At face value, supporting a party because you agree with their stance on many issues is obviously not wrong. However, when you look to that party instead of God to solve the world’s problems, there is an issue: politics have become your Christianity. I have thought through a couple reasons I think this is a concern:
- God does not desire holy policy; He desires holy people. You may recall in Exodus 20 when God gives the Israelites the Ten Commandments. The purpose of these commandments was not to put in place a few holy laws for the Israelite theocracy. Rather, God was setting a standard for how he expected them to act. The nation would not be made holy because they had the Ten Commandments, but because they obeyed the Ten Commandments. This is why I struggle with the quote above. If God is going to judge America (which He certainly has every right to do), it will not be because of what is legal. It will instead be because of peoples’ hearts, what they do with the life they have been blessed with. God does not punish other nations in the Old Testament because the leaders of that nation, for example, allow their people to worship other gods. He does, however, judge nations because the people do worship other gods.
- Jesus did not come to change people’s morals through political policy. The Jewish people were expecting a political Messiah, someone who would overthrow the oppressive government they found themselves under. Jesus blew those expectations out of the water. He came as a humble servant, focused on individual people, not the government at large. Jesus could have come, overthrown the government, and introduced some crazy strict laws. He didn’t. He loved on people, and brought them into a saving knowledge of Himself.
I am not trying to communicate that the government is unimportant. I am saying, though, that it should not be seen as the bearer of salvation for America, or even a moral compass. The government has never saved anyone. Morals don’t save anyone. The knowledge of and belief in who Jesus Christ is saves people. That is how people change. That is where our efforts as Christians should be focused. That is how America can change. Morals come later.
“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.” – 2 Chronicles 7:14
I recognize this is a pretty sensitive topic. I would love to hear your thoughts and start a conversation!
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