Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Politics – How do we deal with the judgmentalism of our political system?

God is not worried about the conflict down here on earth!  He is not wringing His hands over who gets in as president!  He has a plan and our job is to trust Him in that plan.  Psalm 37 is a great psalm for this election.
 There are different words in scripture that are translated into the English word judgment. The main theme of the New Testament is love and how can love have anything to do with judgment?  Well judgment can mean to evaluate, like taking a personal inventory and judging ourselves correctly. “But if we examine ourselves, we will not be examined by God and judged… 1 Corinthians 11:31  We are also called to judge the church, those who are falling short so they can be corrected.  “It isn’t my responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your job to judge those inside the church who are sinning in these ways.” 1 Corinthians 5:12  No one wants to have others standing over their shoulder ready to criticize their every move, but we appreciate those who care about us, know us, and love us enough to be honest with us and protect us from harm. “Dear brothers and sisters, if another Christian is overcome by sin, you should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path.” Galatians 6:1  (loving correction vs criticism)  So believers are to hold themselves accountable and the church accountable in love but what about those outside the church?  This is where the prophets like Jonah would warn of God’s judgment to those outside the faith because God cares. “God did not send his son into the world to condemn it, but to save it.” John 3:17 However, Jesus consistently warned of the coming judgment.  Ezekiel spent five chapters writing about the surrounding nations being held accountable by God and bringing this warning to light.  We all will be called to give account.  A failure to warn was a serious moral failure.  I have that in my ethical code as a counselor, the obligation to warn of impending danger.  Warning others is a part of caring and loving them! In the first nine verses of Ezekiel 33 the imperative to warn is given seven times. “But if you warn them to repent and they don’t repent, they will die in their sins, but you will not be held responsible.” Ezekiel 33:9 Where is the prophetic call today from those who judge themselves rightly, evaluate their church rightly, and humbly and gently warn the powers that be that they are accountable to God?   
 In the Old Testament the kings or rulers were held accountable by the prophets.  When David sinned in committing adultery with Bathsheba and tried to cover it up by killing her husband it was Nathan the prophet who called him into account.  For society to be healthy there has to be people who call us to be godly and ethical.  “If the church does not recapture its prophetic zeal, it will become an irrelevant social club without moral or spiritual authority.” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
In the Old Testament sins were defined and also the consequences of sin were defined.  The prophets prayed for forgiveness of sins and for the restoration of blessing-shalom because of the curses-consequences that sin brought with it. (Daniel 9) The predominate sins of these elections are arrogance and judgmentalism – “Do not judge lest you be judged.” (Mathew 7:1-5) (Romans 2:1-3) The consequence is the undermining of public trust in our leaders, creating fear, resentment and more judgment.  It seems to be nominated, you have to be mean spirited and a pit bull ready to fight. (You can write in Thor my pit bull for president!) Attack and defend, attack back and defend is the political loop that is required to be a candidate. Reactive campaigns do not allow for the complexity of issues to even be exposed; it becomes more about who is right and who is wrong. Trading evil for evil is normalized and celebrated rather than confessed and repented. Is this system evil and used by the evil one to rob, steal and destroy? Has the system become too corrupt to bring righteous and godly leaders into power? 
Lord, we ask that You would forgive our nation for being arrogant and judgmental.  For becoming entangled in judgment, resentments and fear.  Restore and bring Your peace to us as we turn to You as the answer to our problems. You are our savior and the shepherd of our souls.  Thank You, Lord, for being the one who rules over the kingdoms of the earth and that You appoint whoever You want to rule. (Daniel 3-5)  Please guide us in this election and help us to trust You as we do our part.  Give us the wisdom to vote for that which is right, just and true and help us not to be too distracted or enmeshed in the conflict.  May Your Kingdom come and Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven! 


Friday, April 1, 2016

The paradoxical Kingdom


“Give us a king like all the other nations have.” 1 Samuel 8:4, 7

 

What is a theocracy?  How does that relate to the Kingdom of God and are we in a theocracy as believers? 


