The danger of the Christian getting our heads too stuck into politics... forgetting Who should get the majority of our time and attention...

[Joseph G]

 

[timf]

1Jn_2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

 

[FreeinChrist]

ADVISOR HAT


This thread was moved from Ethics & Morality to this forum which is Christian Only. It should get a better response here.​

 

[Taker }SoC{]

Yes, I think that it is easy for a man to Idolize his Government. But, our moral progress does not depend on a 4 year election cycle.

Regardless of the outcome I think that the Truth will always win in the long term, as lying only serves as a temporary and risky solution to a real problem.

 

[Sir Joseph]

I agree that it's easy to become overly engaged with any news or political issue of the day - to the point that it consumes too much of our time and attention. I've given up watching hours of TV news myself, instead catching the news headlines and articles worth reading from Christian websites.

Still, we have an obligation to care about people and the laws that affect them, which means we need to study the candidates and issues enough to vote for Godly leaders that represent Biblical values. To that point, there's a huge difference between the people and parties fighting for our support.

 

[Armchair Apologist]

We rarely speak of politics from the pulpit of our church but this week, my pastor felt it important to bring up the topic due to the fact that early voting starts tomorrow here in Texas.

We should not become obsessed with politics to the point that we neglect spiritual matters and our personal walk with God but do not let anyone fool you! We are in a spiritual battle and Jesus did tell us plainly that "we are the salt of the earth." Salt is a preserving agent that wards off corruption and decay. We should never "Lose our savor" and whether appreciated, welcomed, or not, this is our world as much as it is theirs (those who are without and are lost) and we need to be "Salt and Light" and to "Occupy till he comes!"

This world tries to tell Christians that we are free to believe whatever we want so long as we keep it to ourselves and speak of it only during private settings and during Church meetings, and whatever. They try to tell us that Christianity has no place in the public arena, there is no place for it in the realm of science and academia, no place for it in political matters, and certainly no place in the shaping of our societal values and behavioral norms!

It used to be that we were to "Check our faith at the door" whenever we walked into institutions that were deemed "theirs" which typically include the classroom, courtroom, and our places of employment. Nowadays, they pretty much want us to check our faith at the front door of our homes before we step out and live our lives in THEIR world! Your Christian faith has no place whatsoever in this increasingly secularized society. They are also becoming more and more bold regarding what we are teaching our own children and I believe it will get to a point where we will be guilty of child-abuse and neglect if we do not uphold and affirm their secular agenda or even worse, try to undermine and subvert their efforts by instilling biblical Judeo-Christian values regarding marriage, sexuality, and GOD FORBID that we teach our kids that "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth" and "I will praise thee for I am fearfully and wonderfully made!"

If you have not already purposed in your heart not to defile yourselves with the "King's Meat," now is the time to do so! I will not tell you where to draw the line - you must do this for yourself but the time is coming (if not already) where we will have to determine that we must obey God rather than men! There will be a hefty price to pay whatever choice you make. Get ready!

 

[com7fy8]

I agree that it's easy to become overly engaged with any news or political issue of the day - to the point that it consumes too much of our time and attention.

We need to be submissive to God so He is guiding our attention.

He said not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. I see how this could mean we need to not get ourselves wrapped up and tied up with being experts about the evil in this world; and certainly do not let what we know have power to get us down in frustration and fear and unforgiveness and anger and making a project of criticizing even people who are wrong.

But what works is prayer and our good example. If you obey God, you can accomplish more than all ungodly presidents of history have done.

"without Me you can do nothing" (in John 15:5).

Have you read and fed through Genesis 37-50 about how Joseph was sold by his brothers into slavery, but then God used that to put Joseph in a position to save many lives and even to reconcile with his brothers? Joseph obeyed God; this worked even in a country where the head person was an idolator, I think, certainly not a godly person. God used what wrong people did, as part of His strategy to use Joseph for God's all-loving purpose. God was in it; so the results were all-loving.

But as we might pay particular attention to politics, can't we be getting tricked into fear and worry and self-righteous judging? > instead of being all-loving, can't we be only or mainly worrying about our own selves and families and countries??

But it was not what the evil people did, that produced God's all-loving good. God used that wrong stuff, but He Himself with and through Joseph did all He was able to do.

And you can do God's good, with Him, no matter who you are. Look at the result of Abraham simply doing what God had him do >

"'In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you obeyed My voice.'" (Genesis 22:18)

Abraham obeyed God who is all-loving, and God has brought all-loving results, of "all the nations of the earth" being "blessed".

So, is your vote your "center" . . . or is Christ our center?