WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.799 So this is a recording, the first session of the adult class, Christianity and Politics, 00:00:08.359 --> 00:00:14.839 taught at Trinity Baptist Church on March 7, 2021. The initial session wasn't recorded in full, 00:00:15.400 --> 00:00:21.559 so I'm recording, re-recording the session now for those who will listen later on. 00:00:21.559 --> 00:00:29.879 Opening disclaimer to this class, the topic of Christianity and Politics is controversial 00:00:29.879 --> 00:00:35.420 and challenging. I think we probably all agree on that. At times, discussions about Christianity 00:00:35.420 --> 00:00:41.379 and Politics have caused or exposed divisions between Christian believers, between family members 00:00:41.379 --> 00:00:49.439 and friends. And so we don't approach this topic carelessly or lightly. At the same time, 00:00:49.439 --> 00:00:55.719 I also believe that it's not healthy for a church to completely avoid discussing a topic that the 00:00:55.719 --> 00:01:02.739 Bible speaks to in many places. Romans 12 says, don't be conformed to this world, but be transformed 00:01:02.739 --> 00:01:09.000 by the renewing of your mind. In other words, we don't let the Bible's teaching renew us from the 00:01:09.000 --> 00:01:14.680 inside out and transform us. We'll tend to get dragged down into the fallen and ungodly ways of 00:01:14.680 --> 00:01:19.720 this present world. And probably all of us can identify some of those ungodly patterns. 00:01:20.540 --> 00:01:26.840 So I'm not going to begin this class by commenting on the most recent elections or assessing the latest 00:01:26.840 --> 00:01:34.040 political trends or sharing my strongest political opinions. I do have political opinions, but that's 00:01:34.040 --> 00:01:40.980 not the point of this class. And also, in a class of this length, there's no way that I could attempt 00:01:40.980 --> 00:01:46.579 to say everything or even to say everything that I consider important and timely on a topic such as 00:01:46.579 --> 00:01:52.579 this. So if I don't address a particular issue that perhaps you think is important in this time and 00:01:52.579 --> 00:01:57.260 place, it doesn't necessarily mean that I disagree with you or that I think it's not important and 00:01:57.260 --> 00:02:04.300 relevant. But I want to begin this class by looking directly and carefully at what the Bible says 00:02:04.299 --> 00:02:12.340 about politics, about government, trusting that God has given us his word for our good in this area, 00:02:12.400 --> 00:02:18.300 as well as in every other area of life. So my hope and prayer is that through this class, we all would 00:02:18.300 --> 00:02:24.560 be more fully shaped by God's revelation in his word, even as we seek to live faithfully for Christ 00:02:24.560 --> 00:02:32.860 within the kingdoms of this world. So let's pray to that end. Lord, we thank you for your word. 00:02:32.860 --> 00:02:41.020 We pray that you would guide our thinking and our conversations with one another on this topic, 00:02:41.020 --> 00:02:46.740 that they would be fruitful and that we would ultimately glorify you, the King of all kings 00:02:46.740 --> 00:02:52.840 and the Lord of all lords. In Jesus' name, amen. So what is the first question I want to begin with 00:02:52.840 --> 00:02:57.900 today is what does the Bible say about government in general, about its purpose as well as its dangers? 00:02:58.060 --> 00:03:02.840 And broadly speaking, the Bible holds together two perspectives. First, the Bible 00:03:02.860 --> 00:03:08.840 teaches that governments are God's servants for our good. Governments are instituted to restrain 00:03:08.840 --> 00:03:15.460 evil and to provide some measure of stability and justice in this fallen world. So Romans 13 says, 00:03:15.600 --> 00:03:21.300 the authorities that exist have been instituted by God. They are God's servants for your good. 00:03:22.660 --> 00:03:29.040 By promoting peace and order, freedom and flourishing, good government also enables the church 00:03:29.039 --> 00:03:36.099 to carry out its redemptive mission. If you go to 1 Timothy 2, it's a passage where the apostle Paul 00:03:36.099 --> 00:03:41.599 urges Christians to pray for civil authorities, for kings and all those in authority so that we may 00:03:41.599 --> 00:03:49.060 lead peaceful and godly lives. And then he goes on in verses 3 and 4 to say, this is good because God 00:03:49.060 --> 00:03:53.840 desires all people to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. And there's an interesting 00:03:53.840 --> 00:04:02.620 progression there where Paul begins by saying, pray for the government so that we as God's people can live 00:04:02.620 --> 00:04:09.300 peaceful and godly lives so that many people may come to know the saving grace of Jesus Christ. 