American Poltics

The most talked about news item of today is still the American election or perhaps the victory of Trump. Now, I think a lot of us are discussing perhaps the wrong things about the election, the antics of the two candidates, especially the winner. Instead, we should be focusing on the platforms of each, and again especially what Trump's platform means for the States, and the world. However, with that said, I do think this is one election that more people are actually focusing on the politics. Still, we could be doing it even more, and for good reason. Especially living in Canada, we will still be effected by Trump taking power in the States.

I think one of the biggest questions on our minds, especially as Christians, should be; what's the line between obeying authorities and compromising God? Of course, there's a big aspect of politics too where we need to connect who we side with, and specifically their promises, with what the Bible says, or what we believe Jesus would like to see happening in the world.

Tackling the first issue, the balance or the passing point between obeying the authorities and compromising God.

1 Peter 2:13-14 "Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right."

Titus 3:1 "Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed."

Now, taking these verses just as they are, two things jump out. First, notice how we are commanded to be obedient, or to follow every human leader. And secondly, we are only to follow every human ruler who does good things, and punishes evil things. Now, that's an interesting distinction. We are to only follow the human rulers that do the right things. Adding to this however, first of all, we need to note that the "right thing" is really only the things that are 100% morally correct or incorrect. There are certain grey areas over morals in the Bible, certain topics that are undecided, they're not clear. We see that through the fact that Christians themselves fight over certain issues (homosexuality). Because of that, I don't believe we can completely judge a leader based upon their stance on those certain issues. A good leader, a right leader, cannot be solely decided based upon their beliefs on those grey areas.

I also think there is a right way to deal with a bad leader. Take all our Christian principles, and even when we're dealing with a problem, we have to use them to make sure our behaviour and attitude isn't off. We don't just go storming the gates with terribly worded signs, we don't use violence, we don't stubbornly attack the character of a person.

The second issue is what should we look for in political authorities or other positions of leadership. The reason why I think this is important is that we have to expect certain things, and realize that we can't demand other things. Because not everyone subscribes to our belief system of morals, we can't expect everyone to follow along with that system. Something like abortion; while it might be ideal to have someone in a leadership position that agrees with the Christian system, we can't make it the final deciding factor. Instead, we need to focus on the bigger picture, who is going to be healthier for all people. Our deciding factor in our decision of putting people in leadership position should be what are they going to do for all people. Not just us, not just the rich, not just the middle class, but ALL people. Who is going to be better at helping every single person in the country?

And above all, pray, pray, pray.

1 Timothy 2:1-3 MSG "The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know. Pray especially for rulers and their governments to rule well so we can be quietly about our business of living simply, in humble contemplation. This is the way our Saviour God wants us to live."