by Standerinfamilycourt

 “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.”
– John 18:36

It is not unusual to encounter Christians who are  uncomfortable engaging in secular political activity of any type, even when a nation’s constitution is being existentially threatened, its children confiscated from fit parents and trafficked to abusers for the Federal money that changes hands with the state;  others of its children being legally murdered on the delivery table;  its elderly legally euthanized or starved in their bedridden state, and many other abuses of the human dignity of His image-bearers equally-horrific as these.

The more gentle-spirited of these cite teachers such as David Bercot, who argue the writings of the Early Church Fathers as evidence that Christ-followers must not presume to engage politically (especially ~ 26 minutes).

But there’s another camp.   More recently, these reservations of conscience have gone beyond reticent discomfort, to something resembling a more “pious” way to say “STFU“.     One young  know-it-all, whose tastes seem to run more to the social justice “gospel”, recently scolded “standerinfamilycourt” on our facebook page Unilateral Divorce is Unconstitutional, as follows:

“Also, I have noticed this trend going around that i call, “tough guy preachers” where Christians are acting harshly with people who disagree with them. I have noticed that there is a common denominator with this trend- it is the Christians who have involved themselves politically to a great degree and are passionate about king Saul… I mean Trump.

“Since you all hold to the historic Christian view of divorce and remarraige (sic), I would have all of you know that the early Christians had nothing to do with politics- in fact, they flat out refused to participate in them, the military, the government, or any institution that required their participation on the systematic disobedience to Christ’s commands.

Jesus said not to turn away those who would borrow, and will send people to hell for the sin of omission when it comes to caring for those in need.

Will Jesus say to you, “depart from me” for you voting His widows and orphans out of the country?

Maybe, just maybe this divorce and remarraige (sic) issue should be secondary for you people.”

Spoken like a young man who obviously hasn’t personally experienced much extreme harshness in life, and isn’t going to be persuaded by any amount of rightly-divided biblical arguments that actual souls are on the line (too tough-guy preacherish, right?)   This fellow makes the ridiculous presumption that those who politically support national border sovereignty, and who reject the Marxist “social gospel” as the false gospel that it is, must neglect the poor in the local and world communities.   Since he lacks any actual evidence for levelling this broad-brush charge, he uses his ideology as the defacto “evidence” thereof.   Certain things, according to scripture are indeed heaven-or-hell matters, regardless of how “fruitful” or “charitable” they look on the exterior…therefore, basic morality in the nation’s “family laws” eternally matter to at least an equal extent as the material compassion Jesus spoke of, and neither should be neglected.

As for “tough guy preachers”,  what would this pious scolder call Jesus Christ?   Or John the Baptist?   What would he call the Apostle Paul?   For that matter, what would this young man say to someone like Rachel Held Evans or Jim Wallis (who recently led a “prayer initiative” to reverse the 2016 Presidential election results)?    Apparently, Marxism in the name of Jesus is a “higher virtue” – to some,  at least – than forms of political engagement which stress personal morality and collective responsibility.    This fellow is quite typical of the clear majority of his generation, but thankfully not all of them….

Many Americans Just Don’t Know . . . While Others Must Have Forgotten

On the other side of the coin, it’s also thankfully welcome to see a committed Christ follower leading people, in the name of Jesus, to our state capitals to demand the repeal of laws that sanction utter and contemptuous disrespect for the sanctity of  life and marriage.    Who’s right here?   Whose position is godly in reality?

History has plenty of Christian activists the Lord has used to accomplish God-sized human suffering relief projects, even when some of them were not morally perfect, and quite often when some came very close to being so.    Aside from Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was engaged in attempting to rid Germany of the Nazis, we also think of William Wilberforce,  of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (in the days before he became a sodomous, philandering hypocrite whose underlying character couldn’t handle the fame),  of founding document signers like Daniel Webster, and of the many faithful disciples today who lead family policy councils or Christian legal defense ministries across the country.   We think of believers serving in Congress or the state house.    We think of believers who defied civil law to operate the Underground Railroad, freeing escaping slaves in the 19th century – an operation that involved many pastors.  Some saints have been martyred for their efforts to bring legal reform to immoral governments – can we then say they brought martyrdom on themselves due to disobedience in getting “entangled in the affairs of life” or did Paul have some other context in mind for his admonition?   Is it wrong for a Christ-follower to make a living from political activism or from government service?

