Thursday, September 12, 2019

A spiritual question plagues me ...


The personal choices of Christians don’t bind or represent the church.

If I were not already a person who believes in Jesus Christ, would I be likely to believe in him if I were convinced he is the ally of my political enemy?

I mean, shouldn’t Christians ponder whether we are screening Jesus from view when we seem to identify the church with any political leader or political movement?

How do we square affiliation of the church with a political leader or political movement when the Bible says, “Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.”
Psalm 146:3

And, “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.” Zechariah 4:6.

Christians can and should make choices about political leaders and political movements they will support as a civic duty in a Republic. Jesus said to the religious authorities of his day, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” Mark 12:17

I repeat, the personal choices of Christians don’t bind or represent the church.

If we represent our civic choices as the choice of Christ’s church, we misrepresent Christ. If we misrepresent Christ, how can anyone believe we are carrying his message of salvation?