this Earth, where all people are free to worship according to their faith."

I was so thrilled to hear this coming from the GOP! Beyond thrilled, actually. Here’s why.

When a political party panders to the evangelical church through Christianese rhetoric and bad theology in order gain votes (and power and money), it corrupts the church, dilutes our mission, and fosters a blasphemous relationship between the State and the Church. When presidents sell study Bibles, or quote the Bible (out of context) to rubber stamp their agenda, or say things that sound kind of Christian in order to gain self-serving support of evangelicals, it deceives the church into thinking they are on our side. That they care about the kingdom. That we are on the same team.

We are not.

The empire is Babylon, and it has two main political parties. We Christians are members of Christ’s global kingdom. Our multiethnic family has been scattered among the nations, and we can never be one with a particular nation.

We are good citizens. We pray for the leaders of the empire. We submit to reasonable laws and break unjust ones. But our political identity is fundamentally different from any empire that gives its allegiance to power, money, military might, and the supremacy of one nation at the expense of others, whose mission and goals are fundamentally different from—and often opposed to—the mission of God’s kingdom.

So—thank you GOP for praying to Waheguru and celebrating OnlyFans stars! It reveals that the church and state actually are quite different, and that they should be separate. When the two are confused, it wreaks havoc on the countercultural nature of the church. But when one of Babylon’s political parties acts like Babylon, it’s kind of a yawner. Or at least it should be.

I long for the day when the American church will confidently tell political parties: "Stop pandering to us! You will have our prayers but not our allegiance. So, stop trying to pretend like you’re one of us."

That day might be nearer than I had expected. And it will be a good day for the crucified Lamb’s global mission.



My comments: 

This follows a decade or so of Christians calling for other Christians to not be involved in politics because we are not to rely on anything but spiritual power to influence the world. Like it or not, political power is a valid form of God-given influence on the world. 

Do you know what you get when Christians do not get involved in politics?  Non-Christian politics. Both parties will become pagan. There will be no option between the two political parties prominent in the USA that hold a remotely Christian perspective. This will be a step backward for Christianity. 

Why have the Republicans become pagan?  Christians are becoming less and less involved in the party because of pressure from within the visible church. How convenient for the Left. 

If you don’t believe so, please Google Peter Singer. His ethical views will be the ones the laws of the land will be patterned after. Ask yourself if you really want to live in a nation like that. 

Singer has argued that some forms of animal life are of more value than some forms of human life. He has argued that human life is valuable only insofar as that life has self-consciousness. There are implications to that view that do not bode well for the unborn or the elderly. 

I know it is popular to say that the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church, but that statement does not hold true to history. Just look it up. Christianity flourishes when it is legal. 

We need to embrace political involvement or we will find ourselves in trouble.  Reread Chapter 23 of the Westminster Confession of Faith and see how it endorses political involvement.  Note the Scripture references in an appropriate copy. 

Become involved in the political process!  Don’t depend on anything or anyone but Christ to save the world, but consider political power as a legitimate form of Christian influence.

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