Religion and Politics I recently wrote that Christians should keep their political views between themselves and God, for the sake of unity. Subsequently, a new Pew poll has discovered that more conservatives are coming to the conclusion that it can be a bad idea to mix religion and politics. From the Pew Forum article:

Four years ago, just 30% of conservatives believed that churches and other houses of worship should stay out of politics. Today, 50% of conservatives express this view.

In 2004, there was a sharp difference between conservatives and liberals on this question. In that poll, Democrats preferred for churches to stay out of politics by a margin of 51% to 45%. But in the 2004 poll, Republicans felt churches should be active in politics by a margin of 58%-37%. In the recent (2008) poll, the difference between Democrats and Republicans on this issue has virtually disappeared.

Overall, 44% of those surveyed in 2004 said that churches should keep out of politics. Today, 51% take that position. Conservatives account for the majority of that shift.

In short, the change of mind about the role of religious institutions in politics is most apparent among people who are most concerned about the very issues that churches and other houses of worship have focused on, and among those who fault the parties for their friendliness toward religion.

There are many theories why conservatives have changed their minds on churches being active in politics. Steve Waldman at Belief Net wrote:

But just as likely, this is a reflection of a genuine disillusionment among conservatives about what political involvement has actually gotten them. As the Evangelical Manifesto, produced in May by a group of leading Christians put it: "Whichever side it comes from, a politicized faith is faithless, foolish and disastrous for the church."

I think that comes close, but misses a key point. Conservatives are not feeling great about either political party right now. They have no champion in today's political arena for their most cherished causes. I suspect this is the primary reason they are less inclined to engage in the political arena today than they were four years ago.

For me, two issues trump all of the other factors that could be mentioned. First, we don't need to be creating any unnecessary obstacles in our mission to reach the lost. A public stance on politics is likely to turn off about half of the surrounding community, over a disputable matter that should be kept to ourselves. Second, politics has a real potential to divide a church. How are we going to show the world our unity, as Jesus prayed, if we are quarreling about political candidates? The church has more important things to talk about.  ¶ 6:31 PM  1 Comments Links to this post

  Growing Toward Unity Today I had the pleasure to participate in a cordial leadership event including six leaders of four former ICOC congregations in the Atlanta area, plus leaders from several area independent Christian churches. The event was hosted by Mount Carmel Christian Church and organized by the Institute for Organizational Leadership. The individual who pulled it together is a former ICOC minister and missionary who is now a member of one of the area's independent Christian churches.

We enjoyed warm fellowship and delicious food. We heard instructive talks about organizational leadership and also about pastoral counseling (by Dr. Lloyd Looney of Greenleaf Counseling). And we heard from a gentleman who has been instrumental in planting 33 different congregations of independent Christian churches.

These former ICOC congregations and the independent Christian churches have so much in common. I was incredibly encouraged to see all these folks from different branches of the Restoration Movement coming together. We need to be communicating and cooperating more.

Please pray that this will lead to much greater progress to bring the Lord's prayer for unity closer to fulfillment in our day!

Labels: ICOC

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  e-Sword Live You may already be familiar with e-Sword, the outstanding free Bible software for Windows PC, and its smaller companion, Pocket e-Sword. I've just discovered a new platform where this tool resides, called e-Sword Live, an online Web 2.0 Bible study tool.

You'll need to register to access all the features of e-Sword Live. After selecting a user ID and supplying your name and email address, you will receive a temporary password to log in to the site. Once you log in, you will want to visit your profile to select your favorite translations, commentaries, dictionaries, lexicons, and topical resources. You can even link to verses on the e-Sword Live site in blog posts. When readers follow those links, they will have access to commentaries, dictionaries, and lexicons coordinated with the linked passage -- a nice advantage in comparison to other existing online Bible study sites. If you are logged in to e-Sword Live while browsing, you can switch between your selected translations, commentaries etc just like in the original e-Sword application. If you are not logged in, you will get the ESV for Bible text and the Matthew Henry Concise Commentary when you follow the link.

I think I'll start using that tool for scripture links. Let me know what you think!  ¶ 11:27 AM  1 Comments Links to this post

  Alternate Views The Christian Standard is currently featuring a pair of articles explaining two sides of the issue around the role of women in the church. In one, Joe Harvey takes the complementarian position. In the other, Lana West takes the egalitarian position.

I'm not going to get back into that debate, since I covered it previously in my series on First Corinthians. But I thought it was worthy of note that the Christian Standard is willing to present both sides of such a controversial topic, without making it an issue of fellowship.

Both sides cannot be correct. But I believe there are sincere Christians on both sides of the issue. A person can have their sins forgiven and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit without understanding anything about this topic. Such a person is therefore a brother or sister in Christ.

I doubt any Christian has absolutely perfect understanding of every Christian doctrine. We need to be willing to embrace as a brother those who disagree on topics like this one, because of our unity on the core gospel. Kudos to the Christian Standard for demonstrating that kind of unity.  ¶ 8:29 AM  0 Comments Links to this post

  Christian Unity and Politics Christianity and politics have had a rocky relationship.

In the early days of the church, government persecuted the church. Later, the government practically merged with the church. Those previously persecuted Christians must have viewed the sanction of government as a wonderful thing. But centuries of state-sponsored Christianity led to war in the name of Christ, and to corruption of both the morals and the doctrine of the church. In more recent times, separation of church and state has become the rule in western cultures.