This year is an election year and people get pretty fired up about politics. Why?  Israel’s government was based on God being their political ruler, a theocracy.  The problem was a spiritual one.  In that Israel wanted something more tangible, a king with skin.  So they opted to follow after the world and vote for having a human king rather than God as king.  You should read the whole story in 1 Samuel 8, but in verse 7 God says, “For it is me they are rejecting, not you. (speaking to Samuel)  They don’t want me to be their king any longer.”  Israel was in a crisis because Samuel was old and his sons were not godly and they needed good leadership. Crisis creates anxiety and we grab at what we think will bring security and certainty.  As we often see in the Old Testament narratives Israel often does not find security or comfort in the spiritual, in fact they seem oblivious to the fact that God will provide all they need, if they seek Him with their whole hearts. In all trials God is looking for us to turn to Him and find Him and His will.  We are to spiritualize, look for the spiritual first.  Israel looked to the world first, the material and social systems of this world for answers and help. There is no dualism here, no either/or, spiritual or material, just the preeminence of God in all things.  The world is always in some sort of crisis and people anxious about being saved and taken care of by others. However as the chapter reads when Israel chose the worldly instead of the spiritual it created harsh consequences in their lives. That caused them to be dependent on the wrong thing and brought their sins of laziness, and fear to light.  Choosing a king in the worldly form, looking for security outside of God, was their chief sin of idolatry. They wanted someone else to take care of them and provide comfort and safety, sounds like the political promises of today. This brought very negative consequences to their lives, because they were trusting in worldly kings who were sinful and would use and abuse their authority over them.


The framers of our Constitution knew that people are sinners and that checks and balances to deal with depravity had to be put into the political system or evil would reign.  James Madison (a framer) writes, “There is a degree of depravity in mankind which requires a certain degree of circumspection and distrust.”  Israel did not take into account this doctrine and their naïveté hurt them.  Hope without an understanding of the fall of man will always bring disillusionment.  So Madison said, “A constitution that acknowledges this fallen nature of humanity and constructs ‘checks and balances’ to ameliorate its negative consequences can hope to avoid political oppression of one sort or another.”  (pg. 36 & 37 Godly Republic) God uses governments as a part of His plan and rule in that it is His servant, but His reign is to be preeminent not political systems or leaders.  Too many Christians define faith politically today rather than spiritually. Keller says, “…Christians should never identify too closely with a particular political party or philosophy.” (pg 163 Generous Justice)  I received a criticism from a fellow believer just lately as I was sharing about the poor in our city, he called me a liberal and questioned my faith assuming that true Christians are politically conservative, rather than Biblically sound and Kingdom obedient. 

           
When we depend on external things like kings, political leaders or political systems to govern us as Israel was asking, the natural consequence is that we are externally controlled rather than having self-control. We lose autonomy and freedom without really counting the cost. God grants self-control as a fruit of His Spirit as we submit to His will and His reign in our lives.  That grants us freedom and form through His truth, grace, and goodness. 


God is redemptive and even though He was not pleased that Israel rejected Him as their king He made a plan of redemption that graciously provided for them. God understands our lack of faith and spirituality and makes provision, but still calls us to faith and obedience. David the second king of Israel set up a line where Christ would become our king, a deity with skinEmmanuel, so we could trust and obey His leadership in our lives, a spiritual theocracy, the Kingdom of God among us.

 

Prayer – Lord help me not to be seduced by the empty promises of the world that seem so much more tangible and comforting than the spiritual promises that in difficult times seem ethereal.  Let us seek You and Your kingdom and grant us the faith to see that what is unseen is real and powerful, where the seen is often powerless and an illusion.

Thursday, March 10, 2016

Picking a godly leader


So many people have asked me lately, how could we end up in America having Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton become the candidates for the presidency? Who would have guessed that this could happen in America? 

Our political system has been polarizing for years and it has now reached extremes in its polarization.  The manifestation of that polarization I believe is Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton.  I have often seen the Republican Party as focusing on masculine values like accountability, responsibility and fiscal responsibility, and that independence, freedom and self sufficiency is a large part of their mission.  Where the Democratic Party is much more feminine with values like inclusion, care giving for those in need, equity and government support for these goals.  Mom will take care of you and dad will push you out of the nest!  How did we get this polarized political system and is it healthy? Is it our only option? Are we stuck?

