There’s a scene at the end of the
film The Martian where Mark Watney (played by Matt Damon) lays out
what is inevitable in space travel. It’s a lesson that can and should be
applied to every area of life:
“At some point, everything’s gonna go
south on you… Everything’s going to go south and you’re going to say, this is
it. This is how I end. Now you can either accept that, or you can get to work.
That’s all it is. You just begin. You do the math. You solve one problem… and
you solve the next one… and then the next. And if you solve enough problems,
you get to come home. All right, questions?”
A number of readers of the material
published by American Vision often ask why we spend so much time on
eschatology. Matt Damon’s brief speech is one reason why. Of course, it’s much
more comforting to Christians if there is a “rescue in a rapture” than to die
with no Earthly or Martianly hope.
Let’s get a few preliminaries out of
the way concerning Christians and politics. First, there is no doubt that there
are few differences between the two major parties. With both Houses of Congress
owned by the Republicans, one would think that the claimed differences would
have come out and the GOP would have fought for the principles they claim
separate them from the Democrats.
This leads to the second observation.
Many Christians believe their vote doesn’t make much difference even when their
guy wins because their votes are overwhelmed by the GOP establishment majority
that dilutes the effectiveness of the constitutionalists.
Third, they are tired of sending
people to Congress who promise one thing and then break that promise and offer
political excuses for the votes they make………
(Full text at link below)
……the following are some of the
theological reasons many Christians do not get involved politically. They
believe there are sound biblical reasons why they should avoid the endeavor
altogether:
1. We should just
preach the gospel: Paul told the Ephesian elders that he did not shrink from
declaring to them the “whole purpose of God” (Acts 20:27). Being a new creature in Christ is
the first step in a whole new life. Being born again does not stop at infancy.
We are to grow up in the faith so every area of life is impacted by
God’s Word (Heb. 5:11-14).
2. Politics is
dirty: What isn’t dirty? Our job is to clean up the things
that are dirty. Diapers are dirty, and we change them. If a politician is
dirty, then change him or her.
3. Jesus didn’t
get mixed up in politics, so why should we?: There are many things
Jesus didn’t do. He didn’t get married, have children, or own a home. Should we
follow His example in these areas? The civil magistrate is said to be a
“minister of God” (Rom. 13:1-4). It’s the
same Greek word ( διάκονός) used to describe a deacon in an ecclesiastical
setting (1 Tim. 3:8-13). In neither of these
governmental offices are these ministers to “lord it over those allotted to
[their] charge” (1 Peter. 5:3; see Matt. 20:25-28).
4. Our
citizenship is in heaven: We have multiple citizenships
(commonwealths), with our heavenly citizenship being a priority (Phil. 3:20; see Acts 5:29). The fact that Paul was a citizen
of heaven did not stop him from claiming his Roman citizenship (Acts 22:25-29) and appealing to Caesar
(25:9-12).
5. There’s a
separation between church and state: The Bible teaches that there is
a jurisdictional separation between church and state, but there is no
separation between God and government, and that includes civil government.
6. Jesus’
kingdom is not of this world: God’s kingdom does not derive
its power and authority from this world, but His kingdom is in and over this
world whether people acknowledge it or not. We are to pray, “Your kingdom come.
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 7:10). Doing God’s will is the
manifestation of kingdom living.
7. Politics is
not spiritual: If civil government has been ordained by God, then it is
spiritual as is every area of life when governed by the Word of God.
8. Satan is
the god of this world: Satan is no more a god than a person’s
stomach is a god (Phil. 3:19). Paul is
describing what some people choose to be their god, a limited creature who has
been defeated.
9. We’re not
supposed to judge: We are admonished by Jesus to be consistent in judgment (Matt. 7:1-2) and to “judge with righteous
judgment” (John 7:24).
10. We must
render to Caesar what’s Caesar’s: We don’t live under Caesar. We
live under a Constitution, and we can remove and replace people in office and
“petition the government for a redress of grievances.” The people in Jesus’ day
could not. We do not have to settle for the political status quo.
11. Christians
should remain neutral: Neutrality is impossible. Jesus said, “He
who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters”
(Matt. 12:30; also see Rev. 3:16).
12. We can’t
impose our morality on other people: All law is the imposition of
someone’s view of morality. The question is, What areas of life is the civil
magistrate given the authority to do?
13. We’re living
in the last days and Jesus is coming soon to rapture His church so why polish
brass on a sinking ship?: How many times have we heard this claim?
Even today Christians are pushing the canard that the “rapture” is near, that
the antichrist is on the brink of revealing himself, and there is no reason to
rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic. Those in the world are wiser. Ship
building did not stop with the sinking of an unsinkable ship. sometimes “the
sons of this age are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the sons of
light” (Luke 16:8).
There’s so much more that could be
said on this topic. I’ve covered the above topics and more in my book Myths, Lies, and Half-Truths:
How Misreading the Bible Neutralizes Christians and Empowers Liberals, Secularists,
and Atheists.