00:04:10.020 --> 00:04:17.920 In other words, good government enables the church to carry out its redemptive mission in God's providence. 00:04:18.399 --> 00:04:22.899 We can see that in the early church. The early church spread very quickly through the first century Roman 00:04:22.899 --> 00:04:27.959 empire. And part of the reason it was able to spread so quickly is because the Roman government 00:04:27.959 --> 00:04:35.819 had built all of these roads that enabled travel to happen much more quickly than in some other parts 00:04:35.819 --> 00:04:41.879 of the world. It was also a period of relative stability in the Roman empire, which enabled the 00:04:41.879 --> 00:04:49.339 Christian gospel to spread quickly. So we should be thankful today for the blessings that our government 00:04:49.339 --> 00:04:55.219 provides. I mean, think about it. Public safety, well-maintained roads, electricity and other 00:04:55.219 --> 00:05:01.639 utilities, mail delivery, stable currency, all kinds of things that enable us as a church to meet regularly, 00:05:01.859 --> 00:05:06.639 to communicate with one another, to proclaim the gospel, and to support missionaries throughout the 00:05:06.639 --> 00:05:13.379 world. So governments are God's servants for our good. And that's sort of the creation of God's good 00:05:13.379 --> 00:05:18.120 creational intent for government. But on the other hand, we live in a fallen world. And so the Bible 00:05:18.120 --> 00:05:24.519 also teaches that governments in this fallen world tend to become evil beasts. Psalm 2 talks about the 00:05:24.519 --> 00:05:30.019 nations of the world, the rulers of the world, raging and conspiring to overthrow the rightful 00:05:30.019 --> 00:05:37.720 authority of God. And the Bible recognizes in many places that governments can not only restrain 00:05:37.720 --> 00:05:43.340 evil and injustice, but they can also at times perpetrate or promote evil and injustice. Pharaoh 00:05:43.339 --> 00:05:49.819 enslaved Israelites and eventually was trying to exterminate them. Jesus himself was condemned to 00:05:49.819 --> 00:05:58.519 death by the civil authorities of his time, Pilate and Herod. In Daniel and Revelation, these apocalyptic 00:05:58.519 --> 00:06:06.759 books compare world empires to a series of terrifying and devouring beasts. At the same time, those same 00:06:06.759 --> 00:06:11.719 passages remind us that God is still sovereign. God is still on the throne, even over the most 00:06:11.720 --> 00:06:18.980 unrighteous of worldly governments. So that's what the Bible says about government in general. It's God's 00:06:18.980 --> 00:06:26.560 servant for our good, and it can tend to become an evil beast that devours and causes great evil. 00:06:27.420 --> 00:06:31.920 So how should God's church relate to earthly governments? We see a variety of different 00:06:31.920 --> 00:06:37.940 arrangements and a sort of progression from the Old Testament to the New Testament and how God's church, 00:06:37.939 --> 00:06:44.839 God's people, is to relate to the state that is earthly governments. So from the Exodus until the 00:06:44.839 --> 00:06:51.819 Babylonian exile, the people of Israel were a nation state. They were called to be a nation state under the 00:06:51.819 --> 00:06:57.860 Mosaic law. The Mosaic law described Israel as a kingdom of priests, as a holy nation. It not only 00:06:57.860 --> 00:07:04.939 provided spiritual guidance for God's people, but also prescribed civil penalties for those who disobeyed 00:07:04.939 --> 00:07:13.100 the law of God. And under King David and his successors, the Davidic kingdom attempted to put 00:07:13.100 --> 00:07:20.899 the ideals of the Mosaic law into practice. However, it quickly divided and became corrupt like all the 00:07:20.899 --> 00:07:26.800 other nations. And eventually, the Davidic kingdom came to an end in the Babylonian exile in 586 BC. 00:07:26.800 --> 00:07:33.660 So the ideal that we