There are several factors that make contemporary believers uncomfortable with Christian political activism, among them:

(1) The church is often complicit in supporting moral evils
The reasons behind an ongoing 60-year history of church impotence against the Sexual Revolution are myriad.   They range from the humanist origins of the mainline Protestant denominations and the fear of man, to the indirect mega-profit from the continuation of the legalized abomination in question.    Nothing new here:  Wilberforce had to contend with a corrupt, complicit church as well, and so did Bonhoeffer, sadly.  

(2) failure to understand the spiritual warfare involved  
Many Christians are unaware of opposition in the spiritual realm, or are unschooled in it, or are simply unwilling to take it on.    They don’t want to maintain the moral purity or rigorous spiritual discipline necessary to engage on that level and be that channel for the Lord’s power.

(3) heightened risk of idolatry and wrong motives
Speaking of spiritual warfare, if we don’t do regular health-checks on our egos and motives, and fail to guard our hearts, this target we’ve painted on our own backs by engaging the kingdom of darkness are never out of satan’s sight.    Those who do engage must constantly readjust, to maintain total dependency on the power of God, focus on the glory of God, and stay plugged into the Power Source.    That’s hard work!   We must often do so in an atmosphere of undeserved criticism and slander that’s devil-commissioned.   On top of all that, we must maintain balanced family commitments and relationships, so that our project doesn’t morph into our idol as the going gets progressively tough, and discouragements come.

(4) resource-intensiveness (time, treasure, talent)
Even Jesus counseled not to start building a tower without first counting the cost and making sure we have the resources to complete it.    He pointed out the ridicule that might come from not being able to complete it, but there’s even damage to the cause itself possible, from not reasonably sizing up what it’s going to take, and asking the Lord to meet any shortfalls before starting.

(5) interference with family relationships
Touched on earlier, the thought continues that our number one priority is the souls of our progeny and spouse.    None of us possesses the resources to clean up the world, while fulfilling our kingdom obligations to those we only get one shot at bringing up, or bringing along.     We must rely on the Lord to bridge the gap, while being as responsible as we can humanly be.   Everyone knows of missionary kids who grew up apostate or delinquent, and so do the many opponents of our kingdom calling outside the home.

(6) possible neglect of the basic gospel work
Face it, as evidenced above, we’re going to get accused by satan of this one anyway if there’s any form of sexual ethics at stake.     None of us wants the “neglect” charge to be rendered true in the course of our mission.   It really needn’t be.    Testimony to the gospel is as much of a function of how we walk before pagans and weaker Christians as we go about our task, as it is of anything we say or hand out in the form of tracts.   Some causes, if creditably walked out, are the gospel in action, especially projects involving the sanctity and integrity of marriage which is itself a prominent symbol of the gospel.

(7) political success may not yield imperishable results 
(1 Cor. 3:12-16)    And it may necessarily yield any results so in our lifetime.   Will this political cause merely increase our comfort levels while living in this present world, or will it snatch souls from the hell-flames?   Will it perhaps help stay the hand of God’s judgment on a nation?

“If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.”

What sorts of outcomes or prizes can be expected to survive the fire spoken of here?     Of Wilberforce, Bonhoeffer and King, whose political achievements do you think survived that testing fire?

Notice that the following scripture does not say, “you will go to hell unless you mind your own business and go about your own work”.    It says to make it our goal to do so.   Occasionally in the course of history there arise factors whereby leading this quiet life minding our own business entails looking the other way while true evil is inflicted on our helpless neighbor.

Make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands, just as we instructed you before. and to aspire to live quietly, to attend to your own matters, and to work with your own hands, as we instructed you, so that you will behave properly toward outsiders and not be in any need.–  1 Thessalonians 4:11-12

This is certainly not the first article ever written asking this question, but “standerinfamilycourt” has a pointed reason for bringing the matter back up now: we need more success engaging pastor support at the state level in the repeal of unilateral “no-fault” divorce laws, as courageous legislators in various states sponsor worthy reform bills that might not otherwise have a chance of being enacted.   So far, these legislators have not had the clergy support they deserve for this cause.    We would like to improve the pastor engagement levels, without which ultimate success at meaningfully reforming “family laws” seems remote.

www.standerinfamilycourt.com

7 Times Around the Jericho Wall | Let’s Repeal “No-Fault” Divorce!