MM: The vacations have been great. I highly recommend everyone taking a break and getting away with the ones you love. There will always be excuses not to. But I intend it to be high priority around the Mooney house.
So, I have a question for you. We'll try to start posting these on Wednesdays so you can know when one is coming. Today's question may seem to have bad timing, but I assure you it is purposeful. I waited until after all the election fireworks to ask it:
What do you think a Christian's role in politics should be?
Your answer can tackle a specific aspect or the whole enchilada. Short. Long. Whatever. Any quotes, book recommendations, scripture references or persons of interests would be greatly appreciated.
By the way, don't assume this question is for believers only. I would love to hear input from folks who don't consider themselves Christians.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
13 comments:
My first thought is that Christian's role in politics is to vote with a Christ-centered conscience. Then we have to remember that any time we expect an unsaved person (group, or population)to behave like one who is saved, we will be disappointed. So, we vote, pray, and hope, but that's about all we can do.
As for a Christian who is actually part of the government, I had never considered it before until some friends of mine started debating it. Here are two links about that. Honestly, I haven't read the thing they are talking about... but I know they were discussing Christians in the military as well as in a political office.
http://www.jesusforpresident.org/download/Web_Appendix_3.pdf
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/topic.php?uid=56343919658&topic=13577
(I don't know if you have to have a facebook page to read that 2nd link or not. It is just the discussion between two guys from my church.)
After an election, whether our candidate won or not, we must remember to pray for our leaders. God can work through anyone.
There is a danger in being single issue politicians, especially hot button issues like abortion and homosexuality, etc. Also a huge danger of branding all believers as judgmental when strident about a particular single issue. Jesus lived in a particularly volatile political environment, spoke his mind, yet didn't choose a political solution, though he certainly could have. Somehow, if we ask what would Jesus do? - we need only look and se what he DID - and it did not include pickets or name calling or costly anti-anything political campaigns. Some of that must make sense. Not much though, this is hard.
If you are truly serving the Lord Jesus Christ then you better be voting for the MORAL candidate. Moral according to God and what His Word COMMANDS us to be. Period.
this is a tough issue...as others have said you should definitely vote with the God's moral compass. but once candidates are in office we have a duty to honor them and pray for them whether we agree with them or not. (romans 13) the Lord has put every person in their place of authority. i was all for writing letters and calling politicians to let them know where i stand...but i'm trying to find how to do that while still honoring them. i was moved to think deeper on this issue by a study we just did at church..."under cover" by john bevere (he also has another book my husband just read and really LOVED, "honors reward") maybe you could look there for more clarification
I hate this question. I hate the mix of the two. I think neither can always go hand in hand.
I want to know, how did you get over the angry. I especially Ginny. How did you get over being angry at what has happened, and why Eliot is not here, as you said, being angry over that faulty DNA. How did you get over the "why?" I am having a bad week and these are the swirling questions in my brain.
Our nation was founded on Christian principles and so it only makes sense that we should have Christians in politics. An unsaved man can not understand the things that our nation was based on. It has been said that our Constitution will not survive an immoral society. We should pray for our leaders but we should never be afraid to BE a leader. Christians can have a sense of peace and levelheadedness in a time when things seem like chaos. People who follow the Lord should be the obvious leaders because they know what is right and true and honest and they do not need to panic. They can look to their Father and pray for guidance and wisdom. Can an unsaved leader do that? Can an unsaved leader lean on anything besides his own personal knowledge and understanding? True Christian leaders would look out for the best interest of EVERYONE and not just for the interest of themselves, their race, or their political party. I am concerned because it seems to me that Christian people have just turned over the political side of everything to the unsaved and immoral. We seem to be losing our religious freedoms and even personal freedoms DAILY. Christians NEED to be INVOLVED in politics to give a voice for our rights and freedoms because if they dont, they will soon find that they do not have any freedoms at all.
Politics and religion are imperfect manmade entities. Being a Christian is aligning ourselves with Heaven-like perspective despite our imperfect wordly situations. Therefore, Christians should pray for those in positions of political leadership and should be involved as they feel called to do so by the Lord. And always check ourselves before we wreck ourselves. Think with Jesus's frame of reference.
Forgive me, this is completely off the topic..... The Oprah show of Eliot's life just aired here in New Zealand (we are very behind), I believe it's the first one you did. I then read bits of Eliot's blog. And I feel challenged. To be a better mom. Thank you Eliot (and Matt & Ginny) for teaching me and challenging me. Be blessed. PS: Hazel is just too cute!
And PS: I think that if people would honour and love Jesus, there woul be no need for politics. I'm all for Christians in politics, but then they need to love Jesus and be women and men of integrity.
Here a comment from a non-Christian although at one point in my youth I was an actual altar girl in a catholic church. I grew up in the Netherlands. To a lot of Americans that automatically means drugs, prostitution,red lights etc. No morals, big sins. To me it means flowers, great cheese, canals, ice skating, closenit families and communities, communication, discussions, Tolerance.