see in the Mosaic law of God's people as sort of a united political entity 00:07:33.660 --> 00:07:42.160 was never actually realized. And so after the exile to Babylon, the kingdom of Israel was never fully 00:07:42.160 --> 00:07:49.160 reestablished. God's people did, many of them did return to the land of Israel. They continued to exist 00:07:49.160 --> 00:07:55.620 with varying degrees of independence from various foreign powers over the centuries. But they also 00:07:55.620 --> 00:08:03.379 continued to exist in the diaspora. For example, Queen Esther did not return with the exile, with the 00:08:03.379 --> 00:08:09.540 other exiles from Persia. She stayed in Persia. And there was a community of Jews who remained in Persia, 00:08:09.600 --> 00:08:18.780 as well as remained in many other parts of the world. And we see an interesting passage in Jeremiah 29. 00:08:18.980 --> 00:08:25.259 Jeremiah 29 records a letter written to the Jewish exiles who were living in Babylon. And those exiles 00:08:25.259 --> 00:08:30.980 wanted to get back to Jerusalem immediately. But instead, Jeremiah urged them, seek the shalom, 00:08:31.480 --> 00:08:36.960 that is the peace and order, the well-being and flourishing of the city to where I have sent you 00:08:36.960 --> 00:08:43.120 into exile. And Jeremiah continues, pray for its shalom, for its peace, for in its peace, you will find 00:08:43.120 --> 00:08:49.200 your peace. In a shalom, you will find your shalom. And this is sort of a new idea in the Old Testament 00:08:49.200 --> 00:08:56.800 that God's people can flourish even as a minority living under a pagan government, 00:08:56.800 --> 00:09:03.800 as the Israelites were living under in Babylon. And when we turn to the New Testament, the New Testament 00:09:03.800 --> 00:09:10.540 echoes these Old Testament instructions to God's people in exile. The New Testament describes 00:09:10.540 --> 00:09:15.680 Christians as exiles in this present world. It says, we're waiting for God's kingdom to come 00:09:15.679 --> 00:09:23.359 in full when Christ returns. So Hebrews 13 says, here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city 00:09:23.359 --> 00:09:30.139 that is to come. Or 1 Peter 1 speaks of Christians as elect exiles of the dispersion. In other words, 00:09:30.219 --> 00:09:36.399 God's chosen people, but were exiled and scattered throughout the kingdoms of this world. And so the 00:09:36.399 --> 00:09:43.319 New Testament also seems to discourage the idea of trying to establish a united Christian political 00:09:43.320 --> 00:09:50.860 kingdom on earth. For example, John 18, when Jesus is arrested, he insists, my kingdom is not of this 00:09:50.860 --> 00:09:55.400 world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting. Jesus insists that his 00:09:55.400 --> 00:10:05.560 kingdom does not spread through military force. Acts 1, Jesus' disciples come to him and say, 00:10:05.860 --> 00:10:09.740 Lord, are you going to, after his resurrection, they say, Lord, are you going to restore the kingdom to 00:10:09.740 --> 00:10:15.100 Israel? And Jesus' response is interesting. He sort of redirects their focus. He says, 00:10:15.659 --> 00:10:20.000 it's not for you to know the times or dates that the Father has set by his own authority, but you will 00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:25.120 receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you'll be my witnesses to the ends of the earth. 00:10:25.680 --> 00:10:31.419 So Jesus redirects their focus from sort of the restoration of a united political kingdom in Israel 00:10:31.419 --> 00:10:40.459 to going out into the ends of the earth to be ambassadors of the risen and returning King Jesus. 00:10:41.419 --> 00:10:47.559 And so that's, we'll look a little later at what the New Testament says to Christians about how 00:10:47.559 --> 00:10:51.620 Christians specifically should relate to the government, but that's sort of the broad picture 00:10:51.620 --> 00:10:59.639 we see how the church and state might relate together. But before we get to the epistles 00:10:59.639 --> 00:11:06.200 and Paul and Peter's instructions to Christians, let's look at the gospels. And the question I want to 00:11:06.200 --> 00:11:12.299 look at in the gospels is how did Jesus and his disciples navigate political controversies in their day? 00:11:12.840 --> 00:11:20.299 And one observation I want to make is that Jesus' own disciples included those from opposite ends of the 00:11:20.299 --> 00:11:28.000 political spectrum in his day. So most notably the 12, the inner circle included Simon the Zealot. 