NOVEMBER 15 - Danger Zones: Red State, Blue State

DANGER ZONES: RED STATE, BLUE STATE

On Sunday, we looked at six "danger zones." You can hear the content online at the church web site - www.bellvilleumc.org - click on "audio/video."

These were the six danger zones we talked about (along with the Scripture references):

1 - Assuming there is one obvious Christian position on any given political issue. (Romans 14:19-22)

2 - Failing to apply your Christian faith - on all issues. (Amos 5:21-24, James 1:22)

3 - Not looking for the value in the other point of view. (Proverbs 12:15, Romans 14:1-12, 2 Timothy 2:23-24, Titus 3:2)

4 - Namecalling. (Proverbs 15:1-2, Colossians 4:5-6, James 1:19-20, James 1:26)

5 - Failing to honor our leaders, whether you voted for that leader or not. (Matthew 22:21, 1 Timothy 2:1-2, 1 Peter 2:17)

6 - Forgetting which Kingdom comes first. (Matthew 6:33, 1 John 2:17)


SOME MORE THOUGHTS: I have plenty of "politically conservative" Christian friends who believe their political views are absolutely biblical. Likewise, I have plenty of "politically liberal" Christian friends who believe their political views are absolutely biblical. Of course, there are a few "politically libertarian" folks in the mix, who don't quite fit the "either/or."

Could it be that both sides are only seeing part of the whole picture.

At the risk of vastly oversimplifying things, it seems to me that many "politically conservative" folks tend to be "Old Testament" when it comes to moral issues and "New Testament" when it comes to compassion and justice. They are happy to use the structures of government and society to enforce certain moral judgments, but prefer to use individual and personal free choice to express compassion and justice.

When it comes to "politically liberal" folks, things go the other way. They tend to be "Old Testament" when it comes to compassion and justice, and "New Testament" when it comes to moral issues. They are happy to use the structures of government and society to enforce compassion and justice, but prefer to use individual and personal free choice to express certain moral judgments.

It seems to me that we could both learn from each other.

The Old Testament has a lot to teach us about how to use governmental and societal structures to express moral principles, compassion and justice. The laws that Moses brought to the people from God gave them boundaries to express principles. Read what Leviticus has to say about leaving a portion of your field for those who have nothing. About boundaries for making loans to those who have next to nothing. About the jubilee - the restoration of land to those who have lost it over the years. It is hard to argue that government should stay out of the compassion business and just leave it to individual free will.

Read also what the Old Testament has to say about personal morality. We seem to be in a "do your own thing" society - where we are sometimes afraid to express any moral boundaries. We could all learn something about the importance of high moral standards.

Having said all that, we can also learn from the situation of the New Testament church. No longer did faithful people control the political leadership. Here, Christians were simply advised to pay their taxes and honor their political leaders, but there was no ambition to try to turn the political structures into an instrument of God. Christians had to learn to express compassion and justice within the family of believers, and to stand up for godly moral standards regardless of what the rest of society said was "OK." Christians of today could learn a LOT from the experience of New Testament Christians.

You don't have to agree with me. (Like I need to remind you of that!) But whatever your political persuasion, I hope you will give it some thought!

MORE THOUGHTS - Here is an interesting article by a pastor:

WHY IS AMERICAN BECOMING MORE POLITICALLY DIVIDED, by Greg Boyd