Another way that I've changed as a christian... Political ideology:
I grew up thinking that all Christians ought to be Republicans. I also grew up thinking that all Democrats were going to hell. Some of the hottest places in hell, in fact. Somehow, somewhere along the way… I associated political ideology with spiritual truth… as if they went hand in hand. God would certainly bless those people who believed that tax cuts were good… and He would curse those who believed that raising taxes is the answer.
I think it was sometime between the 2000 and 2004 elections that my attitude and mind-set began to change. Mind you, I am still a Republican. Conservative politics resonate with my personal sense of logic. I agree with Republican ideology much more than I do with Democratic ideology...
I think the change in my mind can be best encapsulated by telling a story from this past election. I remember walking into the church kitchen to grab myself ten or so doughnuts for breakfast on a Sunday morning between services. Unfortunately, I walked right into a conversation that caused me to stop and think. One guy said to the other guy: ‘I don’t think you can be a Christian and NOT be a Republican.’
Wow. Now that is a bold statement. So, I wanted to ask him, are you saying that God is more concerned with a person’s political ideology in one particular nation during one particular season in history than whether that same person has been washed in the blood of Jesus?
During election season, I saw countless pamphlets that asked the question: Who would Jesus have voted for? Well, he was a Jew in an Israel that was ruled by the Romans… I don’t think he was particularly interested in voting back then. Besides which, he rarely talked about Rome or politics… as recorded in the gospels, which I assume contained the most vital teachings of Jesus. I just don’t get the sense that the most important thing on God’s mind is who wins the American election every four years. I’m not trying to offend anyone. I do think God cares about the state of our country… but from everything that I’ve read, I sense that God is more concerned about the state of individual’s souls. It seems like He looks to His church to create change in culture… and NOT by protesting and holding up signs that say: God hates fags or displaying large pictures of aborted babies... Just my humble opinion.
I think it was my lead pastor, Steve Colaw, who said something that I find to be so true (and kind of funny): If you have to be a Republican to be a Christian… then even Jesus wasn’t a Christian. Same thing goes for the early church and the disciples.
Recently, though... I've noticed that it's a fad for the more 'intelligent' or 'enlightened' Christians to point out to us Republican Christians that we've been deceived by the Republican party and that we should jump ship as fast as we can. I've recently been made to feel that I might somehow be less of an intelligent Christian because I vote Republican most of the time. The madness never ends.
This is another area in which I have changed. Though I will probably vote Republican for the rest of my life… I will never assume that people who call themselves Democrats and Christians at the same time somehow love God less than I do. I will also never assume that God can’t use them to redeem culture or make a difference for His kingdom. I don’t agree with the Democrats much… but if I can find a few that agree with me about Jesus Christ being the Lord and Savior… and that Jesus alone is the answer to redeeming a fallen culture... that’s all I would need. I’ll let God sort out the rest…
3 comments:
Hey Josh,
Last school year I spent a decent amount of time with a friend who happens to be a Democrat. In fact, he was one of the two main impeti driving the establishment of Campus Dems as a new IWU student organization. This year he is the president thereof. He told me that his life goal is to get health care for every American (you know, kind of along the Canadian ideal). I told him Jesus and John Wesley would be proud.
Anyway, although I didn't really consider this friend one of my best from school, he is the only one of them who has called me just about every week since we decided to start doing so.
Hope this finds you well; grace and peace,
Scott H.
Hey Josh,
Last school year I spent a decent amount of time with a friend who happens to be a Democrat. In fact, he was one of the two main impeti driving the establishment of Campus Dems as a new IWU student organization. This year he is the president thereof. He told me that his life goal is to get health care for every American (you know, kind of along the Canadian ideal). I told him Jesus and John Wesley would be proud.
Anyway, although I didn't really consider this friend one of my best from school, he is the only one of them who has called me just about every week since we decided to start doing so.
Hope this finds you well; grace and peace,
Scott H.
Hmmm...I could say a few things about the Canadian health system. Excuse my sarcasm. I'm not really angry, just trying to make a point from the perspective of someone who's dealt with both US and Canadian systems.
If you need something done in a hurry, forget it.
If you need a prescription, hope you have a supplemental plan to cover it because the province won't.
If you need surgery, get in line unless it's life threatening. Oh, and you'd better have a supplemental insurance policy to cover too that because the provincial plan doesn't cover that either.
If you need allergy testing for your kid, it'll take about three months before you can get it done. Hope he doesn't have an anaphylactic reaction to anything while you wait.
When the government in Ottawa decides they're paying the radiology department too much money to stay on call 24-7 at your hospital out in the middle of nowhere, hope no one you know dies on route to the next closest hospital ER, also in the middle of nowhere. Since the radiology people aren't available after 5 pm, the ER docs no longer feel comfy making a diagnosis and the ER has to shut it doors at 5. Let's hope those nurses left there have a lot of experience and can handle the stuff that gets dumped at the locked door because it wouldn't be ethical to turn anyone away.
Having a centralized body, especially federal government, making important health care decisions for you or having the power to set certain kind of limits unchecked, is a bad thing. I don't know if Jesus and John Wesley would be proud. You're just trading one set of problems for a new set. Maybe I just need more education but my little handbook on health care coverage here is pretty enlightening.
By the way, I'm not a democrat or a republican. I can't vote. I'm still a Canadian citizen. I was filling out the naturalization paperwork when all this moving to Canada for Jeff's work happened. Now it has to wait until we get back. But I'd venture a guess that I'm probably a Republican.
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