00:11:28.719 --> 00:11:34.959 Now Zealots were ardent Jewish nationalists who advocated violent revolt against the Roman government. 00:11:36.319 --> 00:11:44.120 Jesus' 12 disciples also included Matthew, the tax collector. Jewish tax collectors were employees 00:11:44.120 --> 00:11:49.959 of the pagan Roman government and they were seen as self-serving and dishonest collaborators 00:11:49.960 --> 00:11:57.240 with an ungodly regime. And so on the same, in the same group of 12 disciples, you have 00:11:57.240 --> 00:12:04.340 someone who comes from a zealot background who hangs out with people who were talking about revolting 00:12:04.340 --> 00:12:09.920 against the government and you have a government employee and Jesus calls them to be part of his team 00:12:09.920 --> 00:12:17.100 together. And of course, after Jesus' resurrection, the church spread out from Jerusalem and Judea to 00:12:17.100 --> 00:12:22.740 Samaria and Judea to the ends of the earth. And so the potential for differing political views and backgrounds 00:12:22.740 --> 00:12:28.920 within the church throughout the world has only increased. It's not just Simon the Zealot and Matthew the tax 00:12:28.920 --> 00:12:35.019 collector. It's people from nations and tribes that have been at war with one another, 00:12:35.019 --> 00:12:46.039 being part of the same church together and figuring out how do we be reconciled and live at peace together 00:12:46.039 --> 00:12:56.799 and grow in wisdom and seek the truth together. So Jesus' disciples included, and back then and today 00:12:56.799 --> 00:13:02.860 include those from opposite ends of the political spectrum. However, the other thing that we need to see is that 00:13:02.860 --> 00:13:08.139 the process of discipleship, the process of being with Jesus in the community of his disciples 00:13:08.139 --> 00:13:15.200 necessarily includes a rethinking of political assumptions and a reshaping of political loyalties, 00:13:16.259 --> 00:13:24.440 right? Simon the Zealot couldn't just hold on to all his zealot beliefs as a disciple of Jesus when Jesus 00:13:24.440 --> 00:13:34.520 said things like, turn the other cheek or pay the tax that you owe. And Matthew, the tax collector, 00:13:34.980 --> 00:13:42.480 couldn't just sort of bring in all of his self-serving or dishonest ways when Jesus consistently called tax 00:13:42.480 --> 00:13:50.640 collectors to repentance. And you see, whenever Jesus gathered his 12 disciples, Simon and Matthew were both 00:13:50.639 --> 00:13:56.679 in that circle brought together under a greater loyalty and a greater love for Jesus, their King. 00:14:00.539 --> 00:14:07.539 So we have a couple of discussion questions, and if you're listening to this on your own, you can simply 00:14:07.539 --> 00:14:12.240 reflect on these questions. If you're listening to it with somebody else, you can discuss them 00:14:12.240 --> 00:14:17.580 with one another. But the first discussion question is, why do you think Jesus intentionally 00:14:17.580 --> 00:14:21.160 recruited disciples from opposite ends of the political spectrum in his day? 00:14:22.840 --> 00:14:28.820 Second question, have you ever struggled to find unity with other Christians whose political 00:14:28.820 --> 00:14:36.940 instincts or backgrounds differ from yours? Third, has following Jesus and being part of God's church 00:14:36.940 --> 00:14:42.500 reshaped any of your political assumptions or attitudes toward government over time and in what ways? 00:14:42.500 --> 00:14:50.240 So you can pause the recording if you'd like to take a moment to reflect or to discuss these particular 00:14:50.240 --> 00:14:59.259 questions. But now I'll continue in the second part of our session. What does the New Testament teach 00:14:59.259 --> 00:15:03.659 about the Christian's attitude toward government, right? We've seen that governments are God's servants 00:15:03.659 --> 00:15:10.559 for our good, but they're also tend to become evil beasts that perpetrate evil and destruction. 