Today, opinions among Christians vary about the relationship between church and state. Some believe the church should actively promote its agenda in the political realm. Others believe the church should focus on meeting the spiritual needs of individuals, and leave politics alone.

If your priority is Christian unity, then politics can be a hindrance. The American two-party system has a tendency to polarize issues. There are major Christian values on both sides of the aisle. One side opposes abortion, while the other side opposes the war. One side emphasizes individual responsibility, while the other advocates expansion of the government-sponsored safety net. Since we aren't offered a choice that perfectly matches our Christian values, different Christians are drawn to different ends of the political spectrum depending on how they prioritize the issues, and on which compromises they find least offensive.

Many churches lack diversity of culture and therefore of political persuasion. I suspect those churches are the ones most likely to be politically active and to take public positions on political issues. Those who have a successful outreach to a diversity of cultures have to be more diplomatic about politics.

There are some opinions that Christians should keep between themselves and God, for the sake of unity. I think controversial political views are on that list.  ¶ 5:44 AM  5 Comments Links to this post

  What One Must Know to be Saved: Conclusions From the preceding discussion, the things a person must know to be saved are obvious. In the book of Acts, the Holy Spirit has recorded for us numerous examples of the gospel being preached to a variety of people. Some of these people were Jews and well versed in the Old Testament scriptures. Others were Gentiles with no understanding of God. The inspired preachers taught an appropriate message in each situation, always pointing toward the same thing.

To receive the promises of the gospel of Christ, a person had to know that God created the world and everything in it, including all mankind; that man had fallen into sin and rebellion against God; that God commanded them to repent; that He had sent his Son, Jesus, the Messiah, into the world to save us from our sin; that Jesus died for our sins; that Jesus was raised from the dead; and that God appointed Jesus to preside over a final judgment of every person.

The evangelists in the book of Acts started at the level of understanding of their audience, and taught what was missing in order to bring them to a basic understanding of those facts. For many, that happened in a single teaching session. For others, it took days of examining the scriptures. And for some, the message was presented repeatedly over a period of months or years. As Paul told Agrippa, conversion might take a short time or a long time.

Once a person had been taught enough to understand and believe those basic facts, they were baptized into Jesus for forgiveness of sins and were added to the church. Subsequently, the teaching continued as they learned more and more about their new lives in Christ.

It is interesting to note what is not recorded in any of the examples of conversion found in scripture.

First, there was no catechism class, and no comprehensive study of doctrine before conversion. Of course, during the timeframe of Acts there was no ambiguity about which Christian church one should join. But there were doctrinal controversies (see Acts 15). Those were important topics which certainly had to be taught to the church. But they were not part of what was taught during the conversion process. People were converted to Jesus, not to a certain form of worship, nor to a form of church government, nor to a particular hermeneutic, etc.

Second, there was no comprehensive study of all the sin in a person's life before conversion. There always seems to have been some specific sin from which they were challenged to repent. But they were always called to make Jesus Lord of their lives. That covers all the other bases. As the new convert progressively learned about sin and righteousness, they continued to repent, because Jesus was their Lord.

Third, there was no trial period to prove repentance prior to conversion. Once a person came to faith in Jesus, and made Jesus Lord, they could be baptized. Of course, the example of John the Baptist (Luke 3:7-8) shows us that we should call for repentance and that we should not overlook clear evidence of a lack of repentance. But conversions in Acts typically occurred in a single encounter, and the convert's commitment to make Jesus Lord was taken at face value.

There is much more that should be taught after conversion. As Thomas Campbell stated in his sixth proposition, there are many things that "belong to the after and progressive edification of the church" which are not meant to be part of the profession of faith given at conversion.

The basic facts taught to potential converts are sufficient to bring them into a saved relationship with God, and to place them in the church. Therefore, the only things required in order for a person to remain in that saved relationship with God, and in the fellowship of the church, is for them to continue in what they began: faith in Jesus, and submission to Jesus as Lord.

Labels: What One Must Know to be Saved

  ¶ 9:00 AM  1 Comments Links to this post

  What One Must Know to be Saved: Corinth Luke records in Acts 18 that Paul entered Corinth and taught them the gospel.

Act 18:4 Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks.
Act 18:5 When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.

Later, Paul summarized his message to the Corinthians:

1Co 2:2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

Later in the same letter, Paul further elaborates on the gospel message he delivered in Corinth:

1Co 15:1 Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand.
1Co 15:2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
1Co 15:3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance; that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
1Co 15:4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
1Co 15:5 and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve.
1Co 15:6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.
1Co 15:7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles,
1Co 15:8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
1Co 15:9 For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
1Co 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them--yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
1Co 15:11 Whether, then, it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.

That is the message on which they "took their stand." In other words, those are the essential facts upon which their saving faith was based. Paul's message to the Corinthians was the same as it was to everyone else:

1. Jesus was the Christ
2. Christ died "for our sins"
3. Christ was raised from the dead
4. Evidence! All this was in fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, and is confirmed by the eyewitness testimony of more than 500 people.
   

Paul also pointed out that the gospel had a dramatic effect in his own life (a fact they could easily observe). Paul "got it." When someone understands the gospel message about what Jesus did for us, and why, it has an effect.

Labels: What One Must Know to be Saved

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