DOES THE GOSPEL RULE AGAINST POLITICAL STATEMENTS?

I am routinely criticized for writing about political, moral, and social issues. The criticism goes like this:

• When we speak on these issues, we turn away seekers. Instead, they are drawn by the Gospel, the Good News, that Jesus died for our sins, and we only need believe.

Admittedly, this is a formidable challenge. We do not want to turn any away from the Gospel, but is this what we are doing?

It is hard to calculate the costs and benefits when we speak out on moral and political issues. This type of calculation requires us to also consider the long term effects.

With this in mind, we have to also factor in the long range  effects of the Church's relative silence during segregation, the Holocaust, the present genocide of Christians in mostly Muslim nations, and its coziness with corrupt regimes. These have all served to discredit the Church and the Gospel.

Meanwhile, I think that there is a much more important consideration than our cost/benefit analysis. How are we to fulfill the greatest commandment of loving God by keeping His Word (John 14:21-24; 15:7-14)? Our love for God is measured by our fidelity to His Word and not how successful we have been in saving souls.

Jesus had argued that life is a matter of keeping God's every Word (Matthew 4:4), and that the slightest markings were all part of God's Word (Matthew 5:17-19). Paul claimed that he was guilty before God if he failed to proclaim the ENTIRE Word of God (Acts 20:26).

Since God has an interest in the totality of our lives, He is concerned about how the Gospel impacts EVERY area of our lives - our speaking, writing, employment, and even our conduct in the political arena. 

Mordecai had placed his entire Jewish people at risk of extermination because he refused to bow down before Haman and honor him. Even after Haman succeeded in securing an edict to have all the Jews murdered, Mordecai would not humble himself before Haman. Instead, he trusted in the Lord. He wouldn't bow before the pragmatic cost/benefit analysis, even when it pertained to the lives of his own people.

However, I think that many of us have our priorities reversed. Instead of loving God first, we pursue immediate results. We measure the size of the church, the number of people baptized in the last month' and the size of our offerings. Pastors and missionaries experience enormous pressures to write about their successes to keep the offerings flowing.

We are loathe to confront our people with their sins lest they go elsewhere. To service this concern, we invent user-friendly theologies, as one winsome pastor described:

• I don't talk about sin. That's the business of the Holy Spirit. I am here to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If I confront them with their sins, it will just make them feel guilty. Instead, I simply entrust them to the Lord.

However, Scripture informs us that we cannot ignore sin. God had warned Ezekiel:

• “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. When I say to the wicked, ‘You wicked person, you will surely die,’ and you do not speak out to dissuade them from their ways, that wicked person will die for their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood.” (Ezekiel 33:7-8)

We do not have the freedom to ignore sin. The NT also instructs us to confront sin:

• My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins. (James 5:19-20)

There can be no message of the Good News without the bad news of sin. Jesus went even further and taught excommunication (Matthew 18:15-19). Paul argued that a little sin could undermine the fruits of the Gospel (1 Corinthians 5:1-7).

Jesus also shined His light into the political arena, denouncing the religious leadership (Matthew 23). Clearly, He was not afraid of turning His listeners away from the Good News. Nor was He afraid of losing His beloved Apostles whom He regularly denounced. Instead, He explained His ministry in terms of speaking the Words given Him by the Father. We must likewise minister.

Our Lord is looking for obedience to His Word rather than meticulous cost/benefit analyses, as He had informed the Prophet Samuel in regards to the disobedient King Saul:

• “I regret that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions.” 

When we fail to be faithful to the Lord's Word, His instructions, we turn away from Him, and the He from us. Samuel conveyed the Lord's message to Saul:

• “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you as king.” (1 Samuel 15:11, 22-23)

What had Saul done that was so wrong? He merely salvaged some of the Amalekite cattle and also their king. No big deal, right? Wrong! He had rebelled against the Word of the Lord, confident that he knew better.

Are we to denounce the proliferating sexual sins, abortion, and genocide? How can we remain silent about things that God hates? How can we approve of what He denounces?

Admittedly, I do not often denounce a person's sin the first time I meet them. However, I cannot remain silent for long. Silence also speaks. It preaches that I don't think that there is anything wrong about my neighbor's adultery, or I would have said something. This is a sermon that can only displease our Lord.