00:15:10.559 --> 00:15:15.659 So what does the New Testament say? Well, in general, Christians are commanded to honor and submit to 00:15:15.659 --> 00:15:20.199 the civil authorities, again, because God has instituted governments as his servants for our 00:15:20.199 --> 00:15:25.099 good. So we see many examples of this in the New Testament. Jesus paid the temple tax, even though he 00:15:25.099 --> 00:15:30.319 didn't have to. Jesus said, render to Caesar. What is Caesar's? Paul says, be subject to the governing 00:15:30.319 --> 00:15:36.179 authorities. Peter says, be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, to the emperor or to 00:15:36.179 --> 00:15:41.159 governors. And he says, live as people who are free, but not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, 00:15:41.219 --> 00:15:46.899 but living as servants of God. And of course, Paul in 1 Timothy commands us to pray for the civil 00:15:46.899 --> 00:15:52.399 authorities. Whether or not we like them, whether or not we agree with them, he commands us to pray for 00:15:52.399 --> 00:16:00.240 them. So Christians are to honor the civil authorities. That's a general emphasis. However, in some limited 00:16:00.240 --> 00:16:05.600 situations, civil disobedience is justified and appropriate, again, because governments in this 00:16:05.600 --> 00:16:11.080 fallen world tend to become evil beasts. And so sometimes God's people need to stand up and call 00:16:11.080 --> 00:16:20.419 them to account or resist when they promote evil. So Acts 5 29, the apostles refuse to stop preaching 00:16:20.419 --> 00:16:27.860 the word of God, even though they're commanded to cease and threatened with arrest and execution. And they say, 00:16:27.860 --> 00:16:35.600 we must obey God rather than men. The main leaders of the early church were at times arrested and jailed 00:16:35.600 --> 00:16:40.980 for refusing to comply with the ungodly demands of civil authority. So we see that honoring civil 00:16:40.980 --> 00:16:49.039 authorities does not necessarily mean always agreeing with them or even always obeying their commands if 00:16:49.039 --> 00:16:59.899 their commands directly promote something that God has prohibited or if they directly prohibit something 00:16:59.899 --> 00:17:07.819 that God has commanded us to do. Now, we can also see not only the direct commands to honor civil 00:17:07.819 --> 00:17:14.200 authorities, but in some limited circumstances to that civil disobedience can be justified for Christians. 00:17:14.200 --> 00:17:21.539 We also see several examples of believers holding positions of civil authority. I think there's at 00:17:21.539 --> 00:17:27.360 least three Old Testament examples of God's people who were in positions of civil authority outside the 00:17:27.360 --> 00:17:34.000 kingdom of Israel. So not within the Davidic kingdom, not trying to sort of implement this ideal of a 00:17:34.000 --> 00:17:39.700 united political kingdom of God's people, but rather who were in different nations of the world. So in 00:17:39.700 --> 00:17:47.360 Genesis, we see Joseph, who rises to power in Egypt, and he organizes a national program of famine relief. 00:17:48.039 --> 00:17:53.799 We see Daniel, one of the exiles to Babylon, who exercised wisdom as a capable administrator within the 00:17:53.799 --> 00:17:59.620 Babylonian government. We see Esther, who is in Persia, who advocated on behalf of the Jews when they were 00:17:59.620 --> 00:18:05.039 threatened with extermination. So those three examples, Joseph, Daniel, and Esther, are good examples of 00:18:05.039 --> 00:18:11.299 how God's people are to function when they're in exile, when they're sort of in a foreign kingdom, 00:18:11.299 --> 00:18:21.519 or in an ungodly regime, but seeking to be an agent of God's righteousness and wisdom. 00:18:22.180 --> 00:18:26.579 The New Testament gives us a few examples of believers holding positions of civil authority, 00:18:26.980 --> 00:18:33.579 though we don't see their stories in as much detail as those Old Testament characters, but we see 00:18:33.579 --> 00:18:40.359 tax collectors and soldiers come to be baptized by John. We see centurions. We see the proconsul of 00:18:40.359 --> 00:18:44.559 Cyprus, who becomes a believer, the treasurer of Corinth, who is an active member of the Corinthian 00:18:44.559 --> 00:18:52.159 church, and a supporter of Paul for many years. None of these people are told to immediately leave 00:18:52.159 --> 00:18:57.960 their government posts in order to follow Jesus, but being a disciple of Jesus was an even higher calling. 