Should Christian Believers Avoid Political Involvement?

SHOULD CHRISTIAN BELIEVERS AVOID POLITICS - Or Should We Be A Christian Influence In The Governing Bodies Of Our America?

Let me begin by stating that if Christians avoid the political arena, refuse to discuss politics and issues vital to our moral and family values - that will leave a large void, a large empty hole, in our American life, government, and society.  And we all know that an empty hole will not remain empty - but will be filled by whatever dross, dirt, and refuse surrounds it.

In other words, if all Christian influence is removed from American politics, government, governing bodies, and society - then all local, city, state, and federal governments will be completely owned by the secular society, very much like we have been experiencing since the January 2021 Inauguration of Joe Biden, but even greater, i.e., the Biden administration on steroids. 

Then the practice of Relativism, i.e., relative moral values, or as it really should be defined: "no moral values" - will be the only standard left in the governing and control of our homeland, America.

There is a well known quote which has been traveling around the world for over 200 years and while it is not a Biblical quote, many of us might wonder why God left it out of His Bible:

"The Only Thing Necessary for the Triumph of Evil - is that Good Men Do Nothing."

I bet that YOU have most likely quoted that adage many times yourself, without giving any thought to its origin.  You would be in good company if you said that this quote came from Edmund Burke, Irish-born British statesman, economist, and philosopher (1729-1797).  Many very knowledgeable people would agree with you. 

Even President John F. Kennedy in a 1961 address to the Canadian Parliament, used a version of the quotation and credited it to Edmund Burke.  Yet study has shown that Edmund Burke was not the source of those very wise words.  To be honest, research has shown that no one knows where it originated.  There are many educated guesses - but no provable person of origin.

Could this be a wee bit of God humor?  That He gives us so much wisdom in one sentence - then cleverly hides the name of its originator?

1 Corinthians 1:27 (nasb), "But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise - and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong,"

And consider the mystery of the death and burial of Moses:

Deuteronomy 34:5-6 (nasb), "So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD.  And He (God) buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth Peor; but no one knows his grave to this day."

It seems that the only person who has correctly attributed that quote was the Reverend Charles F. Aked (1864-1926), English / American clergy, in a speech addressing prohibition quoted this adage, but prefaced it with: “it has been said” to signal that he was not claiming originality.

“The people in the liquor traffic,” said the speaker, “simply want us to do nothing. That’s all the devil wants of the son of God - to be let alone. That is all that the criminal wants of the law - to be let alone. The sin of doing nothing is the deadliest of all the seven sins. It has been said that for evil men to accomplish their purpose it is only necessary that good men should do nothing.”

You might ask, "But, Bill, what does that have to do with Christian involvement in politics?"  Glad you asked.  It could mean the end of moral and family values in America, especially your children's and your grandchildren's America.  It could be seen as the legacy YOU have left for them.

So what do we know about Christian involvement and Christian influence in all levels of American, and world, government?  We know that, even though some Christians erroneously believe that we should not be mixing our Christian faith and politics - as long as the Christian church, the worldwide body of believers, is still in these mortal bodies - many of us WILL be involved in the political decisions of government. 

It may be as active believers elected to governing offices - OR - it may be only as "We The People" demanding of our elected officials that our Moral Values not be swept under the secular rug.

One day, and no one knows the day or time - Jesus Christ will come to call His people, His church, all believers, home to be with Him (John 14:1-3).  Yet when the church is Raptured from this world - will the Holy Spirit be taken out also?  Many think that is what 2 Thessalonians 2:7-9 is teaching. 

But I disagree.  That Scripture passage is speaking of the "influence" of the Holy Spirit, the Restrainer, being temporarily removed from earth because all believers will have been removed.  No Christians left on the earth - no Christian influence to restrain the evil of the Relativistic Secular World.

