Thursday, September 28, 2006
There Is Wrong And Then There Is Evil
Recently, Al Mohler had a discussion on his radio program on the possible presidential candidacy of Mitt Romney, a Mormon. You can give a listen here. Regular readers know I have a blog, where I partner with a Mormon, Lowell Brown, the Hedgehog, precisely to discuss religion, religious tests for elected office, and the candidacy of Mitt Romney. Needless to say, the Mohler discussion caught my eye.
There are two things in the program that I wish to discuss here. The first is there is no mention in the discussion of the U.S. Constitution and its specific mandates against a "religious test" for elected officials. Now, having said that, of course, voters are permitted to vote as they see fit. But as Christian we are also commanded to good citizenship.
They appear to assume that a person that we as traditonal Christians believe not to be saved, cannot do the right thing in a given situation. I'm saved, but I'm still a sinner, and I still do bad things, so why is an unsaved person prevented from doing good things?
Sometimes I think we forget what we believe. We are all sinners, every last one of us. Our salvation in Jesus does two things - it assures us of our eternal destination and it empowers our journey towards our unfallen state because that salvation enables the habitation of the paraclete, the Holy Spirit, in us. At best, our salvation makes the odds a bit better that we will do the right thing is some circumstance, but it's no guarantee.
Need we forget the most Evangelical president in American history? I'm sure you remember Jimmy Carter. I have never been more sure of the right standing before the Throne of Grace for any other president, or candidate for president, than for Jimmy Carter, and yet he was one of the most consistently poor decision makers the office has ever seen. Mohler quotes Martin Luther in the segments as saying something like "I'd rather be ruled by a competent Turk than an incompetent Christian."
Finally, we need to remember that as sinners we are wrong, we are depraved, but we are not irredeemably evil. Our faith is based wholly in the idea of redeemability, in the fact that all of us are capable of doing the right thing. By denying the possibility that someone of a different faith might do a good job as president, we deny that concept of redeemability - we implicitedly make that person more than just wrong, we declare them evil. In a real sense we deny that Jesus can do for the Mormon what He has done for us.
I still don't know if I am going to vote for Mitt Romney or not, but one thing I know for sure, I will not make the decision based upon his faith - I will make it based on whether I think he will do a good job. To do otherwise is to deny him the potential for true salvation that I myself enjoy.
Related Tags: Mormon, Christian, Al Mohler, Mitt Romney, president, election
There are two things in the program that I wish to discuss here. The first is there is no mention in the discussion of the U.S. Constitution and its specific mandates against a "religious test" for elected officials. Now, having said that, of course, voters are permitted to vote as they see fit. But as Christian we are also commanded to good citizenship.
Matt 22:17-21 - "Tell us therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to give a poll-tax to Caesar, or not?" But Jesus perceived their malice, and said, "Why are you testing Me, you hypocrites? Show Me the coin {used} for the poll-tax." And they brought Him a denarius. And He said to them, "Whose likeness and inscription is this?" They said to Him, "Caesar's." Then He said to them, "Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's; and to God the things that are God's."I take from this that God did not call us to be political revolutionaries, He called us to be spiritual ones, and to learn to be good citizen's in whatever political situation we find ourselves. As Joe Carter said the other day
In a classical statement of ecumenicity, St. Augustine once said, "In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. In all things, love." Those of us on the religious right should adopt a similar principle and clearly define the boundaries between what is essential and what is non-essential in matters of policy and politics. Protecting the sanctity of innocent human life and defending the traditional definition of marriage are clearly essentials. Those matters are based on principles that can be clearly derived from the Bible.Which brings me to my second observation from the radio segments. It seems that many, many Christians are not capable of making the distinctions between "the essential and non-essential in matters of policy and politics." I base this observation on some of the callers to the show.
They appear to assume that a person that we as traditonal Christians believe not to be saved, cannot do the right thing in a given situation. I'm saved, but I'm still a sinner, and I still do bad things, so why is an unsaved person prevented from doing good things?
Sometimes I think we forget what we believe. We are all sinners, every last one of us. Our salvation in Jesus does two things - it assures us of our eternal destination and it empowers our journey towards our unfallen state because that salvation enables the habitation of the paraclete, the Holy Spirit, in us. At best, our salvation makes the odds a bit better that we will do the right thing is some circumstance, but it's no guarantee.
Need we forget the most Evangelical president in American history? I'm sure you remember Jimmy Carter. I have never been more sure of the right standing before the Throne of Grace for any other president, or candidate for president, than for Jimmy Carter, and yet he was one of the most consistently poor decision makers the office has ever seen. Mohler quotes Martin Luther in the segments as saying something like "I'd rather be ruled by a competent Turk than an incompetent Christian."
Finally, we need to remember that as sinners we are wrong, we are depraved, but we are not irredeemably evil. Our faith is based wholly in the idea of redeemability, in the fact that all of us are capable of doing the right thing. By denying the possibility that someone of a different faith might do a good job as president, we deny that concept of redeemability - we implicitedly make that person more than just wrong, we declare them evil. In a real sense we deny that Jesus can do for the Mormon what He has done for us.
I still don't know if I am going to vote for Mitt Romney or not, but one thing I know for sure, I will not make the decision based upon his faith - I will make it based on whether I think he will do a good job. To do otherwise is to deny him the potential for true salvation that I myself enjoy.
Related Tags: Mormon, Christian, Al Mohler, Mitt Romney, president, election