00:18:57.960 --> 00:19:05.519 Now, the last question I want to deal with today is, how should Christians relate to political allies 00:19:05.519 --> 00:19:13.279 and political opponents? And I want to begin by sort of pointing to four broad errors that Christians 00:19:13.279 --> 00:19:19.740 can fall into regarding political engagement that I think are sort of unbalanced or unhelpful 00:19:19.740 --> 00:19:28.400 positions to take. So the first error that I would say would be simply withdrawal. 00:19:29.960 --> 00:19:34.759 Sort of the idea that the church should just avoid anything related to politics because it's too 00:19:34.759 --> 00:19:40.920 controversial, it's too worldly, it's too complicated, and so the church should just keep its distance and 00:19:40.920 --> 00:19:46.339 simply talk about spiritual things and don't talk about anything that might have political implications. 00:19:46.339 --> 00:19:54.000 But I think that that is an error because the church is called to be salt and light in the world. 00:19:56.000 --> 00:20:01.079 Christian involvement in politics and in the broader society can be a simple expression of 00:20:01.079 --> 00:20:08.119 love of neighbor. And complete withdrawal can effectively promote aspects of the status quo that 00:20:08.119 --> 00:20:16.220 are evil and unjust. Christians are not called to completely withdraw from the society that we live in 00:20:16.220 --> 00:20:24.299 but to be an agent for good within it. Now, of course, not all Christians will be involved in politics in the same way 00:20:24.299 --> 00:20:32.460 or to the same extent. And many Christians may find many ways to be positively involved in promoting 00:20:32.460 --> 00:20:41.240 good within the common good within society without directly engaging in political advocacy. 00:20:41.240 --> 00:20:49.819 So we might have different strategies or approaches or emphases, but the Christian approach cannot simply be to completely withdraw. 00:20:51.079 --> 00:20:58.180 Sort of the opposite of withdrawal, which I think can be sort of another error, would be the attempt to dominate. 00:20:59.319 --> 00:21:03.620 The idea that the church should be a means to a larger political end. 00:21:03.619 --> 00:21:08.059 And we should engage all our resources for promoting justice and righteousness. 00:21:08.279 --> 00:21:10.859 We should seek to fight and win the political battles of our day. 00:21:10.959 --> 00:21:15.859 So if the first error would say the church should completely avoid politics, 00:21:15.859 --> 00:21:21.679 the second error would be to say the church is not involved enough and has to just get more and more and more and more involved in politics. 00:21:22.579 --> 00:21:27.539 But I think the warning that I would say on this end is that the church's primary mission 00:21:27.539 --> 00:21:35.680 that Jesus Christ has given us is not to win political battles, but to proclaim and faithfully live out the gospel of Jesus Christ. 00:21:36.859 --> 00:21:41.779 And there are many other legitimate concerns and endeavors within the world that Christians can be involved in. 00:21:42.279 --> 00:21:51.559 But we need to be careful not to let those other concerns or endeavors to take the place of the centrality of Christ. 00:21:52.500 --> 00:21:55.899 The other thing I would say is we should take a long term view. 00:21:55.900 --> 00:22:01.400 Two, God has called us to be faithful whether or not we are successful in our lifetime. 00:22:01.400 --> 00:22:07.280 And it's also not always easy to see whether a certain movement is successful, right? 00:22:07.460 --> 00:22:10.480 You know, politics tends to sort of swing back and forth. 00:22:10.680 --> 00:22:14.480 And so you might think we won that battle. 00:22:14.880 --> 00:22:16.480 You know, we got our party into office. 00:22:16.480 --> 00:22:18.720 And then four years later, it all flips. 00:22:18.920 --> 00:22:23.400 And you think, oh, well, maybe we didn't actually make a lot of progress there. 00:22:23.440 --> 00:22:25.360 We just sort of set ourselves up for a bigger defeat. 00:22:25.359 --> 00:22:32.059 So it's not always easy to see what's a win in the long term. 00:22:32.819 --> 00:22:37.079 And and so we should just be careful that we don't get attached to that as our goal. 00:22:37.879 --> 00:22:44.099 God has called us to be faithful, but not necessarily to win and not necessarily to seek to dominate the world. 