Os Guinness in his critique of American culture says that polarization, “false antagonisms” or “either/or” thinking undermines the health and spirituality of our nation. He believes that polarizations are a large part of American culture.(1) When a mom and dad fight over whose values are right or the best they undermine the health and functioning of their family. Competitors make for poor partners! When a couple loops - is emotionally reactive and polarize rather than join and work together for the greater good the family deteriorates.  When arguing and fighting is normalized the family becomes unhealthy.

Several years ago I was asked to lead the city prayer vigil after the January 8th shooting which involved Gabriel Gifford.  We had the service at the court house and it was heavily covered by the news media.  The most common question from them was, “was this shooting a result of political conflict?”  I responded that it was mainly from a mentally ill person and that assessment got me little press.  However as a therapist I also mentioned that unresolved tension increases the likelihood of the marginalized to act out. Diversity creates tension in our culture, but great leadership unifies diversity. So our political leaders need to be real about their differences but respectful rather than vilifying differences.  We need peace makers for our communities to thrive. There are issues that need to be defined as wrong and the politicians need to define their convictions on these issues, but vilifying an issue is different than being judgmental or critical of a person. Several political leaders after the shooting confessed their sins of hostility and being judgmental with one another and pledged to be “civil.”  There was some repentance that came out of the tragedy for us locally.

The other night I was watching the news and a discussion arose about the dog fighting between Trump and Rubio.  Part of the critique was the interviewer asking John McCain about the fighting.  McCain stated that the candidates were giving up their integrity.  The interviewer said that those who fight and enter into nasty exchanges gain more votes. McCain retorted that to gain the votes they have to compromise with their integrity.  The interviewer confronted McCain and said because you would not fight this way you lost the election and he responded by saying, “but I didn’t lose my integrity.”  Leaders have to have a handle on good and evil to lead or they will hurt us bringing curses rather than bring blessings.  “Listen you leaders of Israel!  You who are supposed to know right from wrong, but you are the very ones who hate good and love evil.”  (Micah 3:1-2)

The primaries are about people who want to be public servants courting the American public so we will vote for them to be our servants.  We need to gain a confidence that they have the power, competency, integrity and the ability to take charge so they can serve well.  We need to believe that they have the character to be trusted, and not abuse their positions of power.  We really need to know their record of service more than promises and great rhetoric.  Substance is much more important than image or emotional appeal for good service.  God uses governments as a part of His plan and rule in that it is His servant, but His reign is preeminent not political systems or leaders. (2)  Too many Christians define faith politically today rather than spiritually.  Timothy Keller says, “…Christians should never identify too closely with a particular party or philosophy.” (3) 

When Nehemiah picked leaders for the stability of his nation and city he picked people who “feared God more than most and were faithful.” (4)  Maybe as a democracy we the people are at fault for the candidates we have.  Maybe we have produced this political system with the evil that is manifest in it and that we need cultural reform to gain political reform.  Maybe we need to look to God as our political leader more than man.  God in His sovereignty can use anyone He wants to use to lead or rule and He does.  He has used a donkey and can surely use an elephant. (Daniel 4:17  …the most High rules over the kingdoms of the world.  He gives them to anyone he chooses) In scripture and history we have had many types of leaders, even in a theocracy there were good and bad kings. The righteous ones were the best for the people.  We need to vote for good and godly people to lead us!

Diversity is even a part of the Christian Community; it is surely a part of the faith community and even more a part of the American community. We are not all the same! Yet God rules over all, loving and caring for all of His creation.  He does not force conformity but creates and invites diversity while drawing us into faith in Him.  Are the candidates manipulating us towards conformity or using control to gain votes or are they respecting diversity within the greater community?

 Have we as Evangelicals defined what characteristics a mature godly political leader should have? Are we committed to prayer and service in our country? Are we seeking His will? Do we as Evangelicals know what the Kingdom of God requires of those who would be political leaders under the rule of our King? 6 (Micah 6:8) Are we supporting those who are godly and have integrity more than those who have image and lack substance?

  1.  Os Guinness, “Fit Bodies Fat Minds Why Evangelicals Don’t Think and What to do About it.” Pg 30
  2. Romans 13:1-7
  3. Timothy Keller, “Generous Justice.” Pg 163
  4. Nehemiah chapter 7
  5. 1 Samuel chapter 8 (I have a short Bible study on this passage on the blog site)
  6. Micah 6:8

If you want more about voting as a person of faith in this election go to Dr. Ben Carson’s www.myfaithvotes.com