BOURBONISM - EXTREME CONSERVATISM IN POLITICS
I would hope that Christians who are to any extent involved in politics would be extremely conservative. Unfortunately, that is not the way it is. There are many Christians who are swayed by their wallets, or by the charisma of a certain candidate, and don’t use the principles and teaching of scripture. We must realize the necessity of having a government that is in subjection to God, or at least one that acknowledges that there is a supreme power above them. God raises up governments and brings them back down as He sees fit. That being the case we should realize that governments fall when they reject God. We are somewhat schizophrenic spiritually if we think we can believe in the Bible and be pleasing to God without having our Christianity controlling every aspect of our lives public and private.
There is a danger; however, that we may be conservative in politics and think that voting for officials who take a hard moral stance and will make laws accordingly will somehow change the hearts and minds of our fellow Americans. Don’t let Satan deceive you. There is a significant difference in legislating morality and converting the heart of the immoral. I am not saying that we should not have laws and punishment for immorality, what I am saying is that until something changes the hearts and minds of the sinners in this country they will continue to sin even if it is illegal. What government, no matter how moral and Godly it is, can never do with laws and punishment, the church can do with the gospel and only the church through use of the gospel can do it.
Many have said, and rightly so, that making guns illegal or making new laws to restrict who can own a gun will not solve the problems of gun violence that we have seen in the last few years. The reason is clear if we will think about it. In every case of these shootings, either the guns that were used were illegal, or they were illegally obtained, or both. You see the very nature of the terms ‘crime’ and ‘criminal’ imply something illegal. We can’t expect laws to change hearts, only the love of Christ shown through the gospel can truly accomplish that.
One last illustration. Do you ever speed? Be honest now. Would it make a difference if the government made a law making it illegal? Ooohhh! They already did. Well, would it make a difference if they passed a new law that made the speed limit 45 MPH? Be honest. Would it matter to you if they raised the fines to $100 for every MPH over the speed limit? Maybe after you got caught the first time and had to pay an outrageous $900 fine, but probably not before that. You see it is true with many of us in the small areas of breaking the law, and it is true of the hardened criminal in any area. It is good to have a government that can punish the evil doer as Romans 13 tells us they should, but don’t expect the government to do the church’s task here on earth. Don’t think you have done all you should when you have voted for some ‘righteous’ official.
I would hope that Christians who are to any extent involved in politics would be extremely conservative. Unfortunately, that is not the way it is. There are many Christians who are swayed by their wallets, or by the charisma of a certain candidate, and don’t use the principles and teaching of scripture. We must realize the necessity of having a government that is in subjection to God, or at least one that acknowledges that there is a supreme power above them. God raises up governments and brings them back down as He sees fit. That being the case we should realize that governments fall when they reject God. We are somewhat schizophrenic spiritually if we think we can believe in the Bible and be pleasing to God without having our Christianity controlling every aspect of our lives public and private.
There is a danger; however, that we may be conservative in politics and think that voting for officials who take a hard moral stance and will make laws accordingly will somehow change the hearts and minds of our fellow Americans. Don’t let Satan deceive you. There is a significant difference in legislating morality and converting the heart of the immoral. I am not saying that we should not have laws and punishment for immorality, what I am saying is that until something changes the hearts and minds of the sinners in this country they will continue to sin even if it is illegal. What government, no matter how moral and Godly it is, can never do with laws and punishment, the church can do with the gospel and only the church through use of the gospel can do it.
Many have said, and rightly so, that making guns illegal or making new laws to restrict who can own a gun will not solve the problems of gun violence that we have seen in the last few years. The reason is clear if we will think about it. In every case of these shootings, either the guns that were used were illegal, or they were illegally obtained, or both. You see the very nature of the terms ‘crime’ and ‘criminal’ imply something illegal. We can’t expect laws to change hearts, only the love of Christ shown through the gospel can truly accomplish that.
One last illustration. Do you ever speed? Be honest now. Would it make a difference if the government made a law making it illegal? Ooohhh! They already did. Well, would it make a difference if they passed a new law that made the speed limit 45 MPH? Be honest. Would it matter to you if they raised the fines to $100 for every MPH over the speed limit? Maybe after you got caught the first time and had to pay an outrageous $900 fine, but probably not before that. You see it is true with many of us in the small areas of breaking the law, and it is true of the hardened criminal in any area. It is good to have a government that can punish the evil doer as Romans 13 tells us they should, but don’t expect the government to do the church’s task here on earth. Don’t think you have done all you should when you have voted for some ‘righteous’ official.
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