00:22:44.099 --> 00:22:46.779 So withdrawal, I think, is an error. 00:22:46.879 --> 00:22:48.279 I think domination is an error. 00:22:48.439 --> 00:22:49.839 A third error would be panic. 00:22:50.839 --> 00:22:56.119 Something saying something like this next election will election will usher in the end of the world unless. 00:22:56.119 --> 00:23:09.579 And honestly, I seem to hear rhetoric like this more and more around recent elections, probably more than we did maybe 20 years ago, 30 years ago. 00:23:09.579 --> 00:23:14.899 But again, how do we think about this in terms of biblical principles? 00:23:15.059 --> 00:23:16.439 Well, one day Christ will return. 00:23:16.539 --> 00:23:17.960 He will judge the world in righteousness. 00:23:17.960 --> 00:23:19.259 And that's our great hope. 00:23:19.980 --> 00:23:24.039 We are looking forward to the end when Christ will return. 00:23:24.039 --> 00:23:30.279 And in the meantime, while we're still in this present world, the Bible reminds us that God is sovereign even over bad governments. 00:23:30.279 --> 00:23:34.500 Think of all the evil empires in the Bible, Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Rome. 00:23:34.680 --> 00:23:40.099 And God is sufficient to sustain his people even in the most adverse of times. 00:23:40.460 --> 00:23:47.399 Also, sooner or later, God will bring judgment on wicked rulers, often by causing them or their wicked plans to self-destruct. 00:23:47.400 --> 00:23:53.140 That's one way that God's judgment is manifest in this present age is when wickedness sort of destroys itself. 00:23:53.880 --> 00:23:57.000 And of course, you can see many examples of that throughout history. 00:23:58.860 --> 00:24:08.580 But this sort of panic or excessive fear can be rooted in or can be an indication of the last error I want to point out, which would be idolatry. 00:24:09.560 --> 00:24:13.860 Right. There is one political party or one political leader who will save us. 00:24:14.380 --> 00:24:17.100 Right. That would be sort of the definition of political idolatry. 00:24:17.099 --> 00:24:20.919 Now, when we put it that way, most of us would would reject that position. 00:24:20.919 --> 00:24:30.639 We would say, no, you know, even if we think even if you might think that one political party is clearly the one that that you should definitely vote for all the time. 00:24:31.039 --> 00:24:35.139 We hopefully as Christians, we'd all stop short and say, but it's not going to save us. 00:24:37.039 --> 00:24:42.359 But again, do we fall into this error more than we realize? 00:24:42.579 --> 00:24:45.679 You know, throughout history, some political leaders have caused terrible destruction. 00:24:45.680 --> 00:24:48.820 Others are promoted much good. The legacy of most has been very mixed. 00:24:49.759 --> 00:24:58.580 So it's appropriate for a Christian to strongly support or even publicly advocate for a political party, a political movement or political candidate. 00:24:58.579 --> 00:25:00.399 But here's the question. 00:25:00.399 --> 00:25:17.379 If we worship Jesus Christ alone as the perfectly righteous one, Christians should also be able to acknowledge the weaknesses and flaws of the political party, the political movement or the political candidate who they most identify with. 00:25:17.380 --> 00:25:37.720 And if we can't or if we don't acknowledge the weaknesses and flaws of the political party or candidate or movement that we are supporting, if we can't see those weaknesses or if we are unwilling to publicly acknowledge any of them, is that a sign that we've slipped into a form of idolatry? 00:25:37.720 --> 00:25:46.900 Where we found our righteousness in our political movement instead of measuring everything against the righteousness of Jesus Christ. 00:25:46.900 --> 00:25:59.340 On the other end, it's entirely natural and again appropriate for Christians to recognize and point out the weaknesses and errors and flaws of a political party or political movement or political candidate whom we oppose. 00:25:59.339 --> 00:26:08.379 But again, Christians must also be distinctively shaped by Jesus' justice and mercy toward our political opponents. 00:26:09.879 --> 00:26:15.679 So are we genuinely putting Jesus' teachings into practice in the way we treat our political opponents? 