Introducing the "Vote for Jesus Devotional"

And Jesus said to them,

“Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s,
and to God the things that are God’s.”
Mark 12:17 (NASB95)

8 He has told you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justice, to love kindness,
And to walk humbly with your God?
Micah 6:8 (NASB95)

Honor all people, love the brotherhood,
fear God, honor the king.
1 Peter 2:17 (NASB95)

Introduction

Two things never to talk about in “polite conversation,” religion and politics. You’ve heard it for years. I have. I don’t know if the advice is good or bad from a camaraderie standpoint. But one thing is sure, it is impossible to not talk about religion and politics if a Christian is thoughtful about his faith and responsibility in the world.

This simple devotional that will be serialized on the blog is about the intersection of these two great topics of controversy, religion and politics. I am convinced about three things concerning that intersection:

1) not only can these two topics be discussed rationally and insightfully, but that they must be if we are to be faithful to the risen Christ in this or any age, and …

2) the book of Proverbs is a good place to start the discussion. And finally, …

3) the message of Proverbs—that character counts—is correct, both for us as individuals and for the leaders of our nation.

It is therefore a good place to begin because it is God’s word, it is practical, and specifically, it is counsel from a ruler to a future ruler. What better place could there be to begin?

In addition, the book of Proverbs is “pithy.” It dresses its truth up in memorable pictures and short sayings that penetrate our minds and linger long, yielding in their length, greater insight with each passing glance. There is humor. There is a bit sarcasm and skepticism. There is irony. It is nuanced, yet straight-forward and even blunt at times. And above all, there is wisdom. Wisdom sifted through experience and purified by the superintending of God’s Spirit.

In short, Proverbs contains exactly the kind of thing we need in the dizzyingly complex political landscape of our democratic republic in the 21st Century. The book of Proverbs can help us think better. It can help us think biblically. It can help us think practically. Derek Kidner comments on the way truth is presented in the book this way:

“‘Make the bad people good, and the good people nice’, is supposed to have been a child’s prayer: it makes the point, with proverbic brevity, that there are details of character small enough to escape the mesh of the law and the broadsides of the prophets, and yet decisive… Proverbs moves in this realm, asking what a person is like to live with, or to employ; how he manages his affairs, his time and himself. This good lady, for instance—does she talk too much? That cheerful soul—is he bearable in the early morning? And this friend who is always dropping in—here is some advice for him… and for that rather aimless lad…

It is not a portrait-album or a book of manners: it offers a key to life. The samples of behavior which it holds up to view are all assessed by one criterion, which could be summed up in the question, ‘Is this wisdom or folly?’ This is a unifying approach to life, because it suits the most commonplace realms as fully as the most exalted. Wisdom leaves its signature… In other words, it is equally at home in the realms of nature and art, of ethics and politics, … and forms a single basis of judgment for them all.”1

Wisdom is what we need in our leaders and it what we need to choose our leaders. The issues of our time are too complex, too important, and too filled with emotion. In order to guide us through the fog of the so-called “cultural wars” we need not bland (or excited) appeals to "experience" or "change" but real, rock solid wisdom that stands the test of all time. I hope these devotions help us along that path.

Tomorrow will begin the first devotion based on Proverbs 1.

Footnote:

1. Derek Kidner, Proverbs: An Introduction and Commentary, in the Tyndale Old Testament Commentary series, D.J. Wiseman, General Editor. (Leicester, England and Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1964) 13, italics added.

Vote for Jesus Introduction

For at least 20 years, I have been an advocate that all Christians should declare their political independence of all political parties. Part of this perspective is driven by a view of the radical difference that should exist between the believer in Christ and those whose allegiance is elsewhere. Paul wrote about the radical change that ought to characterize those who follow Christ and even how they once lived in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11.

9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, 10 nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God. (NASB95, emphasis added)

If I could pick up the sense of what Paul is saying and apply it to the political spectrum, "You were Green, or Republican, or Democrat, or Libertarian but then you became a Christian and your allegiance is now to him. You seek his will, his way."

A big problem with discipleship in America is that we are more American than Christian. We think that we can just add Jesus to our already existing worldview. What folly. Jesus won’t be added to anything! He wants to radically overturn every thought we ever had. He is looking for worshipers. How can we think that he would not want to reconfigure every value we have to suit his own agenda?

I am not advocating a Christian Party, but that Christians declare their complete independence from all parties and make those parties listen to the prophetic voice of the church. Idealistic? Yes. Inappropriate? No. Especially with the confused and warped values of both of the major political parties and the complete ineffectiveness of our Congress and Senate.

So in this blog I am going to serialize a "devotional for an election year" the main part of which I wrote about four years ago. It is based on the book of Proverbs. I trust that God will use it for His glory and for the purifying of His people.