Having lived in the great USA now for 15 years, married to an American, 2 kids, a dog etc, the one thing that saddens me is to see in the religion and politics area, that people a lot of times vote for a candidate/party without knowing what they stand for, but because they have mentioned their church going habits. And that goes for Dems and Rep. To me, politics should be more a matter of the brain. This is the year 2009. The world as a whole is moving forward. Why are so many Americans willing to remain living in the past. When I first moved here in '93, I could not believe that churches were still having people go to confession. After having lived here for so long, I now know that church and religion is lived and practiced here in a totally different way then what I was used to back in Europe. But didn't God give us a brain that has so many people, do so many good things. Should we not use our brain deciding whom to vote for. Do we have to be so judgemental when we talk about homosexuality. Well, but it's a sin. Is it really? Are they not just two people in love. How many times do you see heterosexual couples in the news that have abused their kids. Many times. Tolerance. I have had many discussion with one of my very religious neighbors about these things and he for sure votes only based upon religious believes of party/candidate. But when I asked him one time, that, if his brother would turn out to be gay, would he love him any less and he said yes, that to me was the saddest thing. Is that what religion does? It seems to have such extreme views and rules here, that there is very little room to form your own opinion. I worked for a family at one point, church every Sunday but when the husband suddenly died of a heartattack at 34, his wife found a stack of playboys etc in the basement. To me it is better to openly talk about things instead of hiding. Politics/religion; studies show abstinence pledges etc didn't work. Teenage pregnancy on the rise in several states. Why not talk about it, hand out condoms. If a politician would suggest that, he/she would be shunned. But it would be a smart (brainy) thing to do. In my liberal home country, there is an almost non-existing teen preg rate.
So, a Christian's role in politics should be to think and use your brain. Do what is good for the community and country you serve even if it means to sometimes make choices that you personally don't totally agree with. But they will serve the American people on a whole better. Be able to separate church from state. This wonderful country that I love as my own should not be the 50/50 devided country that it is and Christian's in politics with their huge followings should show tolerance and set an example. (As should all politicians really, not the power trip they seem to be on at times)
And be willing to embrace this day and age with all it's wisdom in it!
On a more personal note, I have a niece (almost 2) severely mentally and physically disabled due to a chromosomal disorder and she also has severe epilepsy on top of that. Do you as a Christian, having been through the loss of your son, support some of the controversial issues in politics like stemcell research?
I can't tell you how much I admire you both for sharing your life lessons with the public. And the fact that you don't seem to judge based upon religion makes you in my eyes even more admirable. Even though I'm not really that into religion, I do love to read how you guys incorperate all this in your live. I continue with my personal way of Believing and hope for tolerance. Who said all men are created equal? We are unique, embrace it!
I know this is a little late but this is something I feel strongly about. I am totally ok with people voting soley based on one issue. The main one that comes to mind is abortion. There are people that will vote for a candidate only because of their stance on abortion, and that's fine, it's their right to do so.
The thing that bothers me is that there are some people that have declared the GOP to be THE Christian party. I do not think this is fair because there are policies from both parties that support Christian values and policies on both sides that go against Christian values.
The ways in which republican policies support Christian values are fairly well known I assume. But how often do people think about Matthew 25:31-46 when talking about welfare programs or universal healthcare? Taking care of one another and those in need is what we are supposed to do right?
Therefore the dilemma in incorporating Christianity and politics is which values are more important?
This is an issue I've had with my relatives since the presidential election. I was given the old "If you don't vote for this guy, even though you don't care for his policies, that REALLY bad one will win." speech more times than I cared to.
Jesus went to the well to meet with the woman who was "living in sin". Jesus hadn't found more faith than what he found in a Centurion. As a Christian I'm sure you know of all of them.
When I vote I ask myself what would Jesus do. REALLY? And what he did not do was force the woman at the well to marry. He did not cast the stone at the woman caught "in the very act". He didn't appear to approve of he others doing it,either. He did not speak of a Samaritan being FORCED to help his fellow man. He spoke of of him choosing to. He didn't say he approved of sin. But he forced nothing. And he could have. Far better than you or me. His criticisms were aimed at ME. Me trying to decide what was best for you or them. I walked around with my plank trying to "better" things.
Our country is so often touted as "founded on Christian principals" but I remind myself that then who founded our country were imperfect men who had slaves, had relationships outside of their marriages, who waged wars, BUT who recognized that when you allow the government to dictate to church and the church to dictate to government you get a very dangerous mix. So they gave a list of "Gov shall not" and said "good luck".
I feel our roll as Christians is to do the best job we can if we serve in a governmental position (as we all are if we vote) to "follow the rules" of the system we represent Ask what would Jesus DO. What did he do back then so what would he do now? Make choices with honesty in our hearts as best we can. Make choices remembering God will work what HE wants and does it better when we do not interfere. And pray about our choices. Don't take them lightly or because it is the one our preacher made or because that guy says he prays or goes to church or whatever. Because we are sinners, evil, but loved and forgiven and saved by grace.
Post a Comment