00:26:15.799 --> 00:26:19.019 Are we being quick to listen and slow to speak and slow to get angry? 00:26:20.039 --> 00:26:23.279 And that includes our interactions on social media, among other things. 00:26:23.839 --> 00:26:24.599 Are we praying? 00:26:25.359 --> 00:26:26.980 Jesus said, pray for your enemies. 00:26:26.980 --> 00:26:27.539 Right? 00:26:27.920 --> 00:26:34.019 If you think about the people that you are most opposed to politically, do you pray for them? 00:26:34.420 --> 00:26:35.339 As Jesus taught. 00:26:36.200 --> 00:26:41.160 Are we careful not to slander or misrepresent our political opponents? 00:26:42.920 --> 00:26:44.599 Or those who we disagree with? 00:26:44.680 --> 00:26:47.620 Are we treating them as we would want them to treat us? 00:26:47.620 --> 00:26:55.180 And that includes looking for not only the areas where we disagree, but also looking for areas of common ground and shared concerns, 00:26:55.180 --> 00:26:57.900 as well as honestly recognizing where and why we disagree. 00:26:59.259 --> 00:27:04.779 Now, what are Christians called to instead of withdrawal, domination, panic, or idolatry? 00:27:04.960 --> 00:27:12.500 We're called to be faithfully present in this temporary and fallen world as ambassadors of Christ and his eternal kingdom. 00:27:12.500 --> 00:27:19.980 So let's end with a few more questions for reflection and discussion. 00:27:21.119 --> 00:27:22.140 First question. 00:27:22.220 --> 00:27:27.740 Have you felt particularly tempted by or inclined towards any of these four broad errors? 00:27:27.900 --> 00:27:31.880 Withdrawal, domination, panic, or idolatry? 00:27:32.319 --> 00:27:33.559 And if so, why? 00:27:33.559 --> 00:27:45.359 Second, on the positive side, not only thinking about the errors that we can fall into, but think of a Christian believer who you respect, 00:27:45.480 --> 00:27:50.919 who has been faithfully present as an ambassador of Christ, maybe as a public official, maybe as a private citizen. 00:27:51.559 --> 00:27:55.240 This could be somebody who's currently alive or someone you've read about in history. 00:27:55.240 --> 00:28:03.680 How has this person been an example or an encouragement to you in the way that they have engaged with government and politics? 00:28:05.240 --> 00:28:10.500 Third, if we worship Jesus Christ alone as the perfectly righteous one, 00:28:10.640 --> 00:28:17.359 Christians must also acknowledge the weaknesses and flaws of the political party, movement, or candidate that they most identify with. 00:28:18.059 --> 00:28:19.539 Do you agree with that statement? 00:28:19.539 --> 00:28:27.079 If so, name a political party, movement, or candidate that you support or that you voted for or that you identify with. 00:28:27.180 --> 00:28:36.559 Give one reason for your support and then name one weakness or flaw that you recognize in that party, that movement, or that candidate in light of the character of Jesus. 00:28:39.079 --> 00:28:46.440 Fourth, Christians must also be distinctively shaped by Jesus' justice and mercy toward those whom we see as political opponents. 00:28:46.440 --> 00:28:52.400 So, name a political party or movement or candidate that you oppose or disagree with or voted against. 00:28:53.580 --> 00:29:06.340 And then think about how are you seeking to follow Jesus' commands and how you relate to that person or that group of people or their allies and supporters on an ongoing basis. 00:29:08.700 --> 00:29:13.240 Finally, let me just mention a few recommended resources that are listed on the handout. 00:29:13.240 --> 00:29:22.779 We are not endorsing every word that each of these authors say, but I do think these books offer some helpful guidance and food for thought for American Christians in the present day. 00:29:23.140 --> 00:29:27.579 Go into some of the present challenges in some more depth. 00:29:28.180 --> 00:29:30.220 Jonathan Lehman's book, How the Nations Rage. 00:29:30.539 --> 00:29:33.299 John Inazu's book, Confident Pluralism. 00:29:33.380 --> 00:29:34.319 He's a law professor. 00:29:34.319 --> 00:29:34.399 He's a law professor. 00:29:34.899 --> 00:29:40.919 And a book called Compassion and Conviction by three authors, Gabboni, Weir, and Butler. 00:29:41.639 --> 00:29:49.240 So, feel free to check those out if those would be, if you're looking for some further reading on this topic. 00:29:50.819 --> 00:29:51.379 Thanks. 00:29:51.379 --> 00:29:51.460 Thanks.