•• Then those who feared the LORD spoke with one another.
~ Malachi 3:16 ••
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"All the miseries and evils which men suffer from sin, crime, ambition, injustice, oppression, slavery and war, proceed from despising or neglecting the precepts contained in the Bible."
~ Noah Webster
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I became a Christian when I was in college. Most people would be shocked by that. The facts are that two thirds of nominal Christians who attend college leave the faith forever. But the woman who I would eventually marry and I both had a similar experience. We noticed that our professors were arrogant and thought they knew more than they really knew. There is nothing like finding out that a person is absolutely certain of absolutely everything he knows that telegraphs to you that he certainly can't be right about EVERYTHING. So we both looked elsewhere for wisdom. We both knew that Jesus had lived a remarkable life and that he was worthy of being followed. Then we both came to the conclusion eventually that the Bible was indeed the word of God, unable to be the product of crafty men who had put together a clever hoax. I became born again. My wife reaffirmed her faith.
Now my brothers and sisters, I would say this. Most churches do not get us ready for a practical following of Biblical principles in our lives or get us ready for eternal life. Are you shocked by my words? Can these be the words of a practicing Christian? Maybe I am a Christian seeped in bitterness or without love for my fellow believers. Consider that possibility, but then consider the rest of my words.
I have been involved in politics since around 1990, since my wife and I had - twice - been prosecuted by the local school board for home schooling our children. During these last approximately thirty-five years I've learned that Christians have a shocking lack of involvement in politics. It is known in politics that black churches will do whatever they are told to do by the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party has effectively convinced black churches that Republicans are racists and they should not be listened to.
White churches, by contrast, will usually vote Republican if they vote at all. But the statistics are that only 7% of evangelical Christians voted in the 2022 elections. Politicians know that if an evangelical expresses an opinion, they can easily be ignored. Or despised.
For Christians who believe that we will one day judge the angels (1 Corinthians 6:2-3), we do not seem to be able to make moral assessments in even the simplest matters on planet Earth. This is especially shameful when you realize that our entire government was designed to have its citizens vote in representatives to reflect the people's will.
I have personally been able to give a speech over ten minutes long to a group of Republicans about Scriptural principles. They listened politely and attentively. And I got positive feedback from a few people. There was no negative feedback. But do you know that if I mention any public policy at all in church I will have more than one voice telling me "We don't talk about politics in this church". And that reaction will take less than 30 seconds. Think of that. I can talk about public policy and mention Scripture for over 10 minutes in a public non-church setting and get positive feedback, but it will take less than 30 seconds in a church setting to shut me up.
Why do Christians find voting and public policy so repulsive or so unimportant? I have several answers for that. I will keep writing to you, but will be putting it out "line upon line, precept upon precept" (Isaiah 28:10-13).
For now, I will give you a simple diagnosis. We Christians are not good neighbors to our unbelieving fellow citizens. Remember Jesus' words. Loving your neighbor as yourselves is the second greatest commandment (Matthew 22:36-40).
It can be said of Christians the same as Jesus said of the Saducees, "You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures, nor the power of God." (Matthew 22:29).
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