2 Thessalonians  2:7-9, "For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains (the Holy Spirit) will do so until He is taken out of the way.  And then the lawless one (the Antichrist) will be revealed, .  .  .  The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, "

We who follow Christ and study His Word, know that one day, in the God-determined End Times, all believers will be removed from earth, i.e., all Christian believers will be Raptured from this world.  At that time all Christian influence will be removed - and the world, with all Christian influence gone, will become a totally Secular Society. 

When Christians say we should not be involved in politics - they seem to be advocating an earlier arrival of that Secular Society, a world that would be ruled by Relative Moral Values - to the applause of Satan himself. 

Sadly it is true that many good Christian believers, clergy and laity, mistakenly believe we should not be involved in politics, that we should not be speaking out for our Traditional Moral Values, that we should not be strongly advocating that those Christian Moral Values be respected.

A few months ago a pastor Friend, whose church we were visiting, told me, "Bill, you are a Christian writer, you should not be posting about politics."  He wanted to pray for me, so I agreed - then I left his church never to return again.  He is still a Friend, but from a distance.

More recently, my wife and I were having lunch with a Christian friend and she shared her belief that Christians should stay out of politics.  I explained to her that without Christian Influence, an empty hole created by that absence, will be filled.  But the important question, and the problem is - WHAT will fill that empty hole?  If not Christian Influence - then Secular dross, the amoral Relative Values of the Left?
 
If we allow Christian influence to be taken out of politics, which seems to already be happening in the current administration in Washington DC - that empty hole will quickly be filled with amoral secular thinking and decision making in our government.  And amoral secular Relativism will continue to be taught to our children in public schools. 

In other words, without Christian Influence, we will have a 100% secular government which wants to tear down the wall of religious freedom and moral values established by our founding fathers nearly 250 years ago.   That is a good description of the Biden administration today.

As I told our Christian sister at lunch that day, "We should never have a Religion Test as a criteria for holding public office - but we MUST have more Christian influence within our public offices."  In other words, we should and MUST look at a person's Moral Values when we vote. Typically a Leftist will have NO moral values - whereas a true Conservative will have Moral Values, at least to some degree.

We MUST HAVE Christian Influence in our halls of government.  That is not the same as having a Religion Test for being elected - but a Moral Values criteria for the politician asking for our votes.  In my opinion, an amoral person should not be in public office.  A good example is Kamala Harris who wants more abortions, more freedom in killing babies via abortions.  Kamala was given the job of securing our borders - and has never even visited our southern border - nor has she attempted to do anything about the flood of illegals crossing our southern border daily.

However, since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, which simply sent the right to have, or not have, abortions back to the states where it belongs - Kamala Harris has been spending all her waking moments demanding abortions be made available, at taxpayers' expense - and Joe Biden is agreeing with her.

By the way, I have a dual reason for posting this blog which was inspired by the graphic below:  (1) Our Political Involvement In Government - and (2) Sharing And Discussing Our Christian Faith. 

In other words, I believe strongly that "Civil Conversations" should apply to our political involvement and discussions - and definitely in our discussions of theology.   I know there are folks who will take the position that if you do not hold 100% to my theology, we have nothing to discuss.  To me, that is a wrong attitude.

My position has long been that even though we may disagree on some Non-Essential Christian Doctrines, maybe even disagreeing on the existence of God - LET'S TALK ABOUT IT!  I want to know why you believe as you do.  And I want to share with you why I am a Christian believer and what I believe.  Yet, in a civil, non-aggressive discussion. 

At times Friends get aggravated with me when I tell them that there will be just as many Calvinist, Arminianists, etc., in heaven as there will be we folks who live in the middle of the theology spectrum.  I am always willing to have civil discussions, and believe they are worthwhile, with folks holding other beliefs and political views.

Matter of fact, some of my best Christian Friends are Calvinist.  I don't know how they can support their Predestination from Scripture - but I will not scratch them from my Friends List because of it.  Nor will I Unfriend anyone for holding Calvinist, Arminian, or even more extreme beliefs, for I think most are very sincere in their theological beliefs, even though they are sincerely wrong.  But that is another discussion.

God